Dear Constant Reader,
Once upon a time, in another forum, I used to share pearls of wisdom and now I’d like to begin that again, with you.
Use the power of the pause. You don’t have to be in constant motion. Let the audience savor your pose.
More to come!
Dear Constant Reader,
Despite the title, this is really more from my sewing room. Continuing in my theme of little-garments-that-don’t-really-cover-my-legs, here’s a pair of 1940’s style shorts I made.
Again, I apologize for the quality of the picture. The shorts are much cuter in person. They’re made of berry-colored linen with a zipper in the back and pleats on each leg. They’re so very comfortable and I’m considering making a few more pairs.
Hopefully we’ll have a few more warm days for me to wear them.
Dear Constant Reader,
On Saturday we presented a bonus production of Madame Burlesque, our sumer touring show. If you’ve been following along you know that our final show was supposed to have been August 6th in Portsmouth, NH. However, the Tempest Storm show we were supposed to perform in on Saturday was cancelled, so we took the now vacant date at the Regent Theatre and presented a changed-up version of Madame Burlesque.
Evie Sphinx, our oyster girl, was at a wedding that day, so we replaced one of her acts with a song and another with a comedy routine. For the third one, we gave Evie’s music to Brigitte Besoux who created a high-energy tap dance in no time at all. She can tap and twirl tassels at the same time!
Of course, Saturday was when Hurricane Irene was moving up the coast and we started getting panicked calls asking if we were going to cancel. You know that old theatrical saying… yes, that one.
Well, the show did go on! And we even had a good house, especially on such a dark and stormy night. I was thrilled to see some of my students in the audience too.
Now Madame Burlesque is well and truly done and it’s time to concentrate on The Wrathskellar.
Dear Constant Reader,
We’re only just getting to know one another, so you may not be aware that I like to sew. And I have a fondness for historic clothing. You may get to see photographs of some of it from time to time.
Here’s a lovely little piece of lingerie I made some time ago, but only just photographed. Yes, it’s not the best picture in the word, but my bedroom is somewhat dim and one can’t use a flash when shooting in a cheval mirror (or really any mirror — I just wanted you to know I had a cheval mirror in my boudoir).
They’re 1920’s-style tap pants made from an old silk shirt. Cute and thifty!
I have another item or two I might share with you, if you’re lucky!
Dear Constant Reader,
I am the headmistress of a modest establishment called the Boston Academy of Burlesque Education (B.A.B.E.). We teach burlesque and burlesque-related arts, as you might expect. Enrollment has been climbing steadily, so that I actually entertained the idea of adding an intermediate-level class to the curriculum.
I was pleased that our August Introduction to Burlesque class series sold out completely and quickly. So many women were clamoring for space that I added a second course in September. One of those is again sold out and the other is close to it.
Expect to hear more about B.A.B.E. soon!
Pedagogically yours,
Dear Constant Reader,
I reviewed another book, just for you! This time it’s Burlesque Exotic Dancers of the 50s & 60s by Judson Rosebush (2010).
Like The Bare Truth: Stars of Burlesque From the ’40s and ’50s and The Queens of Burlesque: Vintage Photographs of the 1940s and 1950s, this is a collection of photographs, mostly of burlesque performers, but some are belly dancers. They appear to be booking photos, not publicity pictures. Era is obvious in the hair & makeup, but also the toplessness and even nudity of some of the performers.
The book opens with a short essay on the history of burlesque and the little that is known about these photos. The photos are nicely presented on glossy paper, one to a page. They’re in no particular order, other than photos of the same performer are grouped together. Information on the photos, like the dancer’s name and tagline, is reprinted at the bottom of the page. It’s easily readable on the original and so appears superfluous. Sometime information from the back of the photos is presented, but it’s not distinguished from the compilier’s own notes.
The photographs are a great source of inspiration for costumes, hair styles, makeup, and poses. Some of the performers are long forgotten, some are complete unknowns (that is, there’s no name on the photo), and there’s one or two you might know…
Best,
Dear Constant Reader,
All the cast and crew of Madame Burlesque were feeling just a little bit down that this fabulous run ended on Saturday in Portsmouth, NH. It had been 5 weeks, 4 states, and a lot of fun. But summer does become fall and it’s time for us to turn our attentions from the glamourous world of Madame Burlesque to that creepy, cobweb-crusted cabaret, The Wrathskellar.
