ALL THAT GLITTERS

SHOW OFF Pink Door puts a spring in their step The Twin Titties...

Wed, 15 May 2013 15:32:00 -0400

SHOW OFF

Pink Door puts a spring in their step

The Twin Titties were representing in big, take-a-bite-out-of-this, juicy style this weekend at Burlesque Behind The Pink Door.

Foxy Tann and RedBone of Minneapolis shared their luscious on-stage seduction with humor, intimacy, POP and WOW that was a pleasure to witness on that teeny-tiny grand-piano-sized stage. Kaleb emceed the night away letting not a one of us forget spring had sprung. Elizabeth Ripley trilled-and-thrilled with her golden voice. And Paris Original. Oh Paris Original. Such beautiful ballet and costumes (made by Paris himself) that he is quickly becoming a Seattle ecdysiast treasure on point.

Thanks to Sydni Deveraux for producing!

The Pink Door hosts burlesque and cabaret at 11 p.m. every Saturday in Pike Place Market.

Pictured from left to right: RedBone; Elizabeth Ripley; Paris Original; Kaleb; Foxy Tann; Foxy Tann; RedBone. Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.

SHOW OFF Royal-tease pays out No need for a scepter and crown to...

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:59:00 -0400

SHOW OFF

Royal-tease pays out

No need for a scepter and crown to mark the presence of royalty in Seattle last weekend at Ultimate Grand Supreme.

You could just taste it in the air.

Burlesque Hall of Fame’s 2005 Miss Exotic World Michelle L’Amour and BHoF’s reigning king Russell Bruner brought their power-packed punch to West Hall on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Producer and head of The Atomic Bombshells, Kitten La Rue, rounded out the rest of the court with some of Seattle’s best peelers and performers, including Miss Viva Las Vegas 2011 Inga Ingenue, showboy extraordinaire Lou Henry Hoover, and fancy lady BenDeLaCreme.

The noble lineup stirred a few inner curtsies and many outer catcalls with such diverse acts as L’Amour’s steamy tango, La Rue and Hoover’s hilariously macabre double suicide, Bruner’s hot hot hot Tom Waits homage, Creme’s redonk lipsync-gone-wrong, and Inga’s shameless presentations of sheer sexy beauty.

Pictured above from left to right: Michelle L’Amour, Michelle L’Amour, BenDeLaCreme, Miss Inga Ingenue, Kitten La Rue, Russell Bruner, Michelle L’Amour, Kitten La Rue/Lou Henry Hoover/Miss Inga Ingenue, Kitten La Rue/Lou Henry Hoover, Miss Inga Ingenue. Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.

GET YOUR WINK ON Movie night, groovy night It’s been more...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:45:55 -0400

GET YOUR WINK ON

Movie night, groovy night

It’s been more than six years since we shot A Wink and a Smile, which we find hard to believe!

Every so often we have little reunion-ettes and Wink screenings, and tonight, we’re doing it.

The Academy of Burlesque welcomes Miss Indigo Blue, star of A Wink and a Smile, and Deirdre Timmons (me, director) to come say, “Hey!” and share some of our own dirty little secrets. Join us.

Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. at West Hall in the Oddfellows Building, 915 Pine St. on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. Suggested donation of 10 bucks.

See you there …

WHO WILL BE A BUCKAROO? Only two … It was manflesh-meets-Ms....

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:33:00 -0400

WHO WILL BE A BUCKAROO?

Only two …

It was manflesh-meets-Ms. Universe at Fred Wildlife Refuge Sunday night as six ball-bearing bulls danced, spoke and talented their way through a screaming night of auditions to vie for two spots in the upcoming all-male review Buckaroos.

While each contestant boasted Buckaroo beef-cakery, the unabashedly macho “Tiny” (real-life electrician, hello house calls!) and power-house primadonner Eric Esteb (with abs that were – dare we say — perfect?) walked away with roles in the summer show.

Host T. Bone Tucker joined the hootin’-hollerin’ evening as potential bucks danced, sang, Rubics-Cubed and swung an axe into the hearts and loins of audience members and judges alike.

