"Repeal Day 2013" Trailer with Dandy Wellington, Gin Minsky, Perle Noire, and Me at Hotel Chantelle!

This is from our Repeal Day 2013 celebration at Hotel Chantelle where I also have my 4th year running weekly Friday night show! I performed with Dandy Wellington who also has a Tuesday Night Soiree event there with his fabulous self and jazz musicians. Dandy and I work together a lot - he sure is a dandy eye candy! Here we are performing with his band along with Perle Noire and Gin Minsky.

Repeal Day Eve @ Hotel Chantelle from Hotel Chantelle on Vimeo.

Newish Classic-style Burlesque Acts

This is a picture of a new act that I am in love with! It's like Chinese Flamenco and I use a song called "Tamacun" by Rodrigo & Gabriela, a Mexican musical duo who specialize in playing fast, rhythmic acoustic guitars, and finish it off with "Sway" by Xavier Cougat. I use yellow silk fans for this act - which I really, really love working with.

Photo by Gabi Porter at "Drunken Dragon Nights" Macao Trading Company

The pants are covered from waist to hem with yellow fringe that I painstakingly sewed on by hand while watching "King of Queens" (my zone-out show that I hate but watch anyway). It shakes like crazy with the slightly motion. Every time I've performed this act the crowd starts clapping along.

Photo by Gabi Porter at "Drunken Dragon Nights" Macao Trading Company

Another act that is super classic and very flexible in terms of "approachability" is this white gown/fan combo. The gown is designed and made by Jamie Von Stratton in Seattle who have made me 5 commissioned dresses in total now, and we are working on a 6th one this year. This act gets a lot of play because it is popular during winter for "winter wonderland" themes, classic themes because of the big fans, corporate & wedding receptions like it as well because it is a long act (6 minutes) and it is "friendly" (ie: no hard grinding or inserting or pulling out anything). I use a song called "Creole Nights" by Dr. Michael White from New Orleans. I made the fans myself using Ms. Copperteal's acrylic base kit that I bought at BHoF last year. I LOVE MAKING FANS.

Photo by Jeffrey Grossman

Photo by Sam Polcer

"Les Fleurs de Shanghai" at Duane Park

Another act that I consider "classic with a modern twist" is this one to Reverend Horton Heat's "Loaded Gun". There's a lot of classic elements such as gloves, fur stole, garter belt, but also a lot of vinyl and strappy one-sies which I am VERY FOND of and own quite a few. I just can't get enough of them!

Photo by Mark Williams at Room 69, Hotel Chantelle

Photo by Mark Williams at Room 69, Hotel Chantelle

Photo by Mark Williams at Room 69, Hotel Chantelle

Hotel Chantelle Lobby

Photo by Michael Webb.

Just found this old picture from a photo shoot I did at Hotel Chantelle where I have my weekly Friday night shows. I've always liked it but haven't really used it for promo. The lobby where my show is held at has been renovated (this red booth is no longer there), and it is now so posh and beautiful with a vintage tin-roof, elegant floral wallpaper, hardwood floors, and a long brass bar. I'll be doing a new series of photos with all the regular performers who are in my shows soon!

Shake & Bake This!

Yellow trash comfort food

When I was growing up, we made a lot of Shake & Bake and other fine American classics like Hamburger Helper. This was when we first came to the US via Bolivia. I lived in Santa Cruz, Bolivia from 8 to 11 years old then we immigrated to the US to the glamorous and completely white with no diversity city of Tampa, Florida. I was SO pissed. Not because we suddenly found ourselves dirt poor. I was too young to understand the financial pressure on my parents nor the stress of learning a new language, finding a job - ANY job - when you can't speak the language fluently. All I knew was that I had to learn English and I was NOT happy about that. I remember saying, "I'm never going to learn English! I'm only going to speak Spanish and Chinese!" Well, look at me now, BA in English and a blog later, writing and writing away.

