The place being a theatrical venue, we of course wanted to make the show itself something more alike a theatre performance rather than the usual burly club night - so we had it planned in two acts, and with an intermission in between when people could buy drinks, enjoy the DJ´s sounds and generally chitchat with each other and have a good time, having had to sit down on their behinds for half an hour in the half-darkness. It all worked surprisingly well and we were delighted! Myself being a scenographer in my spare time (it used to be the other way round... heh.), I might have wanted to make it look even more like a theatrical performance, you know, with a proper set and all that jazz - but then again it wasn´t exactly needed the way we did it now, so why stress. (Next time though, ooh... be prepared. ;D) With our very skilled and lovely lighting designer we managed to bring out the best of the space with as little hassle as possible, and we had extra-super-duper-special projections in between the shows to illustrate the time and place - for you know, it was a historical journey through time, and as such had to be illustrated with something else than only T&A...
The public was guided and lectured by the always impeccable Bettie Blackheart. Wouldn´t we all have liked school a little more, had we such teachers back in the day?
Well, as all of you who attended already know, burlesque was obviously invented back in the stone age. A pre-historical top fell off, lots of twirling followed, and nothing was ever the same!
That´s when Cherry entered the stage as Lucie and thus gave a kick start to the party:
After that we were taken to the cold and dark tombs of ancient Egypt. Well. Mummies are not always what they seem, though. Ask me, I´ll tell you.
... then we just skipped over Greece and Rome because frankly togas are so boring, and the Middle Ages were just so dark and we like to smell good, and all in all we´d just been there for three days and nights if a little time warp hadn´t been in place. So next the public was introduced to Lola´s Detective hunting for clues (when all the Bitties´ jewelry had been stolen and we were all poor and suffering and awww). Sure perks up any old dusty detective office, that girl, I´d say.
Well, of course she got our belongings back and then we became Big In Japan.
Then it was time for the interval, and for us to catch our breath a little and prepare for the second act. Apart from Bettie B., we were greatly aided by the presence of our three marvellous stage hands/space sailors/pick-up boys -
- The Captain, Mela Lugosi and Mr. Eddi, in their respective order.
Time for Act 2! Now again as all those know who were there, the story has a darker turn, where the Bitties start thinking way too much of themselves and end up in quarrels and fights, and the group splits. So sad. Cherry changes her name to La Cereza Negra and becomes the terror of any texmex sheriffs and outlaws alike.
Meanwhile by the Carelian lakes and deep forests, beautiful Vera breaks the hearts of poor local blokes with her Slavonic seductress skills.
Meanwhile in Paris in the 1960´s, Tinker and Lola try their hand at something more experimental.
Meanwhile in Vietnam, Jackie thinks that if there´s no point in anything, she might just as well fight and die. Well, we´re in the swingin´ sixties alright, so instead she shimmies away and burns her bra, but that´s just to be expected. We´re none of us very prone for fights, not really.
Enter the future and space-age! The Bitties meet at an airport, throw away their grudges and engage in a joyful space-a-go-go instead. How neat!
... only ever so slightly psychedelic, ehh.
And here´s the whole happy bittycrew at curtain call, finally:
All pics here are by Laura Kansanen-Stavale and Rik Stavale, whose photo exhibition of burlesque pics was also to be seen during Bittyfest at the theatre. We´re so grateful to you folks, you rock. Hearts.
Wheeee it was fun! And exhausting, so give us a little breathing space, soon we´ll forget all about the exhausting part and only remember how great it was to perform, and probably start planning and plotting for Bittyfest number two. There are slight chances, though, that you still might see this version somewhere, sometime, that would be fun, but we´ll have to look into that later, everything´s been so busybusybusy later. Stockholm last weekend and Glitter Grill (with the one and only Indigo Blue performing too!!!) tomorrow already, and all such fun coming up... if anyone wants to volunteer as a secretary for us, we guarantee a busy and sequin-filled time ahead. ;D
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