Dear Constant Reader,
The Teaseday Club opened again this past Tuesday, again not hosted by John J King (trust me, this gets funnier the more months you attend). Instead, it fell to our own Mr. Scratch to keep things moving along. Honestly, I think even if, by some miracle, John were available, Scratch would have taken this month as it marked Evie Sphinx’s last performance (only for a while, we hope) as she goes off to complete her degree.
I was in the audience this month, with a video camera, so perhaps in the future I can share a little of the fun.
(All photos from Mystic River Studios by Rich Jarvis Photography)
Set 1
Delilah Spring of The Tasty Pasties opened up the show with her fan dance to “The Mooche”. Delilah was one of my fan dance students last year and I think it shows in her performance. At least to me. I could recognize the moves I taught her and the ones she picked up from watching me.
Anthony Scibelli provided us with a stand-up comedy set. He’s a very funny guy: just Google his name + “snozzberries”.
Devora Darling performed a number from A (Re)Movable Feast which we call “Cupcakes”. It has many of her favorite things: a pink frilly costume, dancing en pointe, and a bra covered with soft-sculpture petit-fours. I know, I know that gives away the punchline, but she’s so fond of it. I think she’d wear that bra all the time if she could get away with it.
Stella Diamond sang “Paper Moon”, as she does in The Fine Art of Burlesque (last performances this weekend in New Hampshire and Maine). The lovely vintage gloves were a find from our trip to Cleveland, purchased from Miss Holly Hock at the Ohio Burlesque Festival. Stella got big cheers during the dance break in the middle of the song even though she didn’t take a thing off.
Set 2
Dagny Vanderlust of The Tasty Pasties performed “Bad Things“. I love this number because I saw it grow from an idea to a stage-worthy act in B.A.B.E.’s “Burlesque Your Way” class. I think Dagny tried out at least 4 different pairs of shoes over the life of this routine, from rhinestoned stilettos through bare feet to character shoes, before deciding on the cowboy boots. By the way, her final reveal is awesome and it’s *after* her bra comes off.
Krupp and Bubbles began with a little slight of hand from Krupp and ended with a little demonstration of the art of misdirection from Bubbles.
Evie Sphinx danced to the song Amor Fati from the new album, Softly Swooning World by Samantha Farrell, who was in the audience. Although the act was brand-new, observant fans might have noticed that she was wearing most of her “Smiling Undertaker” costume from The Wrathskellar 2012. A whole bunch of Evie’s Introduction to Burlesque students came to the show and provided her a personal cheering section.
Then some more comedy from Anthony Scibelli. He’s a writer at Cracked.com (one of my favorite time wasters) and you should check out his stuff.
Stella Diamond looked like a good girl, but as the song “Whatever Lola Wants” began playing, she gradually shed her inhibitions along with her clothing. I’m not sure which Stella enjoys more, the silly hat she wears or that the naughty magazine that gets her going is gay porn bought at a discount (it was ladies’ day at the sex shop).
Set 3
Amber BuTane of The Tasty Pasties teased all the “Momma’s Boys” in the audience with her amusing strip, which included twirling fake saggy boobs. And Amber’s actual mom was there to see her daughter in all her glory. Mother BuTane both did Amber’s hair *and* captured Mr. Scratch’s heart.
Krupp and Bubbles did a little mind reading. They had the audience toss a deck of cards randomly around and whoever caught it would flip through and pick a card, then toss it to someone else. Some of those tosses were more like pitches and many of the catches were fumbles. It was a little worrying… But there were no injuries, at least no major ones. Six people were brought up on stage and six cards were correctly named, although two of them required a little special attention.
Delilah Spring of The Tasty Pasties returned with a second fan dance plus a little striptease to “My Man”. Some of the Boston Babydolls (names withheld to protect the childish) have an awfully juvenile sense of humor. During rehearsal before the show, Kendra the Sound Gal called out from the booth “Delilah, do you want to do my man?” and there was some snickering from a particular corner.
Devora Darling, Evie Sphinx, and Stella Diamond in “A Harlequin Romance”. This act was created for Unlucky in Love (and was the only number in that show to use recorded music). They performed it again at The Expo 2012 to such acclaim that The Shanghai Pearl wanted to award them her trophy (but it has to go to one of the acts in competition). I was so happy to see it one more time. It’s a lovely blend of commedia dell’arte (from Scratch), ballet (from Evie and Devora), striptease, and classic comedy (a la Sid Ceasar and Nanette Fabray). They got a standing ovation.
The next meeting of The Teaseday Club will be September 10th. See you there!
Peril S. Curves started things off with a little Star Spangled Burlesque. I hate to spoil surprises, but the joke is too good. Peril’s pasties have pinwheels on them. She used to use an electric fan to make them twirl, but it was too complicated and prone to technical difficulties. So, she asked Sarah and our stage kitten to provide the breeze. As Sarah said, it wasn’t the first time someone asked her to blow them at a show. But it was the first time she said yes!
Sari Kalin presented a little Porch-i-oke. What’s that you ask? It’s a sing-a-long lead by Sari on her accordion. A couple of audience members volunteered for enthusiastic participation on stage, wearing large signs that designated their purpose, like “RING” for the one with the cowbell. And everyone sang “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” with the help of their handy lyric sheets.
Fonda Feeling brought some Game of Thrones-themed burlesque. I’m afraid I can’t comment more that that as I’m woefully ignorant on the topic (I know, I know, I’m probably the only person who isn’t reading the books or watching the show). Just enjoy the picture.
Baseema performed a bellydance with zills (that’s the Turkish name for finger cymbals. Consider the day lost in which you learn nothing.) We’re awfully glad she could join us when the previously scheduled bellydancer was injured. I was backstage getting ready, so I sadly didn’t get to see her dance.
