“well why don’t you marry us”

On Monday, I had the chance to see a show I had been looking forward to for quite awhile.  In honor of PRIDE Week,  Precious Little and Bastard Keith put together a show (this was the second annual one) in order to raise funds for Empire State Pride Agenda and marriage equality.  I was excited about this show because 1) it was a benefit I can get behind and 2) the roster of performers was amazing.  The show also had a great slew of raffle prizes, but we’ll get to that later.

The show was hosted by  Bastard Keith, who is always a pleasure to be entertained by and in addition to his traditional singing and jokes, he read a tribute to David Bowie’s song, 5 years, which was really quite touching.  The show’s performers were Nasty Canasta, Madame Rosebud and Marlo Marquise (hot girl on girl tango that was beautiful to watch) , Gal Friday, Legs Malone, Tigger!, Bea B Heart, Cybil Libertease, The Schlep Sisters (Darlinda Just Darlinda and Minnie Tonka) and Jezebel Express. I was really excited to finally see Tigger! (who I had heard so much about) as well as Jezebel who I had taken so many classes with, but was yet to see actually perform burlesque.

Now, raffle prizes at the show included gift certificates for a yoga class, a krav maga class, crystal jewelry, original comic book art by artist Robert Walker, bull whip lesson from trick roper Chris McDaniel, a 2 hour photo shoot with Beau Allulli, a goodie bag from Toys in Babeland and pasties made by Nasty Canasta.  So many great options to choose from, I ended up putting in the the toys, the photo shoot, the pasties and the bull whip lesson.  I ended up winning…drum roll please….the 2 hour photo shoot!  So now, in addition to the Dale Rio photos and a shoot I did with Chris Zedano, I’ll have some nice headshots to add into the mix!

Even without the prize, the night was still all I could have hoped for and ended with a gay prom party on stage in solidarity for Constance McMillen, who was in town for PRIDE week.  At one point Tigger! and Gal Friday switched dresses and danced and hugged before going to take a (prom) picture.  It was a truly a magical moment during one magical night.

wasabassco at the city winery – stage managing

If you have been a reader for the past few months you know I have done a lot of backstage work for Wasabassco Burlesque since I’ve gotten involved in the NY  new burlesque scene.  Well, a week or so ago Doc Wasabassco had been asking around to try and find a stage manager for the Saturday City Winery show. I asked if I could step up to the plate and use my past backstage and kittening experience to help out.  Doc was down with the idea and I once again joined some wonderful performers down in the weird hidden dressing room of City Winery.  I was in charge of collecting music, filling out the info sheet for the show (performer order, song titles, when to cue music, etc) rounding up the performers, working the curtain, stage cleanup and helping to set up and props/chairs that the performers needed for their acts.  Since people had seen me the previous show from backstage, this time I got more dressed up.  Sadly I forgot to take pictures of any of this because things just went so quickly I completely forgot.  To keep this post short I’ll briefly give a synopsis of each performer and their amazing act (not listed in any specific order).

Marlo Maruise did a super adorable act where she had a large makeup puff that she used almost as fans to dust powder all over he body. Kita St. Cyr did a traditional glam striptease with some sparkly articles of clothing. Amber Ray did a super creative almost showgirl act where she had lilly pads on the stage and a bra that when she took it off and put it together it created a flower. Jenny C’est Quoi did her “I am the Walrus” act that I love so much and makes me giggle everytime. Vikki Likkerish did a fan dance, but the fans were made of balloons. Ruby Valentine did an act that included swinging nun chucks around. Stormy Leather started as a housewife, then undressed and used rope to create a knotted corset for herself, while blindfolded. Nikki Le Villian performed an act with candles and in the end poured the wax on her chest. Sapphire Jones did a comical routine where she was dressed up as a school lunch lady.  Also,Albert Cadabra, who performs  at Ripley’s Believe it or Not, did a magic act and a balloon swallowing act.

At the end of the show during the curtain call, I got to go on stage and share the applause with the wonderful performers.  Overall it was a very fun and rewarding night and I look forward to working with Wasabassco again in the future, hopefully soon as a performer!