2012-12-21 Atlanta Xmas Apocalypse

So the end of the world was supposed to happen on Dec 21, 2012...obviously that didn't happen.  To celebrate this auspicious occasion, 7 Stages with The Little Five Points Rock Star Orchestra decided to put together a holiday show hosted by Santa with  Satan, Black Jesus, The Grinch, Scrooge, Mrs. Claus, Krampus singing while there was burlesque, aerials, sacrifices, crucifixions, pericers, suspensions and more Virgin Marys then you can shake a stick at!  This was actually their 4th year of having a blasphemous Xmas, however, with it being the end of the world they decided they were going to step it up a notch!  I was lucky enough to be asked by Heidi Howard, the director, to Stage Manage. I also worked with Dee Dee Chmielewski on costumes (most either she had made for the previous years or she and I raided and altered out of our personal stashes) and some how I let them talk me into performing as well.  And did I mention that we put the whole show together in under a week?

We had some meetings a few weeks before to go over an outline.  The Friday  one week, before the show we had a band rehearsal so they could get familiar with the music.  Monday we had a meet and greet to go over the outline of the show, assign final parts and talk through everything that we needed to do while the band hand one last music rehearsal with just them and the singers in the other room.  Tuesday, we brought in the band and staged the first half of the show.  Wednesday we ran through what we had already staged and then finalized the staging for the end of the show.  Thursday we had our preview show with a modest audience, mostly friends of the performers that couldn't make it out for the show on Friday due to other commitments.  Friday, the most awesome, amazing show in the whole world!

By Stungun Photography

I am always amazed yet never surprised by what this group can accomplish.  After working with most of them during Dracula, we definitely have a comfort level for working together, but A WEEK?  Seriously, everything came together in the amazing cacophony of chaos that only worked because of everyone's dedication, perseverance, and willingness to never say no but always saying "yes, we can totally make that work!" no matter how weird or insane an idea was.  I am honored to get to continue to work with this amazing group of people and I was so glad that I was able to pull in some of my burlesque and circus family into this show.  I keep joking that I am happiest hiding in a dark theater, but really I am happiest being around amazingly wonderful and creative people!

4 Week Begining Lyra Classes

Sadie Hawkins Photo by La Photographie Nashville  

About a month ago I was done with Dracula: The Rock Opera, I was done with Imperial OPA's Masked Charade and was closing on the end of my semester and had a month before Atlanta Xmas Apocalypse... what was I going to do with my time?  I mean, I had to finish up school but I was going to have all this free time on my hands and we can't have that!  My friend, Sadie Hawkins, (who is an amazing performer with many aerial apparatuses, burlesque and fire) happened to post that she was going to be teaching a 4 week beginner lyra class series at Kinetic Hive that fit perfectly into my month off!

It was both easier and harder then I thought it would be.  I had taken a few classes from her maybe three(?) years before so some of it I had done before, but that didn't mean I remembered any of it.  The class was small, there were only three of us, so with Sadie showing us what to do we each got about 15 minutes on the lyra per class.  That does not sound like much, but as we were all beginners none of us needed to be on my longer than that as it's a very intensive work out that uses all of your muscles. We worked on different mounts, positions, and moved fairly quickly through a bunch of different things in a very short period of time.  So there I was, hanging from the ceiling, sometimes by only one hand and maybe one foot, doing splits in the air, sometimes upside down and sometimes doing flips around the ring.  Yeah, is under a month she had us doing flips and they were awesome!  I will say that I was often sore and ended up with bruises in places that made me look kind of like a battered junkie whore, but they were all worth it!  My word of advice is this: after class, drink about a liter of water (I drink water that has electrolytes in it) and take some Ibuprofen before you go to bed.  This will help keep your muscles hydrated and keep them from getting too sore.

Even at only one night a week I feel a lot more confident about being up on the lyra and I am planning on taking more classes from her in January.  Also, Kinetic Hive has some Aerial Jam time which means that you can come in and spend time with the aerial equipment to work at your own pace with lots of other people.  They also have an aerial conditioning class to help build up muscle and flexibility for aerial skills.  I am seriously thinking of doing some drop ins for those before the classes start back up in January so I don't loose any of my skills or strength during the break and can go further with this.  I am not really planning on performing on lyra, but this is a great time that is way more fun then going to the gym!

2012-12-08 6th Annual Tits for Toys for Tots Show

Flier by Design Kitty Studios

So last night I produced the 6th Annual Tits for Toys for Tots show for Syrens of the South at The Five Spot.  Each year we've managed to collect a bunch of toys to send home with the marine at the end of the night.  This year his car was so filled that there were still four or five boxes left behind for a later pick-up!  One of my favorite things about our holiday show is that it embraces all winter holidays.  Sure, we have lots of Christmas references, but we have also had visits from the Chanukah Fairy, Solstice fairies, Kwanzaa tributes, or just wintery snow angels gracing the stage and this year was no different.

We opened the show with Good Golly Svengali playing some amazing tunes for the crowd who got there early to ensure seating as we were standing room only again this year.  We did have a special guest MC for the show, Mr Cutty McGill was cracking jokes and introducing the acts for us on Saturday.  He's done a lot of work with 7 Stages over the years and we were thrilled to have him come play with us and he did an amazing job so I do hope he'll want to come work with us again in the future.  This show had a lot of firsts, Victoria Rose, Persephone Phoenix, Tru Bliss and Brie Brioche did their first show since graduating in August and they all did an amazing job!  Bourgeois Betty graced our stage again, but this time as an Atlanta local!  We had some Syrens debuts on stage as well, The Gentleman Callers from Athens did an amazing group boylesque routine that made me smile so much my face hurt and Vivian Kyle graced our stage for the first time with her amazing burlesque trapeze act where she went down to pasties for the very first time and Nipsy Tussle traveled all the way from Salome Cabaret in Knoxville to be a part of the holiday fun.

