Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

The Boston Babydolls usually do 4 big productions a year, a month-long show in February, The Expo on Easter weekend, our summer tour (June-August), and The Wrathskellar for the month of October. Due to circumstances beyond The Expo’s control, it had to be moved to the weekend before Valentine’s Day. No big February show for us, but we couldn’t just ignore Valentine’s Day. After all, it was a whole week after The Expo. And wouldn’t it be fun to have live vocals for all the songs?

And it was fun! We had two shows last night, which were *packed*, and all the acts were romantic. Sort of.

Before I get into the details, I wanted to give you one of those backstage peeks. When we do a show on a weeknight, Scratch arranges for a staff meal for the cast & crew. Many people are hustling in from their day jobs and we’d rather not have cranky hungry dancers or people running out to grab food when they should be preparing for the show. Sometimes we get a local restaurant to sponsor the show by providing the catering, sometimes Scratch cooks, but usually he just buys it, preferably from some place that does party-size orders. Last night’s dinner came from Amsterdam Falafel and it was just the right thing: tasty, not heavy, lots of veggies. And very generous portions. There’s a ton of left-overs at Babydoll Manor.

On to the show!

Act I

Betty Blaize, Devora Darling, Mina Murray: “Jilted”, sung by Alissa Coates and Stella Diamond
The song was written by The Puppini Sisters for their 3 voices, but we did just fine in two-part harmony. Betty, Devora, and I were jilted women who realize it’s much more fun flirting with one another than moping about men.

Brigitte Bisoux: “Black Coffee”/”Sugar in my Bowl”, sung by Alissa Coates
It’s the morning after and Brigitte is savoring her coffee before she gets dressed. Then she realizes she’d rather be in bed with him and undresses again. During the first show, the audio mysteriously cut out half-way through “Sugar in My Bowl”, so Alissa continued singing unaccompanied, which involved winging it during the instrumental section, until the end. The joys of live theatre, folks!

Stella Diamond: “Moonglow”
We call this one “Date Night” and it’s one of Stella’s favorites. You can see her get molested by a jacket again at The Mardi Gras Ball on March 1st.

Devora Darling: “Embraceable You”
A lovely romantic dance en pointe with long-stem roses.

Mina Murray: “Too Darn Hot”, sung by Stella Diamond
A fan dance. How could I not have one? The fans are brand-new, made by me, and I was very excited to use them for the first time. I wasn’t thrilled with how the dance had turned out. It was kind of boring and that was bugging me. Friday morning I decided to throw in a little striptease and was much happier with the results.

Betty Blaize: “All of Me”
As Betty removed her clothes, she tied the object of her affection, Stella, to a chair with them. And then abandoned her on stage.

Act II

Brigitte Bisoux, Devora Darling: “Old Folks” and “Makin’ Whoopie”, sung by Scratch
This is a brand-new duet, with Devora as an adorable housewife and Brigitte as her hubby. We were all a little surprised to discover the additional verses to “Makin’ Whoopie”.

Betty Blaize: “Someone to Watch Over Me”, sung by Alissa Coates
One of Betty’s signature numbers with her swirling white silk cape.

Brigitte Bisoux: “Let’s Misbehave”
Brigitte, as a saucy flapper, tap dances her heart out.

Devora Darling: “The Man I Love”, sung by Alissa Coates
Devora seems so sweet and innocent, but occasionally she gets obsessive…

Mina Murray: “In a Sentimental Mood”, sung by Alissa Coates and “Big Town”
This is the act I call “Champagne on Ice”, with “In a Sentimental Mood” replacing “The Exciting Life” (because of what backing tracks were available). I changed the ending a bit and I think it was well received. At least, during the second show, I heard someone say “She’s not going to…” right before the climax.

Stella Diamond, Brgitte Bisoux, Betty Blaize: “How High the Moon”, sung by Alissa Coates
This is a fun three-person fan dance with lots of mischief and one-up-manship.

And now we get a little chance to relax before our next scheduled show, The Mardi Grad Ball on March 1st. It’ll be a fabulous time!

Next up, all about The Expo. I know you just can’t wait.

Dear Constant Reader,

Last night The Boston Babydolls were delighted to appear in Ruby Besler’s Twisted Holiday Cabaret. I think this was Ruby’s first East Coast appearance. Well, first & second, as there were two shows, early & late.