Then an opportunity fell into our glitter-dusted laps. We will be presenting Madame Burlesque at the Regent Theatre in Arlington on Saturday, August 27th!
Even if you saw it in Cambridge, we’ve changed a few things and there will be some acts which have never been seen in *any* of the previous shows. I’m so excited!
Dear Constant Reader,
This week the Boston Babydolls’ perambulations took us to Brattleboro, Vermont and the Hooker-Dunham Theatre. It’s a quirky little space, but we took it in stride. Once we figured out how to keep me from falling off the stage during a group number and how to get the giant oyster through the narrow door, everything was perfect. Well, maybe we blew a fuse during the actual show… what can I say, Evie Sphinx is an dynamic dancer!
During our little down time, we visited a fantastic farmers market. I was content with a few pints of raspberries, but the guys had to buy a whole leg of grass-fed lamb! And there was Malian food too. And of course, there was some clothing shopping in town. Maybe I shall even post some picture of my treasures.
The only real negative was that someone stole our signboard. Hard to believe that we had it out on the sidewalk for two weeks in grubby Central Square, Cambridge with no problems, but after a few hours in pleasant, hippie Brattleboro, it’s gone. So if you see a sandwich board with a blow up of our logo and “retrofabulous”, we’d really like it back.
Before I close, I’d like to recognize our tech crew:
Creating excellent lighting is a challenging enough job, but doing so in a mere few hours, in an unfamiliar theatre, that’s not really set up for our kind of lighting, is a near miracle. And yet Hunter still manages to do it. With very little cursing. Even when he had to run extension cords down the hallway to get enough power. Or when the aforementioned fuse blew.
Brigitte was kind enough to loan us her boyfriend to run sound for the road shows. Despite spraining his ankle the day before, he was still game. And when he discovered the ankle was *broken*, he was still there to play our music. That’s what you call a trouper.
Next stop, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Peripatetically yours,
Dear Constant Reader,
The Boston Babydolls are on tour! Madame Burlesque is such a great show, we just had to share it. We just finished a fantastic weekend in Portland, Maine at the Lucid Stage.
For those of you not in New England, it just so happened that the weather was *brutal* that very weekend. Over 100 degrees and humid. Thank goodness the theatre had air conditioning!
The show was well received and it was good to see some friends from the area. We had a little down-time and there were some adventures, like the quest for the topless donut shop (don’t ask…)
We’re looking forward to loading up again and heading to Brattleboro, Vermont on Friday. If you want to join us, get your tickets here.
See you soon,
Dear Constant Reader,
In preparing for Madame Burlesque, I read as many burlesque memoirs and biographies as I could get my hands on (and I must say, the library at Stately Babydoll Manor is rather extensive). One of them was Blaze Starr: My Life as Told to Huey Perry by Blaze Starr.
Blaze Starr grew up in rural West Virginia as part of a big loving family. As a teenager, she knew there was more to life than hoeing corn and running moonshine, and set out for the big city. Working as a waitress in a doughnut shop in Washington D.C., she was discovered by a sleazy producer who convinced her to strip in his club. However, he also wanted her to strip at his place, and do more… The resourceful Blaze extricated herself from that situation, but realized stripping was the career for her. She started at Baltimore’s Two O’Clock Club and was soon in demand all over the country.
She was booked at the Sho-Bar in New Orleans where she met Governor Earl K. Long, and the rest, as they say, is history. Her long affair with the governor is the stuff of legend… and a movie! Blaze, based on this book, tells the story of the romance between the stripper and the governor. Paul Newman, as Earl Long, completely steals the show.
Throughout her story, Blaze is completely unapologetic. Yes, she has a dynamite body and big boobs and she used them to further her career. Yes, she had a well-publicized affair with the married governor, but she loved him and planned to marry him. She is honest about some of the stormy events in her life, usually involving her losing her temper and belting someone.
The story ends with Blaze considering having her memoirs written and then doing what she loves best, performing at the newly reopened Two O’Clock Club, which she owns. The afterword is a lovely note from Blaze’s mother, who is so proud of her ambitious daughter.
More reviews to come!
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 