Welcome to The Dollhouse

Burlesque costumes are tricky things — and not just because of the interesting ways they come off. We make them of impractical materials, whether it's highly luxurious items, like silk, fur, feathers, and rhinestones, or funky things, like cardboard, macaroni, CD shards, or chains. We use them hard during rehearsals and abuse them on stage — tossing, tearing, kicking, and dropping onto a stage of dubious cleanliness. As much as we might not want to admit it, we sweat into them. And then there are the inevitable stains: lipstick, wine, coffee, and some more creative than that...

All this makes for a costume that's very hard to clean without ruining. And sometimes you desperately need to clean it. Just last night I had one of those cleaning emergencies.

Here in New England it's been raining a lot, all summer, and yesterday was no exception. I was on my way to teach Introduction to Burlesque with a suitcase full of costumes -- that evening's class included a little talk on costumes and I'd brought some show and tell. As I said, it was raining and I guess my suitcase isn't as waterproof as I thought. One of the costumes I brought was for "Blue Angel", which I'm performing at The Wrathskellar in just over a week. It has a beautiful skirt/veil that Betty Blaize hand-dyed for me -- white silk gradually turns to pale blue and then deep blue.

It had gotten wet. Another costume had bled onto it. There were bright orange stains all over the white silk. Did I mention the show opens in 10 days?

I didn't panic. I have a lot of experience with cleaning difficult stuff, between my museum studies education and years of making costumes. I teach a class on burlesque costume care. I have resources and secret formulae. Okay, I panicked a little.

I knew I couldn't use bleach on it. Chlorine bleach is terrible for silk and can damage the structure of the fabric as well as turning it an unpleasant color, and I didn't want to ruin the blue parts. After mulling over several options, I realized I had just the stuff -- Dylon Run-Away. It's meant for when a red sock gets in with your white laundry and turns everything pink. I knew I'd have to be careful, for several reasons.

First, the stuff is really caustic. Rubber gloves are an absolute must. Second, I needed to avoid getting the blue parts in the mix. It wouldn't cause as much damage as chlorine bleach, but better safe than sorry. After donning my gloves, I put about half a packet in a small tub and added hot water. It's actually important that the water is added to the dry powder. If I'd been even more careful (and I should have been), I'd have worn a dust mask when pouring the powder -- I'm not kidding about caustic.

I carefully lowered the stained part into the bath. After a few minutes, I could already see the stain lessening, but I left in for an hour anyway, occasionally giving everything a swish. The blue part stayed dry throughout. After an hour, there was no trace of orange! I rinsed thoroughly and then gave the whole thing a gentle wash (washing machine, handwash cycle, no soap. Color Catcher sheet just in case there was any lose dye).

Another triumph of cleaning.

Now that you've read my whole long story, I open the floor to you, Dear Readers. Do you have a burlesque costume cleaning question or emergency? Comment here and I'll do my best to give you some advice.

( Sanitized for your protection )

The Wrathskellar is in the small theater at The Arsenal Center for the Arts, which is a black box. In theater terms, a "Black Box" is a performance space without a stage, curtains, fixed seating, or wings. It has the advantage that it can be configured anyway the director likes, and is really popular with experimental theater. The walls, floor, and ceiling of the theater are all black, which is great for The Wrathskellar, but it also means that we need to bring in some sort of backdrop. I mean, we don't — but I decided we wanted to. So today was spent building theatrical flats.

I picked up a volunteer named Amber at Ashmont station and we headed off to The Boston Babydoll Annex, where we were joined by Hunter (our perennial lighting director), Nick, Nikki, and the Multi-Talented Caroline (Nick and Nikki are a pair, but I'm trying really hard not to always refer to them as "Nick&Nikki"). We got a lot done and there will be pictures just as soon as I can figure out how to get them from my phone to the internet.

I was really impressed with the amount we accomplished. We turned thirty-two 1"x3"x8' pieces of strapping, twelve yards of 108" wide muslin, a gallon of black paint, sixteen brass hinges, and who knows how many screws and staples into three 2'-wide, two 3'-wide, and three 4'-wide, 8' tall flats, one of which has a special effect...or will, when we finish it. Still to do (besides finish the special effect), is put a second coat of paint on the flats (assuming the first coat ever dries in this weather), and add the loose pin hinges that allow us to connect the flats to each other in a variety of configurations. That's the sort of fussy stuff I'm not so good at, but once it's done, it's done and we'll have great flats for use (or maybe for rent; we've built up quite the cache of theatrical equipment and I'm considering renting it out as another source of income).