We were in the back room at The Burren in Davis Square, which is an interesting place to perform. The ceiling over the stage is a little low and there were Christmas decorations hanging from it. We had to be careful, especially Brigitte with her cane, me with my fans, and Betty with, well, her amazonian stature. The dressing room scored high marks, especially for one in a bar.

Ruby is a very funny, proper, and dirty lady from 1947. She has a great deal of advice to impart to the audience, done in part by song. I particularly enjoyed her method for getting a fella. Very simple — sit with good posture, then uncross and recross your legs. Easy to remember with Ruby’s little ditty: “tummy in, neck long, shoulders back, here’s my beaver.”

It was like that all night long — advice on the advanced techniques of fellatio (“tap, tap, tap”), the best way to “jig the fig” (to a rhythm that suits your purpose), &c.

We Boston Babydolls performed one solo each between Ruby’s lessons and Brigitte doubled as stage kitten.

Betty started things off with “Blue Christmas”, which we call Mrs. Clausawitz. I think your imagination can take it from there. If not, you should be able to see her performing it on the Ali@Night show on YouTube soon.

Brigitte took a break from kittening for a high-energy tap dance to “Nut Rocker” with a spiffy light-up cane (from the workshop of Scratch).

Devora frolicked en pointe to “Snowfall”. Sexiest snow angels ever.

Scratch did a brand new magic trick in which vermouth bottles kept appearing, to his surprise, all to the tune of “It’s Martini Time”.

Stella tried to hitchhike home for the holidays to “Burlecue”. Observant fans will note that she was carrying The Innocent’s suitcase with “Fame or Bust” replaced with “North Pole or Bust”. No comment about Stella’s bust.

I closed out the burlesque with my fan dance to “Sugar Rum Cherry”. It’s one of my favorites and a crowd pleaser too. If you missed it, you can see a video here from the first time I ever performed it.

And that was the last Boston Babydolls show of 2013!

Dear Constant Reader,

I know I was a tease yesterday by mentioning that we learned from the source why there is a tap dance prohibition at UConn, but not sharing that information with you.

We originally thought it had to do with marring the stage surface and suggested bringing a tap board for Brigitte, but nope, no tapping allowed.

The culprits told Scratch that they were members of the college Tap Team and last year a dancer fell on stage and split her chin open. After that, all tap dancing was banned as too dangerous. And the irony of it all is that at the time of the accident the wounded dancer wasn’t even tapping!

Also, I forgot to mention that a reporter for the campus paper was at the show and raced home to get this story into the next day’s paper.

Dear Constant Reader,

Every once in a while I get to attend a burlesque show as a member of the audience. Almost all the Babydolls went to the debut performance of Mama Toma’s Burlesque show in part because 4 of the dancers, Dagny Vanderlust, Delilah Spring, Ginny Nightshade, and Amber BuTáne, are B.A.B.E. alumnae and most of them have also performed in a couple of Boston Babydolls’ shows and we wanted to support them. And as it turned out, Molotov Maybelle (in The Wrathskellar with Dagny & Ginny) was the stage kitten.

The show was at “The Space”, a newish art venue in reclaimed industrial space — I think it was once a garage. It was BYOB and had kind of an illicit houseparty vibe. We had been warned that seating was limited and the layout was a little weird. Both statements were accurate. There were a couple of couches, chairs and coffee tables hither and yon (contributing to the feeling this was a party in someone’s large living room). Brigitte got there early and staked out a patch for us with, as it turned out, a pretty good view of the performances. Before we knew it, the place was packed and the audience was definitely encroaching on the dancers’ space…

The opening act was a harpist who played some original music and sang. It was decidedly non-traditional harp music, tending toward the experimental. On the first song she used a bow on the strings as well as her fingers, just to give you an idea. It was certainly interesting and different, but I’d say the set was was maybe a song or two too long for this audience.

Then the main set began. Mama Toma is a drummer and the burlesque dancers were backed by her band — 2 vocalists and, I think, 5 musicians. Although it was advertised as a steampunk show, they’re really a rock & blues band. In fact, Betty, in the audience, was the most steampunk-attired person there. I was expecting original music, but I believe it was all covers.

