Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Vote for The Boston Babydolls for “Best Theatre Group” and B.A.B.E. for “Best Dance Classes“!

Buy your tickets to The Teaseday Club on July 9th in my name!

Saturday morning, we eagerly went to The Blue Swan for a real NJ diner breakfast. Although I live in Boston and was raised in CT, my family hails from New Jersey. There’s one treat that I only have when I’m in Jersey (which as far as I can tell exists nowhere else) — Taylor ham. I know the classic is Taylor ham on a hard roll with egg & cheese, but I don’t like my meat product adulterated.

The drive to Pittsburgh was most uneventful, except for a lot of whimpering (mostly from Stella) as we passed roadside attractions that we had no time to visit. We were 5 minutes from the venue, according to the GPS, when traffic… just… stopped. Kenny Chesney was to blame, we later learned. Still, we only made it to the lovely Rex Theatre about 20 minutes behind schedule.

The theatre was great! Big stage! Huge dressing room! Full bar! Wonderful staff!

We met our Special Guest, Smokin’ McQueen, and our wonderful stage kittens, Lita D’Vargas and Abbey B., then set things up, rehearsed a bit, met up with Chris R. (whom we met via The Twitterwife), and headed out to dinner. We went to Cambod-Ican Kitchen (noteworthy for the world’s most secure bathroom key). It wasn’t so much Cambodian as I’ve had it before, but the chicken and vegetable stir-fry was just the perfect pre-show meal.

The show went wonderfully. There were several photographers there, so expect to see more pictures! (Teaser photo by Colin Sheehy.) The audience was fantastic, enthusiastic, and begged us to return. And they bought a ton of merch. Abbey, who was acting as Merch Girl as well as Stage Kitten, was amazing! She refolded all the t-shirts, did an inventory count, and kept meticulous notes.

Here’s a little behind the scenes tidbit: the big framed canvas is assembled with a lot of nuts & bolts of various sizes and we discovered that they kept vibrating apart in transit, making us scramble to find all the %&$*# washers. After I finished my fan dance/silhouette act (hence the framed canvas…), I picked up my fans in the blackout and the nut popped off the left-hand one, spraying washers everywhere in the darkness. I did manage to get it into some semblance of fan shape to screen me on my walk back to the dressing room. Thank goodness it happened at the *end* of the number. But lesson learned to check *all* bolts.

After the show we had many hands helping us pack up all our stuff so that it went super-fast. When we were finished loading stuff onto the car, lovely Lita, in her short leopard print dress & heels, tied a chiffon scarf over her hair, donned a pair of sunglasses and hopped on the back of a motorcycle. It was one of the most marvelous things ever. I wish I had a picture.

After a show, we like to have a celebrational libation or two. We hoped to find a quiet cocktail lounge to chat with Chris and her friend Steve, but such things do not exist where we were (plenty of loud bars, yes). Steve pointed out that we were mere minutes from his house and there he had mead and a nice backyard. After a quick stop at Primanti Bros. so Stella could satisfy a life-long desire, we were settled into a charming courtyard with our sandwiches and home-made lingonberry mead.

After too short a time, we had to say our goodbyes, as we had another hour to drive before we slept. We will definitely be returning to Pittsburgh!

Coming soon: Sunday and the longest day ever.

Dear Constant Reader,

First, a few reminders:

Vote for The Boston Babydolls for “Best Theatre Group” and B.A.B.E. for “Best Dance Classes“!

Buy your tickets to The Teaseday Club on July 9th in my name!

Bright and early Friday morning Brigitte, Stella, Scratch & I loaded up the trusty Babydoll-mobile with our trunks of costumes and props and headed south to Asbury Park, NJ for the premier of The Fine Art of Burlesque at Asbury Lanes. Part of loading up involved me sliding under the car to secure the cargo carrier. This amused Brigitte greatly: “Oh, the glamourous life!” she said “I suspect there’s a blog post in the future.” And then she regretted not taking a picture.

The plan was that we’d get to the venue around 3pm, get set up, meet our Special Guest and stage kittens, rehearse a little, have a meal, explore the beach a little. Our show wasn’t starting until 10pm.

Mann macht, Gott lacht. Just around Rye, NY we hit traffic. Oh such traffic. We crawled all the of the way to Asbury Park, subsisting on naught but carrot sticks. Despite the frustrating drive, everyone remained upbeat right up till the end when Stella couldn’t take it any more and suddenly bellowed “SCOTCH!”. I had visions of a St. Bernard with the little cask under its chin coming to save her.

We got to the venue just before 6pm and scrambled to set up our big setpiece — a framed canvas (Fine Art, get it). I was a little nervous because I made the “canvas” and the first try was too short, despite my careful measuring. I had made a new one just the night before, so it was untested. Fortunately, it was perfect. We were done before the Dr. Sketchy’s started, but just barely.

I have to praise the hospitality at the Asbury Lanes. They comped our dinner, which I hadn’t expected. Everyone was craving cheeseburgers and beer and they provided magnificently.

For this tour we’re using what we think of as “The Burlesque-A-Pades Model”: 3 dancers and Scratch plus a local Special Guest, and local stage kittens. The logistic of dealing with the entire troupe’s schedule (plus cast members and crew) could make one crazy, as happened last year. So, the show is different on each leg of the tour!

Our special guest for the show was Hayley Jane! She was a dream to work with! So professional, talented, and nice. We have an act in which the special guest has a cameo. It’s mostly a matter of posing and looking pretty as an artists model, but there are 2 little bits of choreography. We ran through it with her and she picked it up quickly. On stage, she totally nailed it. I was sad I couldn’t manage to see her act — that picture doesn’t do her stunning costume justice.

The show itself went well and seemed to be received well. After a post-show libation at the bar, we broke everything down, packed up, and loaded up the car. Fortunately the staff asked if we wanted one last check of the dressing room before they locked up, because we hadn’t finished carrying out all the trunks yet. It would have been quite problematic to have left our props in NJ. After all that time on the road, We were so glad our hotel was only a short drive away.

And that was the first day.