From there I raced home, and chose a shower over dinner. It made me a little snappish at rehearsal, but I was going to be hard to be around either way, and this was the right choice.

The numbers are good. I'm really pushing everyone's limits with this show, and they're all rising to the challenge.  betty_blaize  and Joy's duet is disturbing; usually we pair Betty with someone of similar height for balance or put her with someone much shorter for laughs. This time she uses her physical presence to intimidate Joy, who's playing the ingenue to the hilt...but not for laughs. It really works. Betty's solos have a combination of menace and smoldering sex appeal that I don't think I've seen in her before.

Dainty has clearly put a lot of work into her two solos, and I think the notes she got tonight will really help them click. I'm looking forward to the final version of Missed Me. I think she could have something special there — it's too bad that most of these numbers are so far outside our usual aesthetic we won't be able to use them often.

I've been pretty hard on missminadances , but not nearly as hard as she's being on herself.  Her Blue Angel number (you can see it here) was one of my favorites from our 2008 Valentine's Day show, but something changed between then and now and the number felt flat to me.  It turned out it was a costume element which didn't move as well as an old costume piece, and hid someone the dance movements, rather than enhancing them.  All better now. 

Ruby's two solos are at opposite ends of the style spectrum. Mister Pennygaffe is a sweet, sad, and near-magical hula hoop number. Malambo No. 1 is absurd and over-the-top funny. They're both palate cleansers, which this show needs, and which will only make the other numbers darker by comparison.

Honey, who also usually relies heavily on humor, has managed to create a brassy, in-your-face routine to When You're Good to Mama, which will evoke some smiles, but definitely isn't being played for laughs, and her other solo (to the Rufus Wainwright version of Leonard Cohen's Everybody Knows) is straight-up powerful and sexy, with just a hint of Fosse.

I really just wanted to throw together a low stress show... an easy, sort of fluffy revue.  This has turned into something else entirely.  It's been cathartic, and a labor of love.  Frustrating and energizing at the same time.  We'll try to capture it on video, but that's not nearly the same as seeing it live.  Got your tickets yet?

( Sanitized for your protection )

Poking around YouTube this morning looking for something else entirely (a couple of former troupe members were on America's Got Talent last night), I found this. I have no idea who these people are or where this aired.

This article first appeared in The Bostonist, 03/12/2008

A gentleman wears a hat. A baseball cap is not a hat, guys. It’s a piece of sporting equipment (you’re welcome to wear your baseball cap anywhere it’s appropriate to wear your jockstrap). Leave the baseball cap in the locker room. The ubiquitous scally cap (and its bastard child, the Kangol) is a hat – but it makes anyone who wears it look like a golf caddy or newboy. Sorry, Samuel L. Jackson, but it’s true.

As much as we loved Superman, the sartorial splendor of George Reeves’ building-leaping, bar-bending Man of Steel couldn’t match that of his Clark Kent. While Superman always looked kind of dumpy in his ill-fitting union suit, Clark looked like a million bucks in a grey flannel suit, crisp white shirt, and a hat. Oh... the hat.

There are a lot of different hats for men. There’s “The Homburg” “The Porkpie”, beloved of jazz musicians, “The Bowler”, popular with Englishmen, and “The High Hat” – just to name a few. But the most famous and stylish of all hats is “The Fedora”. It’s the quintessential men’s hat.

Although The Fedora first appeared in the mid-1800s on the head of a fictional princess, it's most associated with men in the 1940s. This is the hat that slopes so seductively over the brows of both Tommy gun-toting gangsters and the private detectives who take them down.

Usually made of wool, a good fedora is pretty much indestructible. Designed to be crushed, rolled up, and then patted back into shape, the wool also has a natural water resistance that allows you to wear your fedora in a light rain without fear of it being destroyed. Sometimes the hat is called a “snap brim fedora,” because you can ‘snap’ the back brim up or down, depending on whether you’re feeling dressy or casual.

This versatile hat can be worn with different styles of crease (or “bash”). Grabbing the crown of the hat about an inch above the hat band and giving it a squeeze creates a ‘tear drop fedora’ (if you look at the hat from above, you’ll see why), while creasing it evenly on both sides of the head is called a ‘Cattleman Crease Fedora’ because the look is reminiscent of a cowboy hat.

