The week in a flash.

•09/07/2012 • Leave a Comment

Tonight you will find 50% of Burlesque Seattle Press at Sinner Saint Burlesque’s current show, The Hot Seat… but before we depart, here’s this week’s burlesque news in links:

The documentary film by Wes Hurley that gets inside the head and rifles through the private drawers of Waxie Moon is now in stock and ready for shipping directly into your eager little hands OVER HERE. The updated dvd version of Waxie Moon features more performance footage and extra features, and in case you missed it- Wes’s video for The Little Penguins “Shoes” was featured yesterday as a “Lunchtime Quickie” on Slog. (Since we’re on the subject of increasing your audio/visual library, I’d also recommend checking out the latest album from The Little Penguins, Shapes and Shadows, OVER HERE.

As for that video…”Shoes” stars Waxie Moon, Sarah Rudinoff, Marya Sea Kaminski and Sinner Saint Burlesque’s Polly Wood.

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Next week, Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann remount Through the Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice in Wonderland (September 12-15) at The Triple Door. Get tickets HERE, and revisit my lengthy interview with Jasper himself from April 2011 OVER HERE.

The cast of Alice in the Rose Garden (Photo by Christopher Nelson)

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Meanwhile, in New York:  the 10th Annual New York Burlesque Festival and 2012 Golden Pastie Awards nominations are going on now, with votes to be cast through the end of the month. Winners will be announced at the Highline Ballroom on Sunday, September 30…and where do those coveted pasties come from, you might wonder? Why from none other than the TwirlyGirl herself, Miss Indigo Blue.

 

If you’re visiting the Big Apple later this fall, it was recently announced that Dita Von Teese will bring Burlesque: Strip Strip Hooray! to the Gramercy Theatre in NYC at the end of October. Tickets are available in a special pre-sale from Sept 4th and will be on general sale from Sept 7th via Livenation’s Dita connection.

 

 

Undressed to Kill and news from the Screws.

•08/30/2012 • Leave a Comment

Violet Tendencies of Stripped Screw (POC Photo)

There’s been a ton of news out of Stripped Screw headquarters over the last month.  In mid-July Violet Tendencies lent her copious talents to the character of Daenaerys Targaryen in Stark Naked: A Nerdlesque Tribute to Game of Thrones (a production dreamed up by Wiggy Stardust and longtime BSP contributor Madeline Rider, aka FauxDust). At the end of the month, Stripped Screw launched a brand new show, Undressed to Kill, which switched things up a little, directionally speaking. The seductive Kylie Koyote played a more comedic role in the provocative new show, while an unusually poker-faced Kutie LaBootie played up her femme fatale side. Violet Tendencies recently sent over a selection of images taken by POC, which we’ll get to in a moment. For those of you dreaming of upping your game to the next sparkly level, carefully put down that hot glue gun for just a moment and ponder this Stripped Screw audition call:

As we head into our fourth exciting year, Stripped Screw Burlesque is expanding! Stripped Screw Burlesque likes to keep a sharp edge. Focusing on the movement and the meaning behind it, we are not all about glam. We like to think of what we do as post-modern burlesque and we are looking to add some bright new burlesque talent to our ranks.

Auditions will be held Sunday October 21st from 1-4 pm in Lower Queen Anne, Seattle.

We are looking for performers with:

· A solid dance background
· Some burlesque experience
· The desire to be part of a troupe
· The ability to fulfill troupe responsibilities as well as personal booking responsibilities
· The capacity to work well with others
· An imaginative and creative Burlesque point of view

We are also open to performers with musical and acting backgrounds. Come prepared to learn and perform a bit of choreography and with a solo act (preferably burlesque, but can be any type of act) to perform. Call-backs will include a troupe interview component.  Please send your headshot and performance bio/resume to strippedscrew@gmail.com to be considered for one of the limited open spots. Stripped Screw is an entirely self-producing troupe so please include any relevant producing, marketing or administration experience. RSVPs are REQUIRED for participation in the audition; the address of the audition will be sent upon the receipt of your materials.