We went grocery shopping at Sam's Warehouse in Tampa, and the only food we could afford was stuff like Hamburger Helper, Shake & Bake, ramen noodles, and somehow my mom made that money stretch to feed the four of us. I was never allowed to get cheese puffs even though for a huge bag it was only 99cents. I made a big fuss about it and finally one day standing in the Chips aisle, my mom yelled at me and said, "I can buy ground turkey for 99cents and make dinner for everyone!" That kind of made me realize then how poor we were, that and not being able to afford turning on the AC in damp, humid, sticky Tampa summers. I hate Tampa to this day... That day in the Chips aisle marked my lifelong obsession with cheese puffs. I fucking LOVE cheese puffs. It's my guilty pleasure. Unfortunately for my Mom she developed an acute nauseous reaction whenever she smells cheese puffs. Every immigrant has some kind of story of this form. The "poor immigrant food" story. My friend Camilo who is from Colombia and I compared to see who had the better "poor immigrant food" story. His parents used to steal McDonald's coupons from neighbors' newspaper on the lawn. I shared the roadkill story. There were a lot of wild geese in Clearwater, Tampa and we were driving around in our white Dodge station wagon (with wood paneling...ah, that car so many memories with that old thing) and the car in front of us hit a white goose and drove off. It was a healthy-plump white goose and it was dead. So we took it home, de-feathered that bitch, and had a delicious goose dinner that night! I won the competition.

Lately I've been too busy to go grocery shopping so I dug around the cupboard and found a box of Shake & Bake, and making it reminded me of the old days. I made it today and it tasted pretty good. Considering that you bake the chicken and not deep frying it, it's actually pretty low cal and healthy. In the time it took me to walk Chewie, when I came back, it was done!

I had "Room 69" again at Hotel Chantelle last night and it was very fun. I did the champagne act - the same one I did at Macao on Monday night, but my corset got stuck and Stormy even tried to undo it for me with no luck. So I kept going but then the music stopped! This hasn't happened to me before and I actually just had a conversation with Michael about it. I asked him what he would do if his music stopped in the middle of a routine. He said he would stop the act, fix the music, and start over. Which is strange to me because whenever I've seen that happen to performers, everyone just keeps going and make it into an interactive, audience participation thing. Which is what ended up happening. Stormy, Brassy, GoGo, Sapphire, and Charlie Gunn hummed my song acoustically and the audience got into it too. Then the music started back up AND my corset suddenly came off too! All in all, it was a fun night that ended with me at the Hotel Mondrian soft-launch party with Honi and Nasty. We were supposed to gogo dance from 12-3am but due to some whatever corporate issue with their lack of a cabaret license, we actually never danced but just hung out in our room drinking champagne and gabbing! We went down towards the end of the night to check out the lounge/bar. It's called Mister Hung and lo and behold, it's all Chinese-themed. There were all these antique bird cages like what my grandfather used to have but he had them not to create a "chinoiserie chic" look but because he raised song birds. Lots of palm trees. A big neon sign that said in Chinese words "Love Liquor Hotel" or something to that effect. In one of the rooms behind a shimmery beaded curtain, there was a giant red neon sign that said, "There are no prostitutes in this room." A bit heavy-handed but seeing the word "prostitute" emblazoned on the wall of a bar does have a subliminal effect on people under the influence. It kind of plants the thought and mood in your mind and kinda makes you feel all sexual suddenly. Also helped that the waitresses were mostly Asian and, of course, "HAWT" as people like to say nowadays about Asian women. But the male bartenders were equally attractive but surprise! Not Asian. The  crowd was all fashion week people so lots of tall models and bearded hipster guys. I find all this social brouhahas surrounding Fashion Week terribly boring, but then again, I suppose to fashion people all the happenings around the NY Burlesque Festival is probably just as boring.

I call this, "Portrait of Two Unhappy Fashion/Hipster People at a Burlesque Show"

And this, "Portrait of Drunk, Happy People at a Burlesque Show"

Lastly, this is "Burlesque Person Imprisoned at a Fashion Party"

 Mr. Hung's reminded me of a blend of Indochine and Macao's downstairs where I do my "Drunken Dragon Night" show. Seems like everything Chinese is sooo chic and hot right now. Well, damn it, its' about freaking time cause that was NOT my impression growing up in middle of Texas that being different or having different eyes were desirable at all! But that's another story for another day. :)

xoxo

Standing next to the most intriguing and ugliest fuzzy lamp ever...

