Burlesque Seattle Press

Australia’s Captain Kidd

With less than a week until KINGS: A Boylesque Extravaganza hits Seattle’s expansive Triple Door, the first thing we need to divulge is that as of this writing, the only remaining tickets are Standing Room Only. The second bona fide fact is the distinguished male peelers prepared to tease you into submission will remind you why your knickers got in such a twist about burlesque in the first place. The all-male revue features multiple Burlesque Hall of Famers and contemporary boylesque legends from around the world all gathered under one roof for one gigantic show.

The announcement of KINGS seemed to pop up out of nowhere, reaching nearly sold out capacity in lightning speed. But it wasn’t really out of nowhere, of course- the showcase was carefully planned by the industrious and ever-artful minds of filmmaker Deirdre Timmons (A Wink and A Smile), and Paula the Swedish Housewife- aka, The Swedish Housewife Presents- or most recently, the performer paulanow.

Paula took a few moments on the fly this week to talk with us about KINGS. (We also recently chatted with one of the show’s stars, Jett Adore, and will post that interview in the coming days).

BSP: HI Paula! It’s been a while since we’ve seen a show from The Swedish Housewife Presents, although you were involved with and hosted reProduction (the NARAL benefit) last summer, a cause that’s important to you I know. We’ve missed you! Where have you been??

Paula: What I want to say is, I’ve been hiding in my bear cave playing Goldie Locks and eating blueberries and salmon…but truthfully I’ve taken a much needed break from production, performance and burlesque. Last August I started working on a one-woman show that I intend to perform this Fall as paulanow, my new performance identity as no one but my family can pronounce our last name.

The Swedish Housewife Presents and The Swedish Housewife have been allocated as “a gun for hire” and not self-producing any longer…possibly interested in hosting (so if anyone out there wants to hire her, contact away!).

BSP: What moved you to do a show focused solely on boylesque this time around?

Paula: I am doing this project to support Deirdre Timmons’ next film KINGS (as you see the show and the film have the same name). KINGS is a fictional comedic madcap road-trip about six boylesque performers competing to become the next King of Burlesque. Though Deirdre has directed and produced two feature-length documentaries and has been kicking around getting dirty in the burlesque scene for many years now, this will be her debut fictional narrative film. Read: This is not a documentary!

BSP: You’ve been both discerning & fortunate in your career as a producer and performer to work with people who are a cut above, the best in their genres. How did you go about selecting the cast for this show? (They come from all over but are all title holders…?)

Paula: I am fortunate to have discerning taste 😉 Heck, over the years I’ve just pursued the performers who wow and inspire me, and was fortunate that they said “Yes!”.

The talent in this show is crazy, all the men are fantastic. Mat Frazer and Waxie Moon are not title holders, Mat has never competed for a title, while Miss(ter) Moon has. In my eyes Waxie is a winner, a King, and an exceptional boylesque dancer who elevates the art form every time he sets foot on a stage. Deirdre is really responsible for the casting for this particular show; some of the talent are doing some initial screen testing for the film. But you are correct, The Swedish Housewife has always had very high standards when producing burlesque, she was very dedicated to elevating the art form, an important thing to do when presenting women on stage removing their clothing.

BSP: What do you think makes boylesque so exciting at this particular point in time? It’s definitely gaining visibility the last year or two, although it’s not a new genre by any means…

Paula: Many of the men come to burlesque with a bag full of tricks — training in theater, dance or circus arts – tricks that take years to hone.

Oh dear … am I really going to go there? Yes, I am. Men are not dealing with the sheer quantity of bland competition. The burlesque scene is simply drowning in female performers – and many are just not that talented or bringing anything new to the stage.

BSP: Proceeds from this show will go in part to help with the making of Deirdre’s new film. How long have you known each other, and how would you say you function & mesh together artistically on this project?

Paula: Deirdre is shooting the show for media that can be used for her trailer and for an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for this film, which is in its baby steps of development.

The proceeds of this production do not begin to cover the costs of the show. Flying in, feeding and housing international talent from Australia, NY, London, Chicago and LA, let alone bringing in videographers, photographers, and renting camera equipment, can get astronomically expensive. The Indiegogo campaign will help raise development funds for KINGS. These funds are needed to pay for such film pre-production costs as script development, budgeting, scheduling, storyboarding, financing and legal fees, fundraising costs, music rights, and creating a teaser video. Pre-production – the first part of making a film – can be and usually is — the most complicated part of pulling a project together, something people often don’t realize.

I see this show as more of a big decadent gift to the Seattle burlesque community from Golden Echo films. This is not what one would call a sustainable show model, which is why The Swedish Housewife Presents is not presenting anymore (again, gladly a gun for hire ;))

High standards come at a high price.

I met Deirdre when she was making A Wink and A Smile. I offered to produce a fundraiser for her and also offered up the band I was in at the time, Orchestra Le POW!, to play the show. Loren Dutton and Dain Hudson wrote some fantastic original music for the film, which really helped Deirdre’s film project as sync rights to use music in films is astronomical (case in point, she had to drop two little-known songs from the film at the Nth Hour because the music rights would have cost $20,000 per song!). A Wink and A Smile has had great exposure on Netflix, cable, in theaters and now in Australia, but it has only made money for distributors (common for indie filmmakers, just like modern-day burlesque performers!).

I don’t know how long I’ve known Deirdre. I just always say ten years as a default, whether it is true or not. So I’ve known Deirdre ten years. This project is all hers, I’m just taking care of the logistics of producing the live show … and telling Deirdre, “No,” a lot.

p.s. The audience will be shot during the show so everyone should dress up and smile BIG for the camera. Enjoy the show!

*****

Scoop up the last remaining tickets to KINGS: A Boylesque Extravaganza by clicking HERE.

~ by angrytruffle on 03/22/2013.

Posted in Written by Jessica
Tags: boylesque, Deirdre Timmons, KINGS, paulanow, The Swedish Housewife