Photo by Fritz Pietrzak

We also had some of our long time Syrens veterans, Chad Sanborn dazzling the audience with his amazing magician skills, Rosie Palms (aka Kitty Love) doing her Christmas Island routine that has become a holiday staple, Brandy Noir shaking her martini, Ursula Undress debuted an amazing new routine that was tongue in cheek, or I guess I should say tail in cheek!  We also welcomed Burnadette Cinders back to the stage for the first time in almost 2 years!  Her last show with us was when we opened for The Dresden Dolls right before she left for maternity leave, we were thrilled to welcome her back into the family this past Saturday because that's what you do around the holidays.

We did have one bitter sweet moment with D'lilah D'lite as this was her last show with us as a local Atlanta performer.  With the new year she will be starting her new life in NOLA.  She has been an amazing performer, the queen of our pastie sweatshop, and has been teaching vintage hair and pastie making for Syrens for years now and has been a part of our family.  We all wish her the best and though we will miss her I guess this means we'll have to make a point to visit NOLA more and make sure to book her as a guest performer when she's in town!

Thank you again to everyone that came out and brought toys to help us bring some holiday cheer to those a little less fortunate.  Syrens of the South's next show at The Five Spot will be on February 9 for our Vixen's Valentease show and we hope to see you all then!  Charity is TBD, we are happy to take suggestions!

2012-12-05 Whoville Christmas Show

Though most of you know I do burlesque, I also happen to have done years of theater from serious roles to musicals.  Yup, this ecdysiast is also a thespian.  Deeds was asked by Luminocity to put together a cast of around 10 performers for Life University's Holiday party.   The theme was a Whoville Christmas. We rehearsed the choreography, got zany costumes, threw in a little body stacking, and some singing and boom, SHOW!  Dee Dee put the entire show together in about two weeks from digging out the costumes, choosing the music, picking the performers (and replacing the ones that ended up having conflicts) and creating the choreography.  It was a blast to do and the audience seemed to really enjoy it. I know if I thought I was at a boring Christmas party and then people in crazy outfits and insane hair started popping out of wrapped presents I would be entertained!



So yeah, sometimes it's really nice to be on the other side of the stage.  I've been stage managing a lot more lately and not spending as much time on stage.  It was a lot of fun, I got to wear a fun costume, crazy hair and some really silly shoes.  Mostly, this is a yay I got to do something cool post with some pics!

2012-12-01 Hillbilly Casino Rock'n'Roll Christmas Show

I really wasn't going to go out on Saturday.  Friday I had the Atlanta Xmas Apocalypse meeting to hand out the info to everyone, and go over costume ideas to see what we already had, which led to chatting, which led to a few drinks, which led to silliness and led to me not getting home until 2:30am.  So on Saturday I was planning on just dropping off some costumes at 7 Stages for Dee Dee to use for an upcoming show and ended up hanging out and grabbing lunch.  Then hung out some more and we ended up running some errands and lost about two hours watching L&O:SVU.  I was going to go home because I had been kind of dragging all day and was pretty sleepy but Dee Dee convinced me that we needed to actually go out and do something that didn't not involve us working on a show.  She threw one of her shirts on me, we slapped on some make-up and went out to the Star Bar.

When we got there the show had already started with Cletis & His City Cousins.  They were fun, I wish I had gotten to see a little more of their set, but with showing up late and then running into about 20 people I knew as soon as I walked in, I was just not in a position to pay as close attention as I would have liked. So we grabbed some drinks, chatted and enjoyed the last bit of their set.

Second was Ghost Riders Car Club.  They were fun and the reason that Dee Dee wanted to go out in the first place since she's friends with many of the band members so we wandered up to the front of the stage running into more people I haven't seen in forever.  I've been really bad about going out and seeing people, but I digress...  They were fun, amazing music and awesome to watch on stage.  GRCC made you want to dance around and just enjoy life which was a nice change from the school, work and more work routine that I've been keeping the last few months.  Afterwards Deeds wanted to go back stage to say hi so we wandered back there for a few before coming back out.

Hillbilly Casino were the headliners and there for closed out the show.  They were fun, had high energy and were rocking out.  At that point it was getting pretty late and I was pretty wiped out so we didn't stay for the entire set.  

Over all very fun evening, Rev Andy's next big show will be HollyFest on Feb 2 at The Star Bar.

2012-11-29 Brass Band Blow Out at The Five Spot

So Tuesday we finish up our meeting for Atlanta Xmas Apocalypse and I am checking my calendar to realize that we moved our next meeting from Thursday to Friday so I can now go to the Brass Band Blow Out that some friends are playing.  The problem, when everyone you know going is on stage, who do you stand in the back and drink with while making comments?  Luckily, while talking this out, Heidi said she would go with me, so on Thursday I got my girl date on and went to the Brass Band Blow Out at The Five Spot.  The band line-up was Good Golly Svengali, Black Sheep Ensemble, and Mercury Orkestar.

For those that don't know, Good Golly Svengali is the name of that awesome band you guys listen to when you come see The Imperial OPA Circus.  Yes, they have a name and are a band in their own right, not just the soundtrack for the hi jinx you watch on stage.  They've been doing more gigs as just the band and branching out all of their original music from just what you would expect to hear while watching acrobats balance on each other and then fly through the air with the greatest of ease.  They've added in a lot more guitar and some very funky rifts an even though it was not an OPA show there were improv dancers popping up all over the bar that felt moved by the music.  They were the only band who had guitars, a violin and an accordion   The rest of the night's bands were almost entirely brass.  Wango and Pyramid are super funky and may be my favorites out of the new tunes, but there will always be a place in my heart for Sketchy Gypsy.  I did love the addition of Lorenzo, who plays sax, singing a French folk song.  After four years of High School French I could not understand a word.  Heidi was translating it for me, it sounded pretty dirty but I suppose everything in French sounds dirty.  For the final song Black Sheep Ensemble came out to play along with Good Golly Svengali and that was the most brass I have ever seen played at one time outside of a symphony or orchestra.  The Five Spot was so full of performers playing and dancing around that you could feel the resonance in your entire body.

Black Sheep filled the stage with performers, easily 20 musicians on stage.  They did a great job but I'm not as familiar with the song they were playing.  It seemed more traditional marching sounds, and as I often see them at festivals playing as a marching band that would make sense.  One of the things that I did love was that they all looked like they were having fun.  Did I also mention that Laorenzo also performs with Black Sheep?  So he got to do two sets back to back, but he seemed to be having fun!