If the auditions were any indication of how entertaining the final show will be, we’re looking at a must-see.

Can Can Productions brings the final show Thursday through Saturday, July 25 through 27, to The Triple Door, 216 Union St., in downtown Seattle. Tickets, available here, are $25 in advance and $30 on day of show.

Pictured above: Buckaroo contestants Eddie Van Glam (center), Dade Glazer (moving right), Emperoar Fabulous, Eric Esteb, Tiny, Nick Vu.

THE NANCE Punishing the pansy I hardly need to tell my audience...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:43:14 -0400

THE NANCE

Punishing the pansy

I hardly need to tell my audience that an old-fashioned faggot is nothing more than a deviant freak who must be routed out and punished for his complete indignity toward the human race.

But stories about such reprehensible queers are so valuable in exposing these iconic representatives of social evil who are brick-by-brick dissembling the halls of decency and civilization.

Enter: The Nance.

Nathan Lane deftly carries us through the story of a well-intentioned middle-aged seemingly-conservative man who has been cursed with the said sexual proclivity for amoral homosexual deviancy in 1930s America. Lane’s character, Chauncey Miles, risks arrest and professional foreclosure as the La Guardia administration outlaws outwardly gay entertainment and seedy burlesque in an attempt to whitewash the soul of the city.

Written by Douglas Carter Beane and recently opened at Lyceum Theatre in Manhattan, the solid script, beautiful lighting, expert performances and stunning sets do not disappoint.

Our only kvetch?

The three burlesque dancers, grindingly played by Cady Huffman, Jenni Barber and Andréa Burns, do not actually go down to pasties in the show. Now ladies and gentlefolk, this is a show partly about taking the strip out of the tease for the better good of America. And in an age when burlesque is blooming like a field of poppies on steroids, why would a play piercing the very restriction of such entertainment … not portray it?

The Nance runs now through June 16 at Lyceum Theatre, 149 W. 45^th St., New York, NY. Tickets, available here, range from $37 to $132.

ALL HAIL THE KINGS We here at Golden Echo Films have been...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 02:34:00 -0400

ALL HAIL THE KINGS

We here at Golden Echo Films have been supes-busy ramping up our next project, a madcap roadtrip comedy about six boylesque performers who compete to become the next king of boylesque. It’s fiction. It’s fun. And I promise, it will be filled with confection.

But long/shorts my loves, Golden Echo Films has coupled up with Paula the Swedish Housewife to present KINGS: A BOYLESQUE EXTRAVAGANZA, a live show featuring some of the best male peelers in the world. Captain Kidd from Australia, The Evil Hate Monkey from New York, The Stage Door Johnnies from Chicago, Russell Bruner from Portland, and our very own Waxie Moon will grace the stage. But wait, there’s more. Consummate performer and host Mat Fraser from London will host the unbelievable insanity that will be, simply put, a night to remember.

We’re using the show to introduce the project to our beloved community and launch our fundraising efforts. So stay tuned for more. I’ll prolly begin obsessing on it.

Anyhoozles, the KINGS live show is at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at The Triple Door in downtown Seattle. The good news is, it’s sold out. And the bad news is, it’s sold out.

Stay tuned for more …

HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY The Can Can celebrated ten years of their...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:04:00 -0400

HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY

The Can Can celebrated ten years of their resident burly troupe The Heavenly Spies with a glam-filled gala boasting show-girl spectacle, chorus-line glitz and James Bondian beauty this weekend at The Triple Door.

Caela Bailey joined the Bang Bang Big Band with vocals that were as emotionally gripping as they were seductively sonorous.

But the general vibe? Unaffected celebration and unabashed allure. When the host joked, “You know what we’re doing here tonight? We’re making all the women in the audience lesbians,” we all kind of snickered … and then shook our heads in agreement.

Happy birthday Heavenly!

SHOW OFF Your sleepy Saturday afternoon treat We present to you,...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 17:15:00 -0500

SHOW OFF

Your sleepy Saturday afternoon treat

We present to you, a genuine tease — or, if you missed the show, possibly more of a cruel peek — of last night’s pant-sinching sizzle during the man-rific feast that was Boys! Bois! Boyz!

