Dear Constant Reader,
It’s our favorite time of year! Our Halloween show in Salem! This year we were short one performer, as Ava was in Australia, performing at the Perth Burlesque Festival, and we were delighted to have Jeanie Martini fill in. We performed the same show twice, as is our wont on Halloween, and it was a great deal of fun, as usual.
Betty Blaize and Mina Murray: Sister Act (“I Can’t Do It Alone” from Chicago)
This act is so much fun! We created it for our second Halloween show, in 2006. Betty is the glamourous showgirl and I am her murdered sister. She manhandled my corpse around the stage, trying to recreate our duet. The hardest part about playing dead is not reacting when I hear the audience laughing.
Devastasia: Black Widow (“Experiment in Terror”)
Draped in mourning black, Devastasia transforms from a human black widow into a spider. The engineering on her boa-bustle is quite clever!
Lani Cakes: Witchcraft (singing)
Not only is Lani a stage kitten, but she sings too!
Betty Blaize: You’re the Boss (Brian Setzer)
This is Betty’s oldest act and still a crowd pleaser. Inspired by Lorraine Lane’s “Satan’s Dance”, Betty is tempted by the Devil. I’m always impressed with the skill with which she brings that puppet to life.
Mina Murray: Pandora’s Music Box (Nox Arcana)/ I Put a Spell on You (Screamin’ Jay Hawkins)
This was a brand-new act. I wanted to use my fishbone fans and an amazing duster, made by Big Fannie Annie (not for me, originally; I bought it at auction). Scratch suggested the music and Devastasia made the glowing pasties possible. Patrons can watch the video.
BtS: The bra I wear for this number comes apart into two pieces. When I was changing for the second run, I could only find half. I panicked for a moment, then took the straps off the bra I wear for the finale and whispered to Lani to give it back right after the act. I spent a lot of that second performance hoping it didn’t fall down and expose the pasties too early.
Devastasia: Skeletons in my Closet (singing)
Not familiar with this song? It’s from the video game Seventh Guest. So is one of Devastasia’s tattoos.
Jeanie Martini: I Only Have Eyes for You
I couldn’t watch Jeanie’s act because I was changing, but I can assure you it has an eye-popping reveal,
Scratch: Urban Legend
An apple, double-edged razor blades, Scratch’s mouth… what could go wrong…
Betty Blaize, Devastasia, and Mina Murray: Poison (Post-Modern Jukebox)
Three not-very-bright murderesses try to take out the competition. We had to be very careful with three of us on that stage, circling the table like sharks, as there’s always the possibility of falling off the back!
Our next show will be December 6th at Deacon Giles. We’ll be doing two shows that night as well, but the early show, Brrrrlesque, will be a celebration of all things winter and holidays, and the late show will be celebration of Deacon Giles’ 10th anniversary. We’ll be performing a bunch of our favorite acts from tthe past decade of shows.
These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 18 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.
This is Hamilton A. Cat. He’s a character in Robert Lay’s books (the Giblet & Belle and Holmes & Watson series), but he’s also a real cat. Hamilton is very sick and his vets don’t have a diagnosis yet. In fact, his family was prepared to say goodbye. However, Hamilton is a fighter. He’s not giving up! Currently, he’s at home with his family with a feeding tube while the vets figure out what’s wrong.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 