Closing out the night was Mercury Orkestar.  They were a little rowdy but were obviously having a great time which made them fun to watch.  I think they were a good choice to close as by the time they went on everyone was a little drunk and since Mercury Orkestar rocked out to some covers it was easy to get a drunk audience into the groove with things they knew.  Most memorable to me was their amazing cover of More Human Than Human by White Zombie, Let Me Stand Next To Your Fire by Jimi Hendrix and a super fun rendition of Conga by Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine.  It brought the improv dancers back out along with the drunks and was very much a party at the end of the night atmosphere.  Which is how the glasses happened...

Over all it was a fun show and everyone seemed to have a great time!  Highly recommend going to catch any of these bands if you see that they're playing.  

PS.  Good Golly Svengali will be closing out the night at the Syrens of the South 6th Annual Tits for Toys for Tots show on Dec 8th at The Five Spot.

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu

The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu is a buddy movie.  Seriously, it is.  Best friends on an adventure to save the world from the waking of the elder god Cthulhu because one of them happens to be the decedent of H.P.Lovecraft.  For something that is basically a comic book based comedic tribute to the father of modern horror, it is surprisingly well written.  There was some actual love and research put into it by the writers, so even though it is very tongue in cheek it is still true to the basic mythos.

The Cthulhu Cult is at it again trying to raise the elder god from his slumber in sunken city of R'lyeh.  The cultists are teaming up with the deep ones to try to get the relic that will do the job during the up coming eclipse.  The relic is given to Jeff  and his friend Charlie to protect.  What do you do when you find out something you thought was just an old horror story turns out to be true?  You go find a geek of course!  Once they pick up their token horror buff then they are off on their road to adventure that has some hilarious moments, surprisingly good special effects and creatures and a "whole heap of fish rape!"

For those that aren't aware, I am a huge fan of Lovecraft and adore Cthulhu and I really enjoyed this movie.  There were times I was laughing so hard I thought I might cry and a few moments that I was concerned for the characters and totally bought into the more horror aspects.  It's a jolly romp through the Cthulhu mythos and the end it totally set up for a sequel.  Honestly, I would love for them to turn this into a television series and just have them go through the different Lovecraft stories and keep having adventures.  So at the very least I am keeping my fingers crossed that they make a sequel.

So yes, run, do not walk, to your computer and get this movie NOW!  We found this completely by accident when we were killing time at Best Buy one day and it is turned out to be one of the best buys we've gotten in a long time.  I give it two tentacles up!

2012-07-12/15 Colorado Burlesque Fest

So at 2am on July 4th I decided I needed to go to the Colorado Burlesque Fest because I have missed so many festivals this year due to being too busy to apply and I really missed my burlesque family.  It was one of those random occasions as I had just gotten back in touch with an old friend I hadn't seen in 10 years who also happened to live in Denver, Kisa von Teasa had done the "hey, you REALLY need to come to this" as had a few others and there were some personal things that came up so the universe was telling me to get out of town and get my ass to Denver.  So I found a cheap ticket, got a room with Amber Ray and made it happen.  

Thursday I was doing my oh crap packing as that's how I roll while I was waiting on Burnadette Cinders to come by to take me to the airport in exchange for two jars of Jalapeno Pickled Okra and lunch at Our Way Cafe.  I considered it to be a fair trade.  I got to the airport to take off at 2:30pm, hopped the plane and landed in Denver at 4:10pm, you have to love loosing two hours for the time change.  Miss Ida Claire was kind enough to come by to pick me up and take me to the hotel since she was already in town.  I got to the hotel and tracked down Amber and my other roomies Sirena Maria and StrOker Ace.  I had just enough time to get in the room and get ready for the Opening Night Gala at the Summit Music Hall!  I met up with Kisa von Teasa and Celtic Smith and got some amazing 3rd row seats for the show.  It was hosted by the awesomeness that is Cora Vette, I always love watching her MC.  She has such an amazing voice and stage presence that even with all of the horrible and tasteless things that come out of her mouth, you still love her...actually that's why you love her, but still.  The Thursday night show seemed to be more of a local showcase with a few other performers thrown in, seemingly most of Albuquerque.  The show over all was amazing and a lot of fun.  A few highlights included Sofia Soubrette and Naked Vegas with their fruit stand routine, Cherry Glitter Bomb and Shayne McMunchin with their Tarzan routine, Vivian MirAnn with her Minnie the Moocher routine and Perle Noire celebrating her birthday with an improvised routine with Cora Vette singing.  During the curtain call everyone sang happy birthday to Perle and then Lola van Ella distracted her while Sammich the Tramp snuck up behind Perle to hit her on the ass with a Shaving Creme Pie.  It was rather epic!

from Perle Noire's Facebook Page

After the show we all went back to the hotel for the after party in the hotel bar.  It was a lot of very silly and tired drunkenness as many of the attendees had just gotten in that day from many different time zones.  It was like a very rowdy family reunion where you actually like everyone that you're getting to see and is full of genre (and larger) celebrities like Roxi D'Lite, The Bishop of Burlesque and many others. After some time in the fray a splinter group of us were starving and ran off to the Denver Diner.  First, it was an adventure of trying to find where the diner was, which considering it was approximately three blocks away and the people walking got there the same time we did...there are a ridiculous amount of one way streets in a city we didn't know in our defense.  I ended up seated between Ida Claire and Vivian MirAnn so there was much hilarity in our little corner.  I think it was mostly the discussion of assorted bacon and other meats, but I truly feel even closer to Vivian than I did before that meal.  The food was eh, the service was pretty horrid, but hey, it's a 24 hour dinner where you can watch people bring in their tranny hookers they've bought roses for, which was kind of sweet. Would have only been better if the creepy frat boys at the table next to us had quite sending over their obnoxious emissary to bug the crap out of Vivian.  I think he was trying to hit on her but it was so odd and uncomfortable it mostly just made us want to leave and immediately take a shower.  So we left to go back to the hotel and get some rest before we kept the amazing weekend going.