Men’s hat shops – or ‘haberdasheries' – are a dying breed, and Boston is sadly lacking in decent hat shops. If you’re looking for a classic fedora, your choices are pretty much limited to:

Bobby from Boston 19 Thayer St, Boston, MA 02118, (617) 423-9299
Gumshoe 40 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, (617) 522-5066
Salmagundi 765 Centre St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, (617) 522-5047
Toppers, 151 Tremont St Boston, MA 02111, (617) 859-1430

 

Teaching this four-session course is a new experience for me.  For several years now I've taught Instant Burlesque Queen, a three-hour workshop in which I cover a lot of the same material, but in a shorter period of time.  I've been looking forward to this class series because  I have more time to teach and more time to give the students personal attention.   I also find that students learn better if they have a little time to let the material percolate. I know I do.  Even if they're not practicing every day, having a week between classes for the new information to sink in will help students in later sessions.

 

In designing the course, we decided to allow drop-in students, even though I knew this would be a challenge.  It's hard to prepare for the right number of students when you don't know what that number is going to be.   I always know what my maximum capacity is, and we bring enough loaner gear to supply that number... and hope we don't go over it.  I'd feel crummy if I had to turn someone away, but that's why we suggest people pre-register.  I can take fifteen students, and we had nine students in the first session.  On the flip-side, the dynamic of every class is different, and that's exciting to me. Last class we had some students who were clearly there to "work" and trio of friends who were there to "have fun".  My job is to make sure that everyone has a good time no matter what their motivation is.  It means that every class is new and fresh for me.  In performance, we use a phrase "if you're bored, you're boring" – meaning if you've done a routine so many times that you're sleepwalking through it or not fully engaged, the audience can tell and they won't be fully engaged either.  I know the material I'm teaching backwards and forwards.  I use a lot of the same words to explain it every time I teach.  Having different students with different needs, levels of experience, and attitudes in each class session means I really need to be on my toes.

 

Allowing drop-in students meant that I had to design individual class sessions which could stand alone – since I'd have students for which any class could be their first or only class – but which all worked together as a set.  I didn't want any drop-in student to feel completely at sea. Gourmet magazine (yes, I cook) would publish recipes and in the middle of it there would be a note that said something like "see March 1947 issue for caramel sauce recipe". Great if you've been subscribing to Gourmetall your life, but very frustrating if this is the first issue you've ever picked up. I didn't want any of my students to feel like that. I also didn't want a lack of continuity for the students who signed up for the whole thing. I think this is like building a good movie series or television show.  Each episode needs to stand on its own, but if you watch the whole season, you get more out of it than someone who occasionally tunes in.  Each one of my class sessions has a unique mix of dance steps, clothing removes, and more abstract concepts, plus a refresher of the previous week. Anyone who comes to just one or two classes will get a complete lesson and walk away with skills she can practice and use, but she won't get the whole experience. The students who come to all of the classes will learn all of the skills of the individual sessions, plus the bonus skill of putting all of those things together.  At least, that's my goal.

 

This week I'll be teaching grinds and skirt & shirt removes, and talking about choosing music. Come join us!

 

-----^-<@ Miss Mina

 

 

A few days back a notice came across one of the many Boston-area theater or movie or acting or interesting project e-mail lists I'm on from someone looking for extras for a movie. Not just any extras; poker playing 1930s gangster extras. I really wanted in, so I moved a few things around on my schedule and dropped an e-mail saying "Hi — my name is Scratch and I am a 1930s gangster".

As it turns out, the movie was being made by modpixie, who knew exactly who I was because she had done some volunteering for The Boston Babydolls in the past (and now looking at her profile I see we've got more than few friends in common). I got a couple of organized e-mails giving me all the details, and Saturday morning I arrived bright and just a tad too early for my taste at the Armory Center for the Arts in Somerville. (By the way, if you're planning on opening an arts center anywhere near Boston, will you do me a favor and not name it anything with an "A"? In the past few weeks I've dealt with The Arsenal Center for the Arts (in Watertown), The Arlington Center for the Arts, and Arts at the Armory in Somerville. Enough already.)

Pulling into the parking lot, I nearly ran over my good friend Spiky Em, who as a professional writer probably doesn't have a personal blog, although you can read her thoughts in the Boston Globe's "Go To It" blog and other places. Turns out, in a bit of type-casting, Em would be playing plucky and intrepid 1930s type reporter, Dot Dare in our little film.

And it is a little film... it's a trailer for a movie that's never been made (and doesn't intend to be). It's all part of The Brattle Theatre's annual Trailer Smackdown, which is going up in mid-July on an evening I'll be performing in The Wrathskellar, which was a downer because I wanted to get all The Boston Babydolls to dress up in their best 1930s glam and come on out to see the flick. Well, flicks. OK -- trailers.