Next up for Stripped Screw’s bevy of beauties…you can catch Violet this week in Burlesque for Barack at West Hall; Kylie will moonlight over at Rebar in A Burlesque Affair to Remember.  Coming up in October, the ladies revamp Keep It Up! with a few surprises and special guests.   The show doubles as a third anniversary for the troupe, who have triumphed over more than their share of growth and excitement since their inception.  “Auxiliary Screw” Roxie Moxie will return to Seattle especially for Keep It Up Again.   

In even more satellite news, some may know that Roxie now shakes her tail-feathers in Austin alongside another ex-Seattle performer, Sassy Delure.  The two have been running the hit monthly variety show series Lowbrow @The Highball in Austin, but they’re just not quite busy enough.  The two have formed a triumvirate of modern theatrical dance with Frannie Brown called Avant Glam Cabaret. If you know someone in the Austin area,  spread the word on yet another call for talent:

Austin’s newest theatrical dance cabaret is looking for talent! Avant Glam Cabaret focuses on the innovative and unconventional side of cabaret, burlesque, and other variety show/entertainment arts – all presented in one sparkling, glitzy, glam-tastic, over-the-top package. Artistic director and choreographer Sassy Delure (aka Sass E Delure FB), burlesque bombshell Roxie Moxie, and bellydancer/musician Frannie Brown currently make up this ultimate avant garde glam trio, but we need a few more dazzling performers to complete our ensemble.

Can you dance? Are you comfortable on stage? Can you learn choreography? Do you like wearing (and making) outrageous costumes, wigs and make-up? Do you have any other theatrical talents you simply MUST share with the world? Then we’d love to see you on September 12th or 16th!

There will be two portions to the audition – a choreography portion and an individual audition piece (if you wish to show an individual piece). Bring clothing suitable for a dance class and appropriate dance shoes (if you are female, preferably with a heel). Dance experience is highly preferred. Burlesque experience also preferred, but not required. For individual auditions, you may bring any type of act you wish as long as the act is fewer than 5 minutes long.  Please send your performance resume and photo to sassydelure@gmail.com and roxie@roxiemoxie.com and we’ll contact you with further info. Please note there are TWO audition dates to choose from: Wednesday, September 12th @ 8 p.m. and Sunday, September 16th @ 3p.m. We will be sending out the location for the auditions soon.

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Without further delay, now feast your eyes on Violet’s selection of photos taken by POC at last month’s Stripped Screw Burlesque Presents: Undressed to Kill:

Picks of the (g)litter August 25 – September 1: Ready, set GO!

•08/25/2012 • Leave a Comment

While the eagerly anticipated and first of two sold out weekends of Whedonesque Burlesque is going on at the Theatre Off Jackson (check back for pix and a guest review coming soon), one is left to wonder what Our Lady of Nerdlesque – Jo Jo Stiletto – may get up to next.  So far this summer she’s been to the University of British Columbia attending Slayage 5 (the Whedon Studies Association’s biannual conference on the Whedonverses), she’s found time to contribute to BSP on the limitless joys of fandom, and she’s been interviewed by GeekWire on the “Summer of Nerdlesque”.  She’s also got enough ideas bouncing around that oh-so-brainy little head of hers to keep her busy (and keep fans of general geekery blissed out) for a long, long time.  Not long ago Jo Jo and I chatted about a possible hatching of the Burle-X-Files,  and in typical historian-like fashion, she dug up this picture knowing that I’m a fan of both Scully and the 1954 film Creature from the Black Lagoon.

When obsessions collide, brains melt. If you missed out on Whedonesque, don’t despair: Jo Jo Stiletto is one to watch for some serious innovation and unbridled creativity in burlesque in the coming year.

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Meanwhile, over at West Hall The Shanghai Pearl and friends are gearing up to deliver their politically-inspired opus Burlesque for Barack.  The invitation flyer for the August 31 fundraiser is quite dignified, but don’t expect a show put together by Shanghai to be the same.  She’s a lady that can bring out the dirty side in anyone, especially when faced with a future of compromised reproductive rights and the promotion of self-interest over equal rights.