Presented in part by the Academy of Burlesque at Capitol Hill’s West Hall, the biannual show made grown men cry and school girls growl with its eclectic collection of the funny, sexy, silly featuring bent gents, lady boys, testosterone time bombs, and all points in between.

Photos from left to right: Chicago’s own Stage Door Johnnie, Jett Adore, brought rubber-burning heat with triple-time charm, sublime beauty and sharp sophistication; Paris Original inspired more than a few sugar plums dancing in our heads with an ethereal performance on point; Man Johnson demonstrated the hazards of playing with Heil Kitty; Waxie Moon stunned with a new Mark Mitchell hookah-smoking Carrollian caterpillar glam slam; Trojan Original blended motorcycle mean with harebrained Crazy Frog; EmpeRoar Fabu Lous opened his pipes; Fosse Jack paid homage to his namesake; Eddie Van Glam brought down the house with a tassle-twirling, pepperoni-stick stuffing Macho Man mash-up; and Waxie came together with Juicy and Van Glam. Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.

READY, JETT, GO! Bring on the boys Ladies and gentlemen, hold...

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 13:54:44 -0500

READY, JETT, GO!

Bring on the boys

Ladies and gentlemen, hold onto your seats. Blowing in from The Windy City is a special guest making his Seattle debut, the redonkulously hot Stage Door Johnnie Jett Adore at tonight’s Boys! Bois! Boyz!

Trusts us: You’ll want to take in the glory.

And there’s more. “The Man, The Myth, The Mustache” Ernie Von Schmaltz will host as our own local delicacies Waxie Moon, EmpeROAR Fabulous, Sir Eddie Van Glam, Fosse Jack, Daddy le Deviant, Man Johnson, Paris & Trojan Original and Black & Tan will also rage the stage in this bi-annual “Celebration of Boydom.”

Shows are at 7:30 and 10 p.m. at West Hall in the Oddfellows Building, 915 E. Pine St., on Capitol Hill. Tickets, available at Brown Paper Tickets, range from $20 to $50.

SHOW OFF That’s F*CKED Up! Back for its final weekend, THAT’S...

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 12:45:00 -0500

SHOW OFF

That’s F*CKED Up!

Back for its final weekend, THAT’S F*CKED UP! returns with a show that straddles the sharp blade of schocklesque, delivering macabre, touching, strange and unexpected performances.

Ernie Von Schmaltz plays the consummate seedy emcee, ushering performers through acts that fly in the face of traditional bump and grind, while the audience claps, hoots and screams, “That’s f*cked up!”

Beware, it’s not for everybody.

During last weekend’s show, real-life twins Trojan and Paris Original test-drove the old adage, “Incest is best.” Jesse Belle-Jones mourned the loss of a tender young life. Lady Tatas presented every pedophile’s dream (and every parent’s nightmare) with an homage to Toddlers in Tiaras. Lovely Jenny Penny calmly sewed needles into her face and forehead … just like Nana hemming a skirt. LA’s Mercury Troy hosted her own Home Surgery Channel moment with a self-inflicted labiaplasty. Queen Shmooquan communicated with a meteor from outer space and yeah. Man Johnson and Lord Richard Longfellow whipped out a strict lesson in domestic discipline. Chesty La Rue admonished that black face is still not funny. Tootsie Spangles maneuvered life as a post-Armageddon lovelorn clown. Randi Rascal and Heidi Von Haught celebrated menstruation in a most cannibalistic toast.

And that’s just some of the acts.

So if you’re inclined toward – the dark side, shall we say? – this may be the show you’ve been waiting for.

Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22 and 23, at Rebar, 1114 Howell in downtown Seattle. Tickets are $15 at Brown Paper Tickets, or $20 at the door. Twenty-one and older.

Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.

“I’m bringing Africa” New Orleans-based Perle...

