Dear Constant Reader,
Friday night at The Expo is The Rhinestone Revue, a showcase of the best performers: last year’s winners, previous year’s winners, and invited guests. And The Boston Babydolls.
We’ve been working extremely hard on a brand new number for the Expo and keeping most of the details under wraps. I’ll tell you more about that later.
Unless otherwise noted, photos from Boston.com
The show was supposed to be hosted by our Legendary guests, Toni Elling, The Duke’s Delight, and April March, The First Lady of Burlesque, but a week ago, April broke her ankle in 3 places! So, Scratch helped out Toni. I couldn’t hear so well from the green room, but they did call April from stage.
The show opened with Scarlett Letter, Most Classic 2007, Best Solo 2010, doing a classic tease in purple. I’m a sucker for panel skirts, which she used beautifully. And the hair tease was incredible! Scarlett has *four feet* of red hair (and miles of bad intentions) which she took down, hid behind, and whipped around to the delight of the audience.
Special guest Willy Barrett (aka Delsarte Master Joe Paul Williams) seductively stripped… a bar of chocolate. All the while Betty Blaize and Delilah Spring fluttered their fans around and behind him. It was funny, but sensual as well. His movements are so expressive. As a final tidbit, he and his backup dancers only had one rehearsal together. You never would have guessed.
Lucy Buttons, Most Classic 2009, Queen of Rock ‘n Roll Burlesque, strutted her stuff to “Nasty Naughty Boy”. I missed most of it because I was getting ready for our act, but I know she ended up covered in glitter and a bottle of champagne was involved.
Scandal From Bohemia, Most Humorous 2010 had everyone laughing as she made a sandwich to Weird Al’s parody of “My Sharona” (look it up). My favorite part — her hair ornaments were actually giant frilly toothpicks that she thrust into the sandwich.
BettySioux Tailor, Most Beautiful 2010 rocked out to “Purple Haze”. We were back stage, rocking out to her music and watching her silhouette on the backdrop. I love the undies BettySioux is wearing — I almost got to wear them in her fashion show last summer.
Then it was our turn. We were supposed to start the act in complete darkness, but the stage right side lights were still on. And continued to stay on. I could see Linda B., our stage manager, frantically hunting though the cables, and I’m sure, at the lighting board, Hunter was gnashing his teeth. Scratch called for us to come off stage. We’d try again after intermission.
We did and all went well. More in a moment. I want to finish gushing about the other performers. I know I’m teasing you, but that’s the whole point!
The first of last year’s winners was Cherokee Rose, Most Classic. We were heading back to the green room at this point so I can’t describe the act. I’m sorry I missed this because she said it was a very dirty number and there was a riding crop involved.
Dot Mitzvah, the first ever Best Hybrid winner, did what she did best. She sang. Opera. While stripping. At one point hitting some amazing high notes while pulling off her glove with her teeth! And it was funny too.
The Shanghai Pearl, one of our special guests, performed her Bird of Paradise act with a costume inspired by a Blue and Gold Macaw. She gives such good face! And her tail wasn’t bad either! Later, her feathers were available for closer examination in the Costume Exhibit.
Paco Fish, Most Humorous, was disturbingly erotic as a judge with a special relationship with justice. And his gavel. It was quite the contrast to his high-energy cheerleader act, but still showcases his background in physical comedy.
St. Stella and James and the Giant Pastie, Most Beautiful, performed their winning number from last year. If it’s possible, it was even better. James, a statue, came to life and seduced St. Stella. For the record, I believe he posed as David, Le Penseur, and Discobolos.
Jo Weldon, another special guest, performed her act in honor of all the ladies of Pink Light Burlesque. You can see her gorgeous tribute fans in this picture, but her pasties, g-string, and shoes are equally dazzling. I’m just in awe of Jo. Her stage presence is incredible. She began the number just by standing still on stage. Every eye was riveted to her and then… she took a breath. It was like a revelation. (Photo from WBUR.org)
Burgundy Brixx, Best Solo, was just the epitome of the showgirl with a classy and elegant striptease. And then there was the boa. Oh, her boa was the perfect surprise. Far be it for me to spoil it for you.
It was all fabulous! Oh, I’m sorry, wasn’t I supposed to tell you about our number? All right, I’ll stop teasing. This was the very first time we presented this number and we were all so excited! We wanted to bring a little Vegas to Boston!
The theatre went completely dark, our music, the JXL Remix of “A Little Less Conversation” came up, and a single flashlight came on to spotlight the first dancer. We did the entire thing in the dark, lit only by penlights held by the dancers, turning on and off to tease.
It kind of looked like this:
We’re really proud of how it came out! Concept was by Scratch. Choreography by Betty. Costumes designed by Scratch and predominantly constructed by Schwartz, Betty, Devora, and myself, although everyone pitched in to rhinestone the pasties.
And this is what we looked like in the light:
(Teeth & Tits photo by Jo Weldon)
And then it was time to relax and enjoy The Last Chance Speakeasy!
Here we have the right hand side of the exhibit. Usherette costume by Scarlett Letter, The Shanghai Pearl’s “Bird of Paradise”, Wall O’ Pasties (and a few bras & g-strings), and BettySioux’s rhinestoned TV playing a slideshow of past costume exhibits.
And the left hand side. Jo Weldon’s “Nightmare”, made by Fleur de Lys, a classic costume by Burgundy Brixx, and Corinne Southern’s “The Temptation of Eve”.
In the center is The Innocent with her cheery pink dress and “Fame or Bust” suitcase. Looming around her are: 
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 