The “money raising mayhem” will feature performances by:

EL VEZ
ARMITAGE SHANKS
THE LUCHADORES OF LUCHA LIBRE VOLCANICAS
ERNIE VON SCHMALTZ
FUCHSIA FOXXX
From Stripped Screw: VIOLET TENDENCIES
From Sinner Saint Burlesque: DOÑA DEI CUORI and DIVA LE DEVIANT
ALEKSA MANILA
HOLLY BORDEAUX
FLIRTY SANCHEZ & BELLA BIJOUX
HEIDI VON HAUGHT
RANDI RASCAL
SCANDAL FROM BOHEMIA
and THE DAVID GUILBAULT BAND

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Finally,  my pick for show poster of the week:

If you don’t recognize the clever tribute, let me refresh your memory.  When pressed to reveal what her preferred sleepwear was, Marilyn Monroe famously answered:  “What do I wear in bed? Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.”

The globe-trotting Jacqueline Hyde has been performing since 2005 in festivals from New York to Paris, Milan, and Rome. Known for her ballroom and Latin dance influences, she is also a producer and teaches through the Jacqueline Hyde International School of Burlesque and Cabaret Arts.  She’s a beloved friend of the Seattle burlesque community and is producing A Burlesque Affair to Remember as a special kiss to her Seattle performance family before heading back to the East Coast for more Jacqueline Hyde Presents events.

The September 1 affair will be a fitting end to a busy season of shows.  Miss Kitty Baby will perform a new act she has affectionately referred to as “juicy”, and the cast will be rounded out by seasoned pros like Sinner Saint’s Polly Wood and Stripped Screw’s Kylie Koyote.  Jacqueline herself will also peform alongside Whisper De Corvo, Pinky Shines, EmpeROAR Fabulous, and Sir Eddie Van Glam. Diva le Déviant will host.  Get tickets over HERE.

Get a rubdown with Olympia’s own TUSH! Burlesque.

•08/18/2012 • 1 Comment

Can I get an ‘amen’? Princess Lucky Buttons: one in a series of bootyshots by TUSH!’s Lowa DeBoomboom

What’s way more fun (and far more useful) than a wet tshirt contest? A whole lotta TUSH! washing cars to get those fine, fine bottoms to BurlyCon. You know you want to get an eyeful and get clean at the same time…and on a Sunday no less- how very cheeky. The hard working ladies can be found at Bettie Beelzebub’s Oly Vegan parking lot on Sunday August 19th from 12 to 4pm (313 5th Ave SE, Olympia- behind Rainy Day Records). Get your car washed by some of the sweetest hands around. $5.00 minimum donations and tips will be handsomely rewarded. And maybe you’ll get to see the magnificent Princess Lucky Buttons…

Proceeds will help raise funds for the über-creative troupe’s annual trip to BurlyCon.

Burlycon is a community-oriented professional growth and educational convention for Burlesque performers, fans, and aficionados. For its fifth year, BurlyCon will be held in Seattle the weekend of November 1 to 4. BurlyCon will offer classes, workshops, panels, a vendor fair, and social events. BurlyCon is committed to providing an affordable opportunity for performers of all levels to learn, grow, and develop their skills.

And there’s still more news from our friends in Olympia- Darlinda Just Darlinda will once again join TUSH! (some may recall Dangerous Curves Ahead: Burlesque on the Go Go performed with TUSH! at the Capitol Theater last year) for two shows on Wednesday, September 5. TUSH! is nothing if not deliciously, deviously collaborative. The Hump Day Burlesque Extravaganza at Jake’s on 4th will also feature Seattle’s Heidi Von Haught, Randi Rascal, Portland’s Baby Le Strange, and from Olympia’s newest troupe Rock Candy, Perlita Picante.

Love Italian style: Burlesco DiVino in pictures.

•08/16/2012 • 1 Comment

~ All photos by Paul O’Connell (POC Photo)

Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann created a new work specifically for the Triple Door’s Summer Of Riesling celebration: Burlesco DiVino: Wine in Rome (which ran August 8 -10 at The Triple Door) explored a wine-rich Italian culture across the ages with style and sensuality.

With Lily and Jasper, would you expect anything less? What follows is a selection of POC’s favorite images from the show:

Lily Verlaine: always the center of attention.

The incomparable Jasper McCann