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 12:16:00 -0500

“I’m bringing Africa”

New Orleans-based Perle Noire channels her African fire goddess at Burlesque Hall of Fame 2012, garnering her the award for Most Dazzling Dancer.

See the sizzle.

Video by Golden Echo Films.

TUESDAY TEASE PLEASE Live music meets live girls We love a good...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 01:12:19 -0500

TUESDAY TEASE PLEASE

Live music meets live girls

We love a good old-fashioned bump-and-grind set to actual, real, honest-to-god, being-played-right-in-the-room-right-in-front-of-you, live music.

So when we heard that there’s a monthly burlesque revue set to the real thing, baby, we got a little hot under the garter. The show is called Tuesday Tease and it pares the musical stylings of The Lurid Spectacles with a rotating cast of burlesque artists on the third Tuesday of every month.

This week, special guest Mercury Troy from Los Angeles joins Olatsa Assin, Penelope Rose, Scarlett O’Hairdye, Ace Carter and Sailor St. Claire, as trombonist Jenny Brown plays alongside August LeFevre on guitar, Morgan Gilkeson on drums, Mai Li on bass, and Sara Dipity on vocals.

The next show begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, at Lucid Lounge, 5241 University Way N.E. in Seattle’s University District. Tickets range from $10 to $25 at Brown Paper Tickets.

THAT’S F*CKED UP No, really It is with mixed feelings that...

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 13:14:58 -0500

THAT’S F*CKED UP

No, really

It is with mixed feelings that I talk about this show.

Curated by Randi Rascal and Heidi Von Haught of Clown Stripper Productions, THAT’S F*CKED UP! features talent that truthfully does “froth with Seattle’s most talented and deranged performance artists,” promising relief from “hackneyed burlesque, drag and cirque.”

Relief? I’m not so sure. Pop-eyed disbelief? Maybe.

Some of the show is funny. Some of it is poignant. But yeah, I’m just gonna call it, some of the show is downright disgusting. So, what do they do in this show that’s so … different.

Imagine acts involving blood-letting, vomiting, incest, medical nightmares, and so much more. (My niece last year fainted during one of the acts. And I don’t mean she slumped over in her chair. She stood up to leave and did a crashing face-plant of a faint. She’s not going to the show this year.)

This year’s lineup features Nasty Canasta from New York, Mercury Troy from LA, Rubenesque Burlesque from San Francisco, and oodles of some of our favorite local talent. Ernie Von Schmaltz hosts each show, which boasts two different shows over the two-week run.

So if you’re up for memories you may never be able to erase (consider this fair warning) and you’re a fan of the gore-lesque, THAT’S F*CKED UP! is your show.

Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15, 16, 22 and 23, at Rebar, 1114 Howell St. in Seattle. Tickets are $15 at Brown Paper Tickets or $20 at the door. Twenty-one and over only. Or, is that obvious?!

THE SECRET DIARIES OF ANITA GOODMANN Live Bravely. Fear...

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 23:33:00 -0500

THE SECRET DIARIES OF ANITA GOODMANN

Live Bravely. Fear nothing.

Easy enough to say: Live bravely. Fear nothing.

But damn daunting to realize.

Afterall, who hasn’t chosen safe choices out of fear that true aspirations will irrevocably lock the doors of security?

With this bold proclamation, however, began a ride so personal, so raw, so revealing and so funny as Anita Goodmann (née Timothy Thomas) drove us through her one-woman show, The Secret Diaries of Anita Goodmann: True Stories from the Queen of In-Between.

Mixed with song, videos, photos and witty banter, Anita wove a compelling herstory of how a rock’n’roll straight male cast off his pants, put on a skirt, and re-engineered his private life under the alter ego of a tall blonde beauty. Though he started flirting with gender-bending at the age of ten, it wasn’t until an emotionally crippling divorce and single fatherhood flipped the big switch. While discussing infidelity, his wife reasoned, “You know Tim, we’re married. We should able to do whatever we want,” spurring Tim’s response, “I’ll show you what doing what you want is.”

Tim began “accepting what is, instead of shaping what might be” — and Anita was born.