2012-07-10 Chair Work with Katherine Lashe

So tonight was both my chair work class and the half way point of the classes.  I was really excited that we had three new students sign up which would have made the class completely full, however the rain and thunder caused some accidents so one called in and the other went MIA, so we had a class of 8 and that proved to be plenty.  Everyone did a great job!  We went over the visual lines of the chair, tracing the chair and the body for emphasis, back bends, crickets, floor lifts and some body rolls from seated and using the chair as a base.  We had a few limitations do to a couple of injuries, but everyone quickly learned the rule of if you feel a little awkward it probably looks great from the audience, lol.  It was a lot of fun and everyone was working up a sweat.

One of our new drops ins did an amazing job with the chair so I got to teach her a chair roll spin which she was picking up super fast, the chair may end up being her thing.  Everyone was eventually able to do the kick spin into the chair and over the back as well which usually takes the longest unless you have some flexibility already, which luckily everyone had.

Hope to see everyone again next week! I'll be teaching my costuming class and bringing in a bunch of my costumes for people to play with and try out the different ways they come apart on July 17th from 6:30-8:30pm at Spinarella Pole/Dance/Fitness.  If you'd like to sign up for this class please go to www.syrensofthesouth.com and reserve your spot!

2012-07-05 Burlesque and Cabaret Club New Format

On Thursday, July 5, the Atlanta Burlesque and Cabaret Society moved to it's new home to settle into it's new format!  Still from 8-10pm and the first week each month, the only changes are that the club has moved from Mondays at Manny's to Thursdays at Elliot St Deli and Pub.  The meeting has gone from an informal gathering of minds to a more structured format.  The time from 8-8:30pm allows everyone to settle in, order food and say hello.  The sandwiches at Elliot St are amazing and they have a decent alcohol selection if you'd like to kick back with a drink.  From 8:30-9pm is announcements by the club leader Talloolah Love and then the floor is opened to anyone else who may have announcements for upcoming shows, classes, etc....  At 9pm the time is allotted for anyone who would like to do a teaser for any up coming events, or rehearse a piece for feed back or to get video at no cost to the performer.  I think this is a good idea, unfortunately no one signed up to perform for this event so mostly we ended up having free time where we could chat, I took Lola LeSoleil's measurements for an up coming costume and there was some general silliness.


This is not the first time that Talloolah has tried to liven up the event with a bit of structure.  A couple of years ago she tried to have presentations about burlesque done by members of the group.  I can remember two that actually took place (there may have been others I missed) and at least twice that many that ended up being cancelled due to no shows.  I commend her for her efforts, but many of the members are not only performers, but have day jobs as well, they are very pressed for time.  I think her ideas are wonderful and would definitely help kick the events up a notch, but perhaps she should have performed at the first event to give a taste to those she was trying to convince as an act of faith rather then leave the slot empty.  I am sure it was due to a need to moderate the group, but perhaps one of the other leaders could have taken over so she could lead by example.  


As the group does not charge for admission those who choose to perform will not be paid and that may be a deterrent as well with the current push for performers wishing to be paid what they are worth instead of performing for free or close to it.  I don't think it's out of line for her to offer a free place to receive critiques or videos as that's actually extremely helpful for performers and it costs them nothing to get a video which is payment in it's own right, but the timing of this may work against her goals for the club.  I do think that the Burlesque and Cabaret Society is a very important part of the Atlanta Burlesque scene and I do hope that the new direction takes off and does well for everyone.

2012-07-04 4th of July Parade and Concert

So after a week being up all night multiple days to finish to the float it was finally THE BIG DAY!  AECAFI, who puts on the Art-B-Que each year, has been putting a float in the annual Avondale Estates 4th of July Parade the last few years under Bart Webb's direction.  This year Bart chose the Avondale Avengers as the theme.  The AECAFI float featured a bald eagle's head at the front with a large beak that opened and closed (I actually upholstered the beak) with a front chrome grill underneath and patriotic Cadillac fins at the back.  It was covered in many of the AECAFI board members and their families.  There was the Dumpster Diva, the Sweeper, and many more original characters on the float in crazy costumes having a great time.  They were off to go throw candy to the crowds lining the parade route and show everyone the super hero team!

After the parade, everyone headed over to Bart Webb Studios for live music, bar-b-que, and swimming pool fun!  The first show went from 1-7pm with six amazing local bands.  Master Chef, formerly of the James Joyce (RIP), had spent all night doing prep for the potato salad, baked beans, chicken kabobs, and home pressed hamburgers!  She then spent the day manning the grill and serving the masses while they enjoyed all of the amazing music.  As this was a children friendly event, the Avondale Estates Beach (a giant sand box with 3 foot deep 12 foot wide inflatable pool) was full of splishing, splashing and laughter by many of the local kids.  There was even a smaller kiddie pool for the babies!  After the bands played everyone went over to the Avondale Lake to catch the fireworks.  The fireworks were amazing and huge and looked beautiful over the lake.  The only down fall was that Sam (Bart's dog) was very unhappy with the fireworks and kept switching forth between barking and trying to hide in my skirt which was adorable but rather awkward.  Once the fireworks were over everyone came back over to Bart Webb Studios for the laid back after party.  The grill was fired up, The Good Golly Svengalis (the Imperial OPA Circus house band) played two sets.  Lively circus and eastern music with a flare of samba and soul.  There was some night swimming and additional fireworks to be seen from the pool.  Over all it was a pretty amazing day and I hope that all of you had an amazing 4th of July as well!

2012-07-07 RIP Ernest Borgnine

Today I was really sad to hear of Ernest Borgnine's passing at age 95 yesterday.  He apparently died of renal failure in the hospital surrounded by his family.  I am not often moved by the passing of celebrities, however, thanks to years of working as Security/Guest Escort at DragonCon I have gotten to know a few as more then a face on the screen.  This past September I was lucky enough to be assigned to Mr. Borgnine, though he insisted we call him Ernie.  He was wonderfully nice to everyone, even the hotel staff that was just working in the kitchens we were walking through from panel to panel.  He shook everyone's hand, asked them how they were doing and genuinely meant every word of it.  I spent three days taking him to and from panels and even at his age he never complained about anything and was just happy to be there.  

