The Expo: Shopping

Dear Constant Reader,

The Vendor Hall is one of the delights of The Expo. I never seem to spend as much time as I want there…

This year’s haul (sort of)

On the left is some soap from Amaranth and Rue. It’s a gift for Scratch, because he’s crazy about all things cherry. On the right is a new jewelry set from Farasha and Su’ad Dance and Designs. I have a lot of red costumes and very little red jewelry, so this was a no-brainer. Plus their prices are so reasonable!

The “sort of” is because I commissioned a set of pasties and a g-string from Glorious Pasties which don’t exist yet, so no photo. I have this act with a fabulous bathtub and a gorgeous costume, but my bottom layer is distinctly lacking in glam. And that’s what gets seen while I’m splashing around in the tub! Cheeky is specially making the set to withstand getting a soaking. I’m so excited!

There were a couple of vendors I didn’t patronize (this time!), but I’d still like to point out.

  • The proprietress of Vixens Ahoy has expanded her repertoire to include circle skirts along with her adorable aprons.
  • Mrs. V and the Bees makes solid moisturizer and lips balms from natural ingredients (like bees’ wax and essential oils) that smell amazing!
  • Light Painting Portraits created some incredible photos, like this one of Vita Lightly:

    I really regret that I didn’t duck into his booth.

    • Next report, parties!

    M2

    Published in: on 3 March 2016 at 3:30 pm  Leave a Comment  
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    Nose to the Rhinestone: Day 2

    Dear Constant Reader,

    Wednesdays and Sundays are kind of gimmes in this challenge because The BeauTease have rehearsals, but I did other stuff too, mostly administrative work for B.A.B.E., making sure everything is set for the new Introduction to Burlesque class series and wrapped up from the previous one. Also, it’s the beginning of the month, so I had to cut some checks. None of this glamourous, but it’s necessary to keep a dance floor under our feet.

    I wrote a post here. And I managed to read a couple of chapters of Goddess of Love before falling asleep.

    M2

    Published in: on 3 March 2016 at 8:55 am  Leave a Comment  
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    The Expo: Costume Exhibit and The Atheneum

    Dear Constant Reader,

    Here we have two of my favorite things, costumes and books.

    The costumes…

    Ever since The Expo moved to Cambridge we’ve had a costume exhibit, ably curated by BettySioux Tailor, with the assistance of Baroness Blitzen von Schtupp for the last last *eight* years. As always, there was some fantastic stuff!

    From L to R (top row and then bottom row): Scarlett Letter, Dita Von Tease, Miss Mina Murray, Hedy Jo Star (pink), Hedy Jo Star (green), Jacqueline Hyde, Dangrrr Doll, Red Hot Annie, Sailor St. Claire, Matt Finish, Scarlett O’Hairdye, Raven Roland, Angie Pontani.

    The two Hedy Jo Star costumes were gifted to The Expo from a costumer working in Tokyo who found them in the storage room of her theatre company. We have no idea how they got there or who wore them, but pink one has the name “Nancy Lee” written inside. Any thoughts? Pictures can not do these pieces justice. I hope you got a chance to see them close up.


    We also had an exhibit in memory of Blaze Starr, who passed away over the summer. It included several photographs (two with Boston connections!), video of a couple of her film appearances, the costume Angie Pontani wore for her tribute to the Legend at Miss Exotic World 2006, and Blaze’s own powder puff and hand-made red evening bag with a handwritten note.

    And the books…

    The Atheneum was a new addition this year. Librarian Jennie put together a collection of relevant books and magazines in the breakfast/tea party room for people to browse during the day. Counterpoint Press was good enough to donate Leslie Zemeckis’s Goddess of Love Incarnate and Margo Christie sent her novel, These Days. Other books came from the Library at Stately Babydoll Manor and from Jennie’s own collection.

    I have a collection of “Cavalcade of Burlesque”, an industry magazine published in the early 1950’s by burlesque agent Jess Mack. They’re valuable documents for our community and I wanted to share them, but as you might expect from 65-year-old pulp paper, they’re rather fragile. So, I carefully scanned all my issues page by page and had them printed them up to be as close to the original as possible. I’m so happy to share this bit of history while keeping the originals preserved! (By the way, I’m on the look-out for the May 1953, March 1954, and May 1954 issues…)

    I certainly hope The Expo continues to offer The Atheneum and it becomes a bigger and better resource.

    Up next, shopping!

    M2

    Published in: on 2 March 2016 at 3:32 pm  Leave a Comment  
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    Nose to the Rhinestone: Day 1

    Dear Constant Reader,

    My first Nose to the Rhinestone day wasn’t terribly exciting, but productive.

    I created registration for the April Introduction to Burlesque class and updated all the appropriate pages on the B.A.B.E. website. I also wrote a blog post. Answered and sent a couple of emails. I think that was all the computer work for the day.