As the curvaceous character took shape (quite literally), she hosted 40 shows of The Anita Goodmann Experience at The Rendezvous. With side-kick Cassie O’Hara, the often-random always-entertaining TV spoof developed a loyal following, many of whom turned out to Anita’s sold-out shows this weekend on a pink-and-flowery stage that was part Barbie Dreamhouse and part Peewee’s Playhouse at The Ballard Underground.

But why? Why cross-dressing? Let’s be honest, it’s an unusual way for a middle-class straight man to try to cure life’s bumps and bruises.

“Do you want to be a woman?” Tim’s mother asked.

“I don’t think I want to be a woman. Plus, I have too many white male privileges,” Tim quipped.

“I think I understand now,” his mother surmised after attending one of Anita’s events. “You just want to have fun. And it is so fun to be tall and blonde!”

Medicine that’s not a pill. Medicine that comes with corsets and garter belts and wigs and lipstick. Medicine that celebrates the simple joy of fun and beauty … and a community that honors that joy.

“As a man, I was demolished. The divorce ruined me. I learned I could grow Tim via Anita,” she concluded. “Anita is curing Tim.”

SHOWOFF Long Kiss Goodnight Once upon a time, a tease was a...

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 13:58:00 -0500

SHOWOFF

Long Kiss Goodnight

Once upon a time, a tease was a long, slow seduction.

But we of the text-and-twitter generation are in a state of constant ADD rush. Our increasingly frenetic attention spans have fueled an alleged desire for entertainment that is as fast and furious as our little scattered brains.

Burlesque hasn’t escaped this paradigm. Individual acts, which once lasted as long as 20 minutes, have been whittled down to four, five and six minutes.

It’s a strip of hit, git and split.

But Sinner Saint Burlesque has stepped off the clock with their latest show, Long Kiss Goodnight. Guest host Cherry Manhattan welcomes audiences to their “exclusive party,” introducing Jesse Belle-Jones, Polly Wood, Evilyn Sin Claire and Dona Dei Couri as the ladies perform long-form burlesque acts that unfold slowly – no rush, no flash, no need to feed the beast of speed.

From Polly Wood’s homage to Elizabeth Taylor to Jesse Belle-Jones’ portrayal of Goddess Artemis (amazing horse head by Trojan Original), each act holds our waning attention spans with three-act structures, beautiful costumes, accomplished performances, and scintillating seductions. Please check Fosse Jack’s blog to read more about the show.

Doors for Long Kiss Goodnight open at 9 p.m. every Thursday, now through March 14, at Club Noc Noc, 1516 2nd Ave., in downtown Seattle. Tickets are $15. To reserve seats, email info@SinnerSaintBurlesque.com.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Hopefully, you didn’t topple two tables at...

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 13:25:31 -0500

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hopefully, you didn’t topple two tables at Bar Marmont, burn half your hair off, and show LA that you do know how to breakdance to Joey Arias singing Billie Holiday! We certainly didn’t. And we’re certainly not going to do that in 2013. That’s our first resolution …

SWEET TREAT The Burlesque Nutcracker returns Like hot...

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 22:17:00 -0500

SWEET TREAT

The Burlesque Nutcracker returns

Like hot chocolate in front of the fire and peppermint bark under the tree, Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker announces that the holidays are in full jazz swing.

Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann have returned for the seventh year in a crowd-pleasing row with a record 30 shows.

Watch with wonderment as the talented and beautiful cast of Seattle burlesque A-listers explode on stage in this eternally glamorous and always tasteful spin on the classic Russian ballet featuring upbeat music by Duke Ellington.

The return fan can expect new talent from Seattle’s dance community and an infusion of fresh costumes from Danial Hellman. And the uninitiated? Well, let’s just say, don your finest finery and prepare yourself for one of the sexiest nights of the season!

The show runs through Dec. 27 at The Triple Door, 216 Union St., in downtown Seattle. Tickets are available at Land of the Sweets, but don’t delay, they are selling fast fast fast.

HOMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS A Seattle “family” tradition Celebrating...