Two of my favorite moments with him happened during his last panel that weekend.  He had been very reserved and had made a point not to curse or accidentally say anything inappropriate for days, but as the weekend progressed he realized that people weren't there to judge him, but to be in awe off him and get to know him.  So at the Sponge Bob panel, which was supposed to be for the children's track but the adult fans had muscled most of them out, a fan waited patiently in line to ask his question. "How do you get such an amazing smile in pictures?" he asked rather nervously.  Ernie laughed and said, "Well, if you say 'shit' it forces your mouth to go in the biggest smile possible" and then he flashed the crowd his famous toothy grin.  More questions were asked and then a young lady came up and asked how he's managed to live for so long.  Ernie's giggling could not be contained, as he had apparently sworn he wasn't going to tell this story anymore.  Years before he had been on set and someone had asked him the same question, his response was, "Well, I masturbate a lot!" and the crowd went wild.  His ability to be so frank and friendly with the crowd made every person in that room feel like they were his best friend by the end, myself included.

He had just completed a new film called The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez and he was so excited about it.   It's supposed to be released later this year so everyone will get one more chance to see a new work by this amazing actor.  I know I'm going to miss him at DragonCon, but I am so grateful I had the opportunity to spend some time with him and get to know him a little bit.  He was the cool grandfather type that everyone wishes they had.

2012-07-02 Naked City Inaugural Show: Politics

On Monday, July 2nd, Push Push Theater was host to the inaugural showing of Naked City.  What is Naked City?  Well it has a very interesting description on their Facebook page that incites many visions of what it could be, but to put it simply, Naked City is a once a month spoken word evening that gives writers a topic to write a five minute piece about then a luck of the draw opportunity to read the piece in front of an audience.  Yup, you heard me, luck of the draw. When the writers sign up to read and are given a poker chip, there are 9 slots available so only the 9 people who's numbers are draw will get to read.  However, this is not your regular open mic night.  In addition to having some amazing writers show up, there are also two amazing hosts, Gina Rickicki and Bernard Clark.  They acted as MCs, stand-up comedy between the writers and came up with some amazing bits and prizes for those writers who went over their 5 minute.  Yes, there are consequences!  If you go over your time you must spin the wheel to find out what you have won!  Prizes include 60 seconds of booing, prize packages and some amazing drawings done by theater camp students were handed out to all the writers.

The first show was politics and the stories included everything from violin advertising, how He-Man underoos could have changed the Star Wars program, why being a High School Treasurer in France can teach you everything you need to know about politics and how political addiction can be treated with care and perseverance.  Some were funny, some were poignant, and some were a call to arms of what the world could be if everyone used their voice.  It was an amazing evening and I can't wait for next month.  The theme is death and regardless of whether or not you want to put your name in the hat to do a reading it's well worth showing up just to watch.  The cover is only $10 for 2.5 hours of entertainment, cheaper and better then a movie!

2012-06-26 Aural Mixation with Lola LeSoleil

On Tuesday, June 26, I walked into Spinarella Pole/Dance/Fitness to find Lola LeSoleil setting up her computer and projector and one fo the students already there eagerly awaiting instruction...the class wasn't scheduled to start for another 15 minutes, but everyone was excited!  As she was setting up the rest of her class came in, nearly sold out, people were huddling together around tables and outlets to plug in their laptops.  


The class covered an explanation of why and how music is used in performance to help portray mood, setting, and what other information the audience gets from the music before you ever walk out on stage.  How moving to the beat, the melody, etc.. will change your message and will impact different things.  Once she finished going over how to pick out music she began going over the fine art of splicing!  She took two songs and some sound  effects and showed the class how to loop, cut, paste, etc... to make a song the right length, flavor and anything else you may want to have for your sound.  There was debate as to style, what you should look for for different effects and multiple websites to find sound effects.  The students had lots of great questions and Lola had a lot of great answers.


The students are starting to have some amazing ideas for their routines for the student showcase on August 24th.  It's going to be a great show and have some amazing new talent!


PLEASE NOTE THERE IS NO CLASS ON TUESDAY, JULY 3RD!


The next class will be Chair Work with Katherine Lashe on Tuesday, July 10 from 6:30-8:30pm at Spinarella.  You can purchase your class online at www.syrensofthesouth.com.

2012-06-21 Mrs. Roper Glamour Shots

First let me say that I am saddened by the fact that my production meeting for Dracula ran over so I was unable to make the shoot.  I had my Caftan in the car along with my wig, make-up, and sequined hair flowers, belt and other accessories I bought for the occasion.  However, this is such an amazing group that I felt the need to at least acknowledge the event even though I couldn't attend.

The International Order of Mrs. Roper's is a social club whose mission statement is, "For those who believe that everything is better in a caftan...." The IOMR gets together every few months to dress up in caftans and have an amazingly good time.  Past events have included Night of 1,000 Mrs. Ropers, Three Caftans to the Wind (Regal Beagle Two: Electric Boogaloo), and having a float in the Inman Park Parade for which they won third place!  For those who don't know who Mrs. Roper is, she was the landlord's wife in Three's Company with the bright red curly hair that always wore a caftan and was always badgering her husband for sex.  Mrs. Roper was played by Audra Lindley.  The Order has very inexpensive membership fees to help pay for the fun and attendees are asked for donations at the events.  For example they used some of the money to help pay for items for their parade float which included parasols that the walking Ropers carried and when the Queen Roper (Akiko Jones) would blow her whistle all the Ropers would twirl in unison!  

On Thursday, at The Goat Farm, the Burlesque Camera Club (a subsection of the Atlanta Photographers Guild) was temporarily taken over by the IOMR for glamour shots.  They had group photos and then individual shots with free Mimosas and Champagne because everything better with a drink!  Here is a photo that was publicly posted from the shoot by Stacy Sutton Williams (a noted Caftangelist), hopefully this will entice you to put on a caftan and join the IOMR!

2012-06-19 You've Got It, Now Flaunt It with Rosie Palms

On Tuesday, June 19th Rosie Palms came and taught the third class in the summer session of Syrens of the South Tease U burlesque series.  Rosie Palms, who celebrates her 4 year anniversary of graduating from our first student showcase this August, comes with 20 years of exotic dance training.  We've very lucky to have someone who has so much experience willing to provide her time to the students.  We had a sold out class (though one student NCNS, so we hope she's okay) which is always a great feeling for the teacher and a great way to start a class!