    I spent just a little time tidying my sewing room/office. It’s hard to work in such a disorganized space, but I’m trying to clean it in manageable bites so I don’t just give up in frustration. Then I made a dozen pairs of teaching pasties. The rounds were already cut, so I just had to glue and tassel. It’s kind of tedious, but needs doing.

    The one really creative thing was finally starting to work on new pasties for The Faerie Queene. It was just the first step, involving some glitter spray paint on lace. Pictures when there’s a little more progress.

    I concluded by reading a couple of chapters of Goddess of Love Incarnate: The Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. I’m really interested on how it compares to Gilded Lili: Lili St. Cyr and the Striptease Mystique.

    M2

    Published in: on 2 March 2016 at 11:29 am  Leave a Comment  
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    Nose to the Rhinestone: Day 0

    Dear Constant Reader,

    You may be puzzling over the title of this missive. The wonderful Bazuka Joe created the Nose to the Rhinestone challenge thus:

    1. Spend at least 30 minutes a day (Ideally 1 hour) focused on your craft
    2. Show travel and show days count.
    3. If you miss a day, note your reason why and try to make up for it later.

    Now that February is almost over and the craziness of performing for 5 weekends straight (Mardi Gras Ball, The Expo, R & J, Peepshow Menagerie, Monday Night Tease, and a private party) is over, I thought the upcoming lull in March would be a great time to dive into this challenge.

    I will definitely be writing about it here, to stay accountable. I haven’t decided if that means a daily report or a weekly one. I guess I’ll figure that our tomorrow!

    M2

    Published in: on 29 February 2016 at 11:01 am  Comments (1)  
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    A Brief Hiatus

    Dear Constant Reader,

    I’m going to briefly pause my reporting on The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2016. I know you were dying to hear about The Main Event, but it will just have to wait until next week (and I’m hoping there might be some pictures available by then).

    Your faithful correspondent is heading to lovely Los Angeles for a few days of much needed sun and fun. I’ll be away from my writing desk the entire time (except for your Friday Tip, of course).

    If you’re in the neighborhood, you can see me Friday night at Peepshow Menagerie’s 3rd Annual David Bowie Burlesque Tribute, Oh These Pretty Things. I’ll be performing a brand-new number to my favorite Bowie song. It’s also my birthday!

    Monday I’ll be performing at Monday Night Tease. I’m very excited to be able to grace that famous stage!

    I’ll tell you all about it when I get back. And finish reporting on The Expo.

    M2

    Published in: on 18 February 2016 at 3:44 pm  Leave a Comment  

    The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2016

    Dear Constant Reader,

    I’m still recovering from the 10th anniversary Expo, but I’ll be posting all about it soon. All I can say right now is thank you, thank you thank you to everyone who had a hand in making it amazing.

    M2

    Published in: on 10 February 2016 at 9:22 am  Leave a Comment  
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    It’s a Book!

    Dear Constant Reader,

    I’m pleased to announce…

    If you preordered a copy through Kickstarter and I know that you are going to be at The Expo, your copy will be at the registration desk when you check in.

    For all my other backers, I’ll get those books in the mail as soon as I can, after The Expo. Thank you, lovely backers, so much for your support!

    If you are a performer or teacher at The Expo, you’ll be getting a copy of my book in your goodie bag!

    There will also be some copies for sale at The Expo. If there’s an Expo merch table, you can find them there. Otherwise, track me down.

    Post-Expo, books will be available at B.A.B.E. and I’m making a little shop at minamurray.com.

    I hope my little book delights you!

    M2

    Published in: on 3 February 2016 at 1:02 pm  Leave a Comment  
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    Stretching…

    Dear Constant Reader,

    Thanks to the wonderful Kickstarter backers my little book is bigger than I expected and will have color pages! Thank you all so so much!

    We’ve set two more stretch goals. If we reach $1250 (and we’re only $150 away) all the backers will get a lovely bookmark with useful information. If we manage to reach $1500 (which was beyond my wildest dreams when we started this), the first 100 backers will get a beautiful brass bookmark!

    So, please, if you aren’t a fabulous backer yet, pre-order your book before Friday or spread the word, because if we reach those goals, everybody wins!

    M2

    Published in: on 19 January 2016 at 2:01 pm  Leave a Comment  
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    Thank you!

    Oh Constant Readers,

    I’m amazed and delighted! 24 hours after I launched the Kickstarter campaign for my little book we were funded and past our first stretch goal! And then we passed the second stretch goal!

    Scratch & I scrambled to come up with a third stretch goal. If we hit $1000 (and we’re really close) in addition to the charming black and white line drawings, we’ll add 4 pages in color. This book is going to be bigger and more beautiful than I expected and it’s all due to you!

    I’m especially grateful to all my backers for believing in me, but especially those for whom this is their first Kickstarter project. This whole experience has honored and humbled me. I can’t wait to hold my little book, but I’m more eager to send it out into the hands of my wonderful patrons.

    M2

    Published in: on 11 January 2016 at 11:55 am  Leave a Comment  
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