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 19:40:00 -0500

HOMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS

A Seattle “family” tradition

Celebrating queer yuletide cheer, Homo for the Holidays rejoices in the holidays with tried-and-true, old-and-new family members in a sweet, beautiful and refreshingly educational celebration of the season.

“Packed with rollicksome reindeer, enticing elves, ghostly guests, sexy snowstorms, agile angels, musical Maccabees, and new ways to define coming home,” Dan Savage calls the show “F*cking great … F*cking hilarious.”

The glamor, dance, cast and costumes are undeniably fantastic. But the humor. The humor! When host Ben DeLaCreme says to two Dickens characters, “We thought all Dickensian waifs were orphans,” they respond, “No. We have parents. They live in Bellevue.” Citing the world’s about to blow, the cast joins a Gangnam Style twist-and-shout as the impending apocalypse goes Armageddon Style. And when the Jewish neighbors drop into the party, they utter, “Shabbat Shalom, already,” bearing latkas and applesauce from “Trader Jobes.”

But ultimately, the message is about holidays filled with love for everyone: Me and you, him and her, them and us, and all parts in between.

“What’s great about this kind of family is that anybody can be in it,” says Ben. “What we’re really celebrating today is togetherness.”

The show continues at 7 and 10 p.m. Dec. 21, 22, 23, and 24 at West Hall in the Oddfellows Building, 915 E Pine St., on Seattle’s Capitol Hill. General admission is is $20 and VIP tables are available for $150 (they seat up to four) at Brown Paper Tickets.

Pictured above from left to right: Fuchsia FoXXX; The Cherdonna and Lou Show; ilvs strauss as Jesus; Faggedy Randy; Ben DeLaCreme; Lou Henry Hoover and lil’ BRACE; Kitten La Rue; Jinkx Monsoon and Major Scales as the Dickensian waifs; Kitten La Rue as Angie Lee; Fuchsia FoXXX. Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.

NAUGHTY AND NICE Looking for holiday booty? We don’t mean that...

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:10:01 -0500

NAUGHTY AND NICE

Looking for holiday booty?

We don’t mean that kind of booty! We mean the other kind of booty. The kind that adorns that first kind of booty. The kind that you can unwrap and paste with haste for a quick holiday shimmy and shake!

Look no more.

The Burlesque Boutique, started by Atomic Bombshell Ruby Mimosa, offers pasties, glitter, makeup, boas, feathers, literature, lingerie, undies, hats, wigs … you name it, Accoutrements 101 for a right-proper glam slam to the holidays.

So if you’re shopping for that special drag someone or diva about town, check out Ruby’s pop-up at Atomic Cosmetics in the Retail Therapy store, 905 East Pike St., on Capitol Hill. She is also hawking her holiday wares at Land of the Sweets: The Burlesque Nutcracker this month at The Triple Door. Or visit her online shop.

Photo by JiJi Lee.

BEAUTY BENEFITING BURLESQUE Iva Handfull and Seraphina Fiero...

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 13:00:00 -0500

BEAUTY BENEFITING BURLESQUE

Iva Handfull and Seraphina Fiero brought together some of Seattle’s cutting-edge burlesque designers for a night of fashion, food and fun in support of the Burlesque Hall of Fame last night during Glitter Friday.

Anita Goodmann and Richard Rugburn led the fashionistas through a glamtastic journey with work from Atomic Cosmetics, Haute Under the Collar, Echo Boudoir, Eartha Quake Jewelry, King of Spades Clothing, Wise Child, Misfit Leather, Kylie Koyote Presents!, Pinky Shines Designs and J. Von Stratton Designs.

The ladies were beautiful. The gentlemen were beautiful. The evening … beautiful.

Photos from left to right: Fashions from Kylie Koyote Presents!; Echo Boudoir; Echo Boudoir; Misfit Leather; Haute Under the Collar; Echo Boudoir; Kylie Koyote Presents!; Kylie Koyote Presents!; Kylie Koyote Presents!; J. Von Stratton Designs. Photos by Deirdre Allen Timmons.