Despite the fact that the finished trailer is going to be something like three minutes long there was a full day of shooting planned, and in the best Hollywood tradition we were shooting scenes out of order. The first scene we shot was The Gangsters chasing Dot Dare and Tess, our once and future gun moll, down the street with bad intent. Don't worry; they lose us with the old "Duck into an Alley" maneuver. We did a couple of rehearsals to make sure we got the timing right and then a few takes. Somewhere around take #3 or #4, the gunsel a few steps ahead of me tripped on something and went down hard. Me, running full tilt maybe ten feet behind him had a very long second in which to decide whether just to trample him or try and avoid him. I put on the brakes and tried to cut wide of him. In retrospect I probably should have done one or the other -- or tried to leap over him -- but the combination of two different sudden changes knocked me off my feet as well. I took the fall in the right sequence of hand, forearm, and hip, just like I was taught, but it still hurt like hell. Tonight my joints are reminding me I'm not as young or resilient as I used to be and there may be an impressive bruise.

The rest of the morning was fun -- and impressive. For a small project, there was a lot of professionalism and professionals. There was a lighting person (who may also have been production manager), the directrix/camera-woman, a genuine sound guy with a boom mike, and a still photographer. There was a detailed schedule and list of shots, and even a craft table with donuts and coffee. We could have used this crew when we were shooting the pilot for The Grind.

Most of the action took place around a poker game, with brash and intrepid reporter Dot Dare sauntering in and joining us at the table.  There was also some shooting, some screaming, and some scenes of Tess in lingerie... but I don't want to give away the plot.

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished result and I hope she wins. I'll put up a link to the final film some time after it shows at The Brattle (contest rules).

Hey all:

The Boston Babydolls newest show, The Wrathskellar, is coming to The Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown, July 11-19 and we want your help!  You can read more about the show here.

We're looking for people to:

• help promote the show over the next couple of weeks by distributing flyers and posters.  This is pretty easy; you get a handful of posters and postcards and you leave them in places you usually go anyway.  If you want to be part of the street team, please e-mail Caroline {at} BostonBabydolls //dot// net or leave a comment.
  
• help build a few simple set pieces over the next few weeks.  This is perfect for someone who's artsy or handy -- or who wants to learn to be.  None of this requires special skills, just some patience and attention to detail.
• help during the show by being ushers and ticket takers.This is a great job if you've only got one or two nights to help out.
• help during the show by being stage crew. Ideally, we'd be looking for someone who can make a commitment to the entire run.

All volunteers get to come and see the show for free, of course, and people who go above and beyond get special treats like T-shirts and more!

We're hard at work on our July show The Wrathskellar which is coming to Watertown from July 13-18. We're looking for people to be on the street team and put out postcards and put our flyers. We're particularly looking for folks in Watertown, Cambridge, Belmont, Allston/Brighton, and Waltham.

Street team members get a free ticket to the show. Street team members who go above and beyond get other fabulous prizes and recognition. If you're interested, contact the multi-talented Caroline at caroline [at] bostonbabydolls [.] net

A block from home, driving back from a pleasant dinner after a pleasant meeting of the Boston Dance Alliance, Miss Mina and I witnessed a hit and run.  One of our neighbors, a nice, elderly Irish lady named Bella, was about 25 feet from our car when she was hit be someone going way too fast.

I can still clearly see the white hair catching the headlights and the shoe flying off her foot.  I can still hear the awful, solid thump of the collision of person and car, and someone yelling her name.  I never heard the squeal of brakes.  The bastard didn't slow down when he saw her and didn't stop afterwards.

Mina called 911.  I stopped cars to keep them from driving over her prone form.  After we called the ambulance, I took Mina home and then drove around to look for the car.  No luck.  By the time I got back to the accident scene, they were loading her into an ambulance.  She was talking and the EMTs think she'll make it.  I gave my info to one of the police.

Life's too short.  Be good to each other.

-=Scratch

Yesterday we cleared out of the space we've not-quite occupied in Quincy for the past eight months. The move went about as smoothly as moves can go. We had many hands making light work and several vehicles. Scratch and Mina may do one more pass through there today, but we're 99.99% moved out.

Afterward, we had a small party at Boston Babydolls Mansion, which was just what we needed. We hung out in the backyard, ate good food, sipped good drinks, lounged in the hot tub, and talked about anything except the mess in Quincy. There's still work to be done. The two-car garage we're using for storage needs to be organized so that half of it is storage (and we know where things are) and half of it is usable workshop space, and there's still the legal fight going forward with Quincy (which we can't talk about yet). But all of those things are forward-looking and not looking back, which is a great feeling.