Giant mirror!

One Year at Nurse Bettie

Last night marked my ONE FULL year at Nurse Bettie. Can you believe that? This is my first show to reach the full year mark. Dim Sum Burlesque lasted 7 months and I often don't feel like I can make it to the one year term. The next shows in-line for the one year mark is "Beatles Burlesque" (March), "Drunken Dragon Night" at Macao Trading Company (April), and "Spreading the Curtains" at Coco de Mer (June). When all these shows hit one-year, I am goin to treat myself to that expensive dress I've been thinking about forever and maybe the new tattoo I've been researching!

The new renovations at NB has greatly improved the general ambiance and work environment for me. The tin-ceiling is shiny. The amber and red chandeliers bulbs cast a very pretty and glossy sheen over the ceiling which makes the space look larger. There are also red velvety curtains over the two front windows and for our "dressing" area. There are also lights under the bar so we can see where all our shit is instead of groping around in the dark. Many, many items have been lost back there in the "dressing hole" like my tip bucket that I handmade, a black fascinator with veil, and numerous other performer's stuff. The chandelier above the stage is now higher so no more broken bulbs when we swing our bras or feather fans. The taller performers will still have to watch out for that. There's a new toilet seat. I don't know why I noticed that, but I did. Overall, I'm pleased.

Tonight is the second installment of "Room 69: The Hotel Chantelle Way" and I am REALLY happy with this show which is lean, mean, and super-polished.

(Big sidenote: one thing I do want to mention is that often when you produce a show with a guarantee pay that is NOT at a performance or theater space but at a venue such as a upscale bar or restaurant, who you book is often not up to you to decide. This is why I can't book just anyone at many of my shows. I am essentially helping the venues expand their brand and image via entertainment - so believe you me, they do their research online and in magazines to see who the performers are and what they look like, and they ask me about them. When a venue asks if you know of "so and so", it's not fireside chit chat. They are in a way seeing how well integrated you are in the business and whether you can book that performer. I prefer this method because it continues the venue's tradition of style and the image they want to maintain.)

The venue is AMAZING and has such an elegant, sophisticated vibe. Everyone is SO accommodating and the crowd is always sitting down in their posh leather booths, and not screaming or trying to jump on the stage. There's no gogo-ing pre-show or during the short break, and I don't have to play any drinking or dance-off games to stretch the show. Chantelle has private parties usually on Friday nights starting at 10pm so we have to be outta there and done so the crew can disassemble the stage. Plus the cocktails are SO delicious!!!! I generally NEVER drink cocktails or champagne (too many calories) and 90% of the time I drink vodka soda at shows. If I'm out socializing with friends I drink wine. I used to like champagne but then I had the unfortunate experience of drinking Crystal at a private party once, and since then, I don't want to drink any other inferior champagnes. Unfortunate, indeed...

David Monroe took this photo of me from last week's Room69 - I am using this as my Facebook Profile picture but in that version I photoshopped out the "Exit" signs. That is one of my biggest photo pet peeves - the exit signs, the no smoking signs, all restroom signs. I hate them and will eradicate them!!

At Room69: The Hotel Chantelle Way

Room 69 @ Hotel Chantelle

I keep saying I am not going to produce or start a new show but I just couldn't say NO to Hotel Chantelle! This place is absolutely GORGEOUS inside w/a vintage-inspired Parisienne wallpaper that's very Art Nouveau, big tall red leather banquettes (watch out stilettos!), a beautiful curved bar and delicious tasting and sounding cocktails such as "The Bramble" and "The Whiskey Tango." PLUS - the real bonus is that it's close to my house which also makes me happy cause it saves on transportation cost to and from. The flyer is below. As you can see, the line-up is pretty fucking killer. I am stoked to work with these ladies all under one tin-stamped roof. The show is free and there will be specialty $8 cocktails available during the show. Charlie Gunn will be our kitten and I'm excited to work with her. She is new to the scene and it's always great to meet new burlesquers. PS: for those who don't know the term "Blind Tiger Hour" its an old term for "speakeasy". I hate "happy hour" - it makes me think of boring guys in suits from Wall Street.

Room 69: The Hotel Chantelle Way