Her class focuses on body image and movement with pointers on how to find your center and being comfortable in your own skin.  In two short hours she took the class from being stiff and unsure to loose and moving around like they'd been dancing for years.  She went over some basic stretches, struts, and some strip tease with over sized button down shirts.  The girls were really getting into it and having a great time.  One of the things I love is the sense of camaraderie that occurs with the ladies in the classes.  As each girl strutted across the floor and did their thing the rest of the class clapped and applauded for each other.  That is the best thing about these classes are the friendships that develop through this shared experience.

Next week will be Aural Mixation with Lola LeSoleil.  For those who plan on performing with the student showcase this is a great time to narrow down your choices for your music and play with it a little.  It's also a great time to ask about music ideas and where to go with your act from a music stand point.  You can purchase your class in advance at the class page.

2012-06-16 The Boob Tube Show

This past weekend was Father's Day and as my daddy lives in Chattanooga and we had to go mow the lawn at my grandfather's house in Oak Ridge.  B and I figured that we should drive up to Oak Ridge after he got off work on Saturday and then stop by Chattanooga on Sunday to see my daddy.  Since we were going up to Oak Ridge anyway on Saturday we figured we would swing by The Prince Deli and Sports Bar and go see the awesomeness that is Salome Cabaret and their Boob Tube Show.

Now true, television themed burlesque shows aren't something new.  I know of at least two that have happened hear in Atlanta, Mon Cherie Presents did one a while back, about a year before that Blast-Off Burlesque did one and I am sure there have been many others.  What makes this theme awesome is the familiarity of the shows we all know and love and as there are so many shows out there each show will still be different. Everyone has different favorite shows they want to tribute, so no matter how many people do the theme the shows will NEVER be the same.  This show had references to TV shows that I haven't thought of in years and it made me unreasonably happy!  There were a few that took us a minute to identify that were in the opening show music but we eventually got them all and began singing along.  There is nothing quite like sitting around drinking and singing along with your friends to television themes songs you didn't even know you still knew.

As there was a vacant VIP table myself, B, Lola LeSoleil and Sunny Midnight decided that we needed it and promptly took it over.  Their VIP table was pretty happening.  We had a giant remote control, a large bucket of popcorn as well as Mike'n'Ikes and Dots to snack on.  They had also taken the time to make TV screen fans so you could hold them up and watch the show through your own personal TV which was pretty awesome and I attempted to take pictures through one a few times.  Also on our table were photos of old TV Guide covers which included The Cosby Show, Dexter, Golden Girls, and a bunch of others.  There were also TV Guide and As Seen on TV logos strewn about which were just a nice touch for the occasion.  Also, when the waitress came she informed us that VIP tables got one half price appetizer.  We chose the fried okra with a side of ranch which was pretty tasty.  We all had a few drinks, my suggestion for drinking there is to get a mixed drink, they are a lot more generous with those then they are with their shots.  Also, Jager is ridiculously expensive there so avoid it unless you have deep pockets.

The show was MCed by Big Gay James and Weird Alice in her triumphant return to the stage.  Between each act Big Gay James and Weird Alice would do bits or sing old theme songs to keep the audience entertained during act set-ups and break downs.  One of my favorties was Big Gay James sitting on stage with his laptop pretending to type while the Doogie Howser, M.D. music played and Weird Alice did the voice over off stage for the skit and the intro.  Weird Alice was also apparently supposed to do the Blossom dance, complete with hat, but the sound guy messed up their music (a bunch of times actually) so she wasn't able to do it.  They were hilarious and kept the show moving even with all of the sound issues that kept happening.  They even had a few small bits that interacted with the performers routines including the first one of the evening, Miss Lydia Thorne came out and arrested Big Gay James in her tribute to Cops!  The next act was a fairly spicy ST:TNG routine between Data and, well, she was wearing a Dianna Troy outfit but the character that had sex with Data in the show they sampled from was Tasha Yar.

One of my favorite routines of the night was done by Salome Cabaret founding member Siren Santina as Pee Wee Herman.  She started the routine in the famous grey suit with the theme song from Pee Wee's Playhouse.  At the end of the theme song she pulled out the secret word for the day which was Tequila and we all screamed.  The music then went into the Tequila song and she did the Pee Wee Herman Dance, complete with big white shoes while she stripped.  However, her routine had one of the best uses of music editing I have ever seen, every time the song said Tequila she had added a 2-3 second pause and would stop her routine and scream as Tequila was the word of the day and then immediately pick back up where she was in the song and the strip tease.  It was brilliantly well done and definitely one of the high spots of the show.  Next came Nipsy Tussle in a tribute to True Blood as a Merlotte's waitress to the True Blood theme.  I loved that she took the extra effort to add sequins and such to the Merlotte's logo on her shirt and her apron to give it that extra touch.

Tiger Tangerine's routine had me giddy before she ever got on stage.  I saw her from the side of the stage with her orange legs, white fluffy butt and purple cloak, hat and mask and began to squeal as it could only mean Dark Wing Duck!  Her costume was spot on and her music was a weird mixture of the theme song and a rap that was done about the beloved cult cartoon.  There was a debut that night as well, Dustin The Wind ventured from burlesque handler and manager to boylesquer extraordinare! He came out as Dan in a pretty hilarious tribute to the show Rosanne, complete with flannel and diner references.  Closing out the first act was Delinda D'Rabbit.  Inbetween The Walking Dead and Bath Salts zombies are all over the news right now so she brought out her undead routine.  I've seen this act before and she had revamped it since last I saw it and let me tell you, it was amazing!  She also drooled blood all over the audience which was a nice touch and B got covered so it made me giggle.  Her messy routine required the intermission to clean it up and so they could do extensive set up for the opening of the second half while we all got our bathroom breaks and drink refills.