Kitty Drexel opened the second set by singing “
Fonda Feeling‘s real love is circus burlesque. As well as stripping, she also performed acts of balance and flexibility that were quite astonishing. It’s even more awe-inspiring when you know that (as she puts it) 3 years ago she couldn’t touch her toes. The music was 
Sarah Blodgett, comedy’s Funny Honey, gave us a little taste of her stand-up act.
Vikki Likkerish presented her signature Muff ‘n’ Mix act in honor of her birthday, just days before.
Baseema stunned the crowd by dancing with two swords. I’ve seen a lot of bellydancers use a sword before, but Baseema’s dance just took my breath away. Her skill with manipulating those swords so powerfully and yet gracefully was simply incredible.
Peril S. Curves opened the final set with a debut act! She came out looking just like Barbie. Do you know what Barbie looks like after you take her dress off? Yes, that’s exactly how Peril appeared! Then she removed that layer… I’m not going to spoil this one because it’s brand-new, but you have never seen Barbie look that way!
Kitty Drexel returned to sing “
Vikki Likkerish also presented a new act. It was an etherial striptease with layers of pink chiffon to a version of “Addicted to Love”.
Sari Kalin brought back Porch-i-oke with “Love is the Drug”.
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 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.
Our special guest for the show was 
King Evie fights battles, receives her crown, and knights her loyal followers, all while shedding clothing and armor. Black-clad Stella, Lara & Ginny play the opposing army, Evie’s subjects, and scenery.
This act was several years in the works and I’m so glad to finally have presented it. I originally thought of myself as being Queen Titania, but we already had a Midsummer act, so I became Ariel. It was a toss up between that and Queen Mab from Romeo and Juliet. There’s no shortage of faeries in Shakespeare. I’m really happy with this costume, which came out pretty much as I wanted. I have to thank 
We certainly weren’t the first to re-interpret Shakespeare. We had to pay tribute to the great Kiss Me Kate. (Seriously, songs by Cole Porter? We’d have been fools to ignore that opportunity.) Stella’s got a great Broadway voice and excellent comic timing. She lounged against the bar, insulting male patrons as she sang. None of them seemed to mind.
Betty’s tribute to the Queen of the Nile, longing for her Antony. There’s no striptease, but who cares — Betty dances with a sword. She routinely stunned the audience when she balanced it on her head and then slid into a low lunge and down onto one knee (while wearing high heels, no less). I love Betty’s costume for this, which I suspect was made from one of the many saris she brought back from India. Scratch introduced her as a performer with “great pyramids and a killer asp”.
We couldn’t present a tribute to Shakespeare without acknowledging his work as a poet. Brigitte wanted to present a modern dance to a spoken word piece, so everything worked out nicely. Lara recited the first sonnet (“When, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes”, then there was a little musical interlude, and Scratch read the second sonnet (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”). Poetry in motion, Scratch called Brigitte.
We were the Three Weird Sisters, only cuter. Devora had a magic wand that forced us to take off our clothes. When we joined together against her, the wand wouldn’t work against its owner and we had to rip off her clothes the old-fashioned way. Many thanks to Scratch for building us a wand that would come apart into 3 sections on cue.
We had 2 couples running away into the woods, but sadly, both the guys wanted Hermia (Ginny) leaving poor Helena (Me), sad and unwanted. But I upstaged everyone in the end! Most amusing part of this act was Betty & Devora in white suits, kind of like the one Scratch was wearing to host.
Brigitte & Butch dance adorably together until Brigitte goes in for a kiss and comes away with Butch’s mustache. Butch is slowly revealed to be Stella! Everyone’s favorite moment is when Brigitte reaches into Stella’s jeans and pulls out a couple of long socks knotted together. From backstage we would hear this huge swell of laughter and know they had just revealed The Dick Sock. Everyone loved The Dick Sock.
I’ll be honest with you. This act wasn’t actually inspired by Shakespeare. Evie & Devora created it for The Wrathskellar, but Devora wasn’t able to be a part of the show, because of several broken bones. They planned to perform it at the Marathon, but a week before, Evie broke her foot. (From now on everyone gets bubble wrap suits.) It was just too good to allow to go fallow, so Scratch put it in this show. He thought about making it our tribute to Richard III (“Was ever woman in this humour wooed? Was ever woman in this humour won?”), but decided to use it to show the power of the sort of simple stage devices Shakespeare would have used and how the audience was willing, nay, wanted, to believe. Special thanks to Richard Gilbert of 
Scratch says that during the research for this show, he found a reference in Pepys’ diary to a scene in The Merchant of Venice which did not appear in the First Folio. He and Ginny recreate that missing scene. It’s actually an old burlesque comedy routine, known as “Post Office”. Yes, it’s old and corny, but still fun.
From Denmark With Love, a James Bond/Hamlet mash-up opens in May and we thought it would be appropriate to give our audience a sneak preview. Creator John J King and a roster of lovely singers presented “Ophelia” (to the tune of “Goldfinger”). The picture shows Emily Hecht, but we were also graced by frequent Babydoll songbird Alissa Coates and a couple of others whose names I can’t remember right now.
As the show began, so did it end, with disembodied voices quoting Shakespeare. This time they were asking questions (“Is this a dagger I see before me?”) occasionally peppered with the title of this song. I will confess, this act didn’t have much to do with Shakespeare. It’s been the finale to our last couple of Valentine’s shows and we like it a lot. Sometimes Scratch sings it for us, but he got a break this show. And we got new parasols! I do like the mix of colors; it makes us look even more like a flower garden.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 