I admire the dancers for doing their best in a smallish, crowded space with an uneven floor. Dagny’s first number was a chair dance and my heart was in my throat watching her. Remember that uneven floor I just mentioned… her otherwise very sturdy and stable chair (I know, because we generally use the same model) was rocking and tipping all over the place. She handled it, but it made for a more exciting act than I’m sure she intended.

Dancing to live music is awesome. There’s an energy that’s impossible to replicate with recorded music and it was a lot of fun to watch. All the dancers were clearly having a great time. I do wish the drums hadn’t been miked so aggressively — I spent much of the evening with my fingers in my ears. So glamourous.

A few of my favorite moments:

The encore song had all 5 dancers in robes, posing and teasing, then grabbing audience members and pulling them up on “stage”. Betty was one of the ones chosen and she never turns down an opportunity to dance.

And here’s a picture of the whole crew from Betty:

I especially want to give credit to Dagny, who was lead choreographer, costumer, and did a lot of management work.

After we dropped Brigitte off, Scratch & I realized we were starving and happened to be in the neighborhood of Myers + Chang. There was parking right there. Score. Vikki Likkerish was behind the bar. Double score. And the kitchen technically closed 10 minutes before we walked in… However, we were told if we ordered quickly, it would be okay, and it was. More than okay. The food there is always fabulous and the staff is wonderful. An excellent end to the evening.

Dear Constant Reader,

Tuesday night we performed at The Lansdowne Pub as part of their Halloween festivities. I am so glad the Sox were off that night. It was still kind of zoo-y around Fenway as everyone was getting ready to Game Six.

The Pub folks were great to us. We had the whole back room as our dressing room. It could have used a little more light, but there was plenty of room, an attentive waitress, tasty snacks, and a fireplace.
Yes, an actual fireplace, keeping us toasty warm. A warm dressing room is a relative rarity, unfortunately, and this was just delightful.

And the bar had a special menu of drinks just for the evening. I think they created “The Pasties” just for me: champagne, elderflower, fresh lemon juice, grenadine, and cherry garnish. Of course, I was too busy to enjoy one.

(Performance photos from Mystic River Studios by Rich Jarvis Photography. Crummy cell phone photos by Scratch and me.)

First up was Devora with a charming dance in which she seeks the perfect man. But what is she doing with that shovel? The fellow rolled up in the rug, by the way, is named Frank.

Then Stella sang “Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me”. It was supposed to be just a variety number (no stripping), but she convinced Scratch to let her wear her adorable Innocent dress from The Wrathskellar 2011 (bright pink, eyelet lace trim, satin sash). And then it only made sense for her to remove it. And as long as she was showing her bra, she might as well go down to pasties. The audience didn’t seem to mind.

I closed out the set with my tribute to the alleged axe-murderess of Fall River, Lizzie Borden. I was a little nervous because it involves water, and a wet, slippery stage is no fun for anyone. Scratch had provided a large plastic tablecloth and it seemed to work just fine.

Since I am The Martha Stewart of Burlesque, I packed a plastic bag in which to stow my wet underthings. However, there was this wonderful fireplace! And here are my danties drying out.

After a short break, we were back. I opened the set with my fan dace to “Jezebel”. Well, I was supposed to. iTunes chose that moment to have a hissy fit and refuse to play. Eventually Scratch & Dan the DJ beat the computer into submission and I could begin.

Then Scratch did a little trick involving a 6-inch-long metal spike, hidden under one of three cups. A successful conclusion involves 2 smashed cups and no injury. An unsuccessful one… Well, let’s just say that spike is really sharp. I can never watch when he does this one.

Stella, Devora, and I closed out the show with an adorable (if I do say so myself) dance with witch’s brooms. (Stella & I look a little hazy in the photo because we’re wearing veils over our faces).

We had a great time! If this has just whetted your appetite for burlesque, come on down to The Teaseday Club tonight. The Boston Babydolls will join Samantha Farrell and her band for a little something special.

Dear Constant Reader,

Yesterday The Boston Babydolls canceled Sunday rehearsal for the first time in ages. Why?

When Dita comes to town, everything stops. When planning The Wrathskellar (alas), we didn’t schedule a show on this day. There’s no reason to compete with the biggest burlesque act in her Boston debut.