Sadly, during the second half of the show my fancy camera died so I tried to take a few shots with my cell phone, but they aren't nearly as fancy.  The second half opened with Peppy Schlongstocking as Dexter taking a victim and then taking it off.  Then came Nipsy Tussle as Mrs. Roper in a Three's Company Tribute with many different caftans, The International Order of Mrs. Ropers would have been so proud.  Rosey Lady came out with a Game of Thrones routine, it's the only show they tributed that I've never seen, however, her three dragons at the end made were amazing and the whole routine was still really enjoyable even for someone who's never seen the show.  Cougar Cantrell did a pretty energetic and funny routine to televised football.  Siren Santina can back out with an amazing Spiderman routine including some spectacular webbed fans.  She was spidey, she was slinky and just a little slutty!  Beelzalbetty had a super cute Dragnet routine that involved her pulling her handcuffs from a special place before handcuffing a lucky audience member to her and then taking them to the back!  Closing out the show was Kisa von Teasa as Rainbow Brite.  It was as shiny and bright as I remember it being with the special touch of awkward that only Kisa von Teasa can add.  She is the queen of awkward and in addition to a crotch exploding with rainbows and her sprites were in a special place for all the audience to see!  I tried to get a cast photo through the television that was on the VIP table but it cut out half the cast, but it's still cute!

Click to see all my photos!

2012-06-14 Mad Lib-Ations

A while back Mon Cherie Presents had meetings so that performers could get together, talk about up coming shows, network, etc...  however it was usually during the day before 4pm because that was the only time available at the venue before everyone had to get bustling for whatever shows were going to occur that night.  I came to as many as I could but with school and such it was very hard for me to always make the meetings.  The ones that I came to had either a handful of people that rotated out or it ended up being just her, me and maybe one other person.  With the time being hard for people to make she decided to come up with something new!

In March, Mon Cherie debuted her newest endeavor, Mad Lib-Ations at L5P Corner Tavern.  So when she started out this was a once a month event, however it has taken off so well that it now occurs every Thursday!  From 7pm-midnight people could come out, grab dinner, grab a drink and fill out up to 9 forms of random nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, etc... for some amazing prizes.  It would also act as a new time and place for Mon Cherie to be able to meet and greet with potential performers, sponsors, and networking for everyone who wants to show up.  She also has set up meetings for businesses that have been hiring around Atlanta to help people find jobs in these tough times.  So not only can you go have a great time, you can meet people and help your career.

Last night was the first time I got to come out for Mad Lib-Ations and it was an amazing time.  B, Lola LeSoleil and I arrived around 9pm and caught a glimpse of Talloolah Love before she ran off.  We had drinks, ordered food, named our team "Motor Homes of Distinction" and proceeded to come up with some of the most random things we could think of to fill out our forms for each round.  After our first round we were joined by Sunny Midnight and her entourage.    We had two teams for our table and then Lola and I decided to buy some raffle tickets.  They were 1 for $5, 3 for $10 or crotch to floor for $20.  Lola le Soleil's and I decided to pool our money and her crotch to floor got us 20 tickets!  We won 1st place for four rounds of Mad Libs and won three raffle prizes!   Our loot included: $20 gift certificate to The Corner Tavern, one hour portrait or boudoir session from The Photo Factory and Studio, a Lux De Ville hand bang, a hat and fascinator by Habadab'Cherie, a pair of earrings by Jezebel Blue, and a $50 gift certificate for Loki Shane Defrice at Sacred Heart Tattoo in Little Five Points.

We had an amazing silly time and rediculous amount of fun.  The cost is only as much food and drink that you want to purchase and if you decide to buy raffle tickets as there is no cover.  We couldn't use the $20 gift certificate the night we won it but we'll definitely be going back to cash that in!

As far as Little Five Points Tavern itself, over all the staff was really nice, except for the lady who was our actual waitress.  She was kind of gruff and unfriendly.  We got our food and such, but she was obviously not happy about it.  The rest of the staff that was helping her out was super nice and really friendly so I'm assuming that our waitress was just having an off night.  Just as a word of caution, as there were six of us at our table they did add an 18% tip to the bill.  I hate when places do that, so you've been warned.

2012-06-12 Tassels and Glove Pulls with Katherine Lashe

So this past Tuesday was out second class in Syrens of the South's Tease U: 10 week class series, we went over Tassels, Assels and Glove Pulls, OH MY!  We had 7 lovely students for this class, the 4 from last week all returned and 3 new ones!  I do love when people have so much fun in class that they convince their friends to come and take the classes with them!

First we at down and sorted out the pasties so everyone could find the right size and discussed the different techniques for applying them and how to do an instant boob lift using only strategic pastie placement.  Once everyone had their pasties we divided up gloves to make sure that everyone had a pair and then we got started.

We went over the basics, how to get floppy fingers, pulling from a varity of angles including using your other hand, mouth, knees and your shoes to take off your gloves.  Once we worked on that we switched to pasties.  Everyone was twirling tassels in multiple directions by the time we were done going over the basic movements.  After that it was time for Assels.  Assels are exactly what you think they are, they are pasties attached to the hiney so you can twirl tassels on your butt!  I did the demonstration and they let everyone that wanted to try it out do so.  Only 3 of the students felt froggie enough to do it but all that tried were successful.

Once we had gone over the glove pulls and the tassels we gathered everyone back up and using the basic dance routine we did last week we added in glove pulls and tassel twirls to the routine as a refresher of last weeks basic moves (and as an intro for those that missed last week) and showing a way to incorporate the new skills they learned in this class.  Everyone did a wonderful job!  Next week Rosie Palms will be teaching You've Got It, Now Flaunt It!  There are still spaces available if you'd like to sign up please do so on the Syrens of the South Class Page.

2012-06 3rd Annual Carolina Burlesque Fest

I was very excited to be invited to perform at the 3rd Annual Carolina Burlesque Fest in Charleston, SC.  I put together a new number that had been banging around in my head for the occasion.  I debuted it a few weeks ago and got to perform it for the festival.  Below is my diary of random things from my adventures from the festival.

**Please note some links are actual links to websites, some are just links to photos, you'll only know if you click!**

Day 1, Thursday, June 7
On Thursday, June 7, B and I packed our bags and hit the road...for around 5 hours...  We had the amusement of discovering North, South Carolina and a few other odd ball things on the way.  Also, I discovered Tom's Bacon Cheddar Fries and Uncle Buck's Bacon Jerky.  I seriously love tacky truck stops for they have these amazing items as well as rhinestone belts and cowboy hats with leopard print and rhinestones. Had I the cash on hand they would have had all money money and I would be covered with shiny things.

We made it to the host hotel which would be our home for the next three days.  However, thanks to having tons of points we made it to our three day hotel stay with my only having to pay for one day so whoot being economical.  We were exhausted, played some text tag with Kisa von Teasa, and finally decided we were too tired to be functional or sociable and ended up at IHOP, this would prove to be a wonderful find for later evenings in the weekend.


Photos from the drive and around Charleston on Friday

Day 2, Friday, June 8
B and I woke up super early (okay, 8am, not that early, but well before burlesque standard time) so we could wander into Charleston, SC to take in some sights.  We parked at the battery and then walked around down town checking out the sites.  We'd been to Charleston before so it was nice to just wander around and admire the architecture and hunt for food.  Pretty much all of my travel is based on following my tummy to new and exotic places, it's how I maintain my girlish figure.  We had found some touristy brochures in the hotel lobby and one of them came with a $5 off coupon so we went to the Noisy Oyster to redeem our coupon. We started with She-Crab Soup.  It was very flashy, the bowl comes out with a mound of crab in the middle of the bowl, they pour the soup around it and then add the Sherry at the table.  Though tasty, was not as scrumptious as the hype would have us believe.  We then had the Crab Cake Fried Green Tomato Tower.  Though is sounded amazing, it left something to be desired.  Had they been a bit more generous with the sauce it would have been better.  We then split Shrimp and Grits which was very tasty as it also have sausage and other yummy bits in it!  We then walked back to the car and headed for Folly Beach.  We stripped down to swimsuits and dove in.  Seriously, I always love some down time at a beach and with my 110 Sunblock I was not afraid!  We spent a few hours there before heading back downtown to find dinner.

A few years ago we had wandered into a restaurant that we remembered to be amazing and we were determined to find it.  We drove around in circles for about an hour to first find the place and then to find parking.  The restaurant was Toast.  It still existed and was everything we remembered it to be!  They had a Bacon Bloody Mary! As if that wasn't enough as those are two great tastes that tasted like heaven together we had amazing food as well.  We had swordfish skewers, the MOST AMAZING SHE-CRAB SOUP EVER!  And an amazing crab cake sandwich with a roumalade mayo that was to die for.   And with a seriously happy tummy it was time to go get ready to see some awesome burlesque!

So the producers of the festival, Selia de'Katzmeow and Dolly Dee, were smart and had the host hotel less then 2 miles from the venue along with a shuttle service provided by the hotel so people could get back and forth.  What we didn't count on was that Army Wives decided to film ACROSS THE STREET!  So the blocked the entire road and we couldn't get to the parking lot or the venue.  We ended up parking a few blocks away and walking but all the circling and back tracking made us late.  These ladies do not mess around, their show started on time so an hour late meant we missed the entire first half of the show.  Apparently we walking in immediately after Atlanta performer Sunny Midnight got off stage.  I was super sad to miss the first half of the show, but was very impressed with what a tight ship they were running.  Sadly my pics are only of the second half, however, it was an amazing second half!  Marc Slomski was an amazing MC for the festival and with my "homies" Fonda Lingue, Lola LeSoleil, Talloolah Love and Kisa von Teasa in the second half I was super excited that I didn't miss everyone that I know.  I also managed to catch both of Burlesque Legend Gabriella Maze's performances along with a bunch of performers I had never gotten to see before which was wonderful.  After we went to DIG, which was lame as they had crap service and messed up orders and bills, however, please enjoy the photos from the show!


Photos from Friday's Celabra-TEASE Showcase

Day 3, Saturday, June 9th SHOW DAY!
After a night of burlesque, nachos and booze I slept in.  Not intentionally, but as I meant to take only one Tylenol PM and I am pretty sure I took two by mistake, I was unable to be woken until around 11/noonish.  At this point I wander down stairs to go smoke and find B and Lola LeSoleil downstairs chatting.  It is decided that food sounds amazing so we go back to Toast because my life is just better with Bacon Bloody Marys.  Once we were done with brunch we came back to the hotel so we could all take a much needed nap.  B and I chose to sleep in front of the TV in our hotel while Lola put on her super cute yellow bikini and napped by the pool in true vaca style!

I got to the venue at 6pm per my call time and did a quick walk through on the stage in my shoes to check for any gaps or weird spots on the stage.  It seemed good to go and so was I!  Sound guy, lighting guy, etc... were all there to ask/answer any questions, the whole experience was super professional and so easy.  B was kind enough to run to the liquor store and pick up some rum so I could have a drink before the show.  I had my two drink maximum before the show even started and as I was 10 slots in I was able to take a few pics before my performance and then a few after.  The show over all was pretty amazing!  So many amazing performers both on and off stage.  Seriously, everyone was super nice and just wonderful back stage.  You couldn't ask for a nicer group of people to be back stage with.  I took a few back stage and then as much as I could of the show.  So sorry I couldn't take more but, ya know, I was performing too, lol.  However, I have to say one of my highlights for the evening didn't even happen on stage, Violet Vixen and I were back stage admiring all the purple costumes.  Iris Le'Mour actually offered to let us roll around naked on her big purple costume!  Seriously, made my night!

And the winners are:

Queen: Donna Denise
King and Most Humerous: Paco Fish
Most Classic: Smokin' McQueen
Most Original: Marla Meringue
Best Variety/Sideshow: EmpeRoar Fabulous
Sweetest Tease: Ida Claire
Producer's Choice: Iris Le'Mour

Myself, B, Sunny Midnight, Bourgeois Betty and our new friend Red Herring ended up at the magical IHOP! (Told ya finding an IHOP would help)


Photos from the Saturday Sweet Tease Pageant 


Day 4, Sunday, June 10th
We wake up and scramble to pack everything up so we can be out of the hotel by check-out at noon.  We headed over to The Mill to grab brunch and say our goodbyes.  It was wonderful to see everyone and get to spend the weekend with so many amazing performers from all over the world.  We drove home exhausted, but happy!