When we Babydolls go out together, we like to make it clear we’re all together. We decided to all wear black and red and met at Eastern Standard for dinner in the Corio Lounge. It was a little tricky squeezing 7 of us around two tiny tables and having a few friends with the same pre-show plan drop by for a little socializing, but we like having dinner in the shadow of Her Majesty, The Queen.

Fortunately, the rain had stopped by the time we arrived at the House of Blues to stand on the *very* long line. There were many well-dressed people, but I was a little aghast at some women’s choice of foot wear, seeing as we were going to be standing all evening. Betty and I were wearing trusty and well-worn Fluevogs, both stylish and comfortable.

We managed to stake out a spot relatively down front, although very stage right. And waited for the show to start. And waited. I know it was after 8:30, but I didn’t check the exact start time. I only mention this because at this point we’d already been on our feet for more than an hour and a half. Thank goodness for comfortable and stylish shoes.

The show is hosted by Murray Hill, who I’ve seen many times before.

Dita, of course, opened the show with her Martini Glass act. I’m a sucker for men’s wear on women (as you know if you’ve seen some of my acts) and her tuxedo was exquisitely tailored.

Natasha “La Cholita” Estrada performed a high-energy flamenco in a dazzling ruffled costume. I think she provided the only tassel twirling of the evening, which she did with blinding speed. So fast, in fact, that she lost one of her pasties.

Lada Nikolska comes from The Crazy Horse in Paris and performed a sensual number from that show, rolling about on a couch shaped like lips. Near the end, she removed her panties while behind the couch and then lay on the top, screening herself with her thigh. Very hot. We were then surprised when she slithered down onto the couch, revealing herself sans even a merkin.

Selene Luna roared out on a diminutive motorcycle and rocked out. For a little person, she has a big presence.

Then Dita was back with her Rhinestone Cowgirl act. I knew about the mechanical bull and the encrusted costume, but I wasn’t prepared for the glittering pink tumbleweed or cactus. We were awfully amused that her bullriding music was Brigitte’s favorite “Tombstone Blues”.

During intermission I made a quick trek to check out the merch table which ran the range from $5 pens to $300 Olivia prints.

Dita opened the second half with her Bird of Paradise act. As a fan dancer, I was interested to see that she didn’t really tease with the fans. There was no conceal and reveal; she mostly used them for framing.

Monsieur Romeo from Paris was the first boylesque performer of the night with a teasing remove of his suit, cigarette never moving from his lips throughout. I thought the sexiest moment was when he held up his hand to show a wedding band and then slowly slid it off his finger. I found the ending a bit odd.

Then Murray Hill Challenge. My least favorite part of the show, but it’s part of his schtick. The winner was a woman who mentioned that she had just married her girlfriend. In addition to the regular prize (an autographed picture of Murray Hill), Dita invited them to meet her after the show. Nice!

I had no idea what to expect from Prince Poppycock. He burst out in 18th century finery, singing (actually singing — the previous 2 acts with vocals were pre-recorded) an aria from “The Barber of Seville”, while he stripped. Near the climax of the act, he gestured enthusiastically, knocking off his enormous powdered wig and his microphone with it. He just kept going, singing silently while he yanked off his wig cap and fluffed his real hair. The stage kitten (one of the Vonterage, as they were called) quickly tried to disentangle the microphone, but Murray Hill rushed on with a handheld first. It was a lovely example of keeping one’s cool in face of a potential on-stage disaster.

Perle Noire was a huge highlight of the show. I could see the Babydolls falling in love. Her strip was very good, very engaging, but her Josephine Baker-inspired banana dance was *amazing*. So high energy and acrobatic. Just dynamite.

The Opium Den closed out the show. It was everything I expected, except for the sightlines. We were standing to the stage right side of the stage and for the sequence when Dita is groped by red-gloved hands, she was standing in the back of her setpiece, stage right. The front column blocked much of the action for us. Fortunately, we got Betty to move forward so she could actually see her kindred spirit a little.

After a run to the merch table to get a program and a moment or two to chat with Murray Hill, it was after 11 and we departed, quite footsore, despite our sensible (yet stylish!) footwear, but thoroughly inspired.