We've got a show tonight at Church of Boston (www.Churchof Boston.com, 69 Kilmarnock St., Boston MA -- Free parking!). Doors open at 8 p.m. and the opening band is the Electrolux Combo, who are a really good surf band alá The Ventures. It's definitely a sound which lifts the spirits. We're debuting a bunch of new material too. You should come by!

Don't forget about The Dollhouse on Sunday night! This is the Boston Babydolls last show at Church for the summer, and it may be our last nightclub show for a little while (we've got a couple of big theatrical projects in the works that are going to take our attention).  Tickets are only $8 if you get them in advance; $13 if you wait and buy them at the door.

Doors open at 8 p.m. and The Electrolux Combo kicks things off at 8:30 p.m. with a show of beach party music that is going to having you hanging ten in no time! There are some sample tunes on the band's site.  Grab your favorite Hawaiian shirt and give 'em a listen!

Church of Boston is at 69 Kilmarnock St, Boston MA -- not far from Fenway Park or the Longwood medical area.  It's an easy walk from the Fenway stop on the D branch of the Green line and there's plenty of free parking behind the club.

P.S. You do follow The Boston Babydolls' tweets, right?

This Sunday, May 24, at 10:30 a.m. we're going to be cleaning at a garage in Dorchester (not too far from Ashmont Station) to have a place to store all the stuff Boston Babydolls own. It would be lovely to have some people there beyond Scratch, Miss Mina, and Betty Blaize. We'll bring coffee and breakfast stuff and we'll have fun. If we can have 2-3 other people there, it'll about an hour's work.

If you can help us out, leave a comment with your email address (comments are screened) and we'll tell you where to meet us (if you're coming and carless, let us know and we can pick you up at Ashmont Station). Sorry for all the cloak and dagger stuff, but we've gotten some threats from the less enlightened citizens of Quincy and we don't want to publish the location of our storage space.

Last night was the The Quincy ZBA meeting.  The meeting was in many ways more brutal than the public one a few weeks ago, despite fewer people speaking against us (and most of the people speaking were the same ones saying the same things that had been said at the public meeting).

What made it worse was the apparent bias on the part of members the Zoning Board of Appeals. 

Worse for me (Scratch), is that I gave testimony under oath and they all but came out and said I was perjuring myself.  Lying is a button for me; I lied a lot as kid.  These days, if I say I'm telling you the truth, you can count on the fact I am.

The proceedings took a little over two hours, including two breaks.  Needless to say, we lost.

Where do we go from here? We take a day or two to regroup, we talk about it with our lawyer, and we examine our options.  We definitely have options and this definitely isn't over.  I'm fairly sure there will be some coverage in today's Patriot Ledger, and I know they'll be a story in Sunday's Globe, although that may just run in the "Metro South" distribution area.

Thanks to everyone who has supported us and me personally, either financially, emotionally, or both.  It's good to know who my friends are.

The Boston Babydolls' training branch, the Boston Academy of Burlesque Education, is pleased to announce our summer 2009 series, "Introduction to Burlesque". You've read about The Boston Babydolls in The Boston Phoenix, The Boston Globe, Stuff@Night, The Brookline TAB and come to see us on stage. Now you can study burlesque with the most talked-about troupe in New England! No previous experience is necessary. This series of classes was designed and created with the novice dancer in mind, but experienced dancers looking to learn classic burlesque moves and techniques will also greatly benefit.

This is a four-session course taught on Thursday evenings starting Thursday, June 18. All classes are from 7 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. and are taught at Tempo Dance Center (380 Washington Street, Brighton, MA 02135). The cost is $25 per session or $85 for the complete course if you register and pay by June 11. Class size is limited and we expect this class to sell out.

Through a series of lessons and demonstrations which build upon one another, students will learn the fundamentals of burlesque dance.  At the end of the course, you will have the building blocks to create your own fun and flirty dance routine.  Over the four weeks we'll discuss burlesque-related topics like music selection, the art of costuming, and performing for an audience.  Burlesque is a terrific form of expression for any woman.  It builds confidence, comfort with your own body – and it's great exercise too!

For more information or to register, please leave a comment, e-mail us at TheScoop@BostonBabydolls.net, or call (617) 869-2000.

The Boston Babydolls fund-raiser is just hours away!

Friday, May 15th @ 8 p.m.
Cambridge YMCA Theater
820 Mass Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139
(Red line to Central Square T stop)

Advance ticket sales are closed, but there are still tickets available at the door! Pay What You Will at the door. Suggested donation: $10

Join The Boston Babydolls and members of the New England dance and music community in opposing The City of Quincy's illegal and inappropriate use of their Zoning Board to keep out legitimate businesses. Coverage of the most recent event can be found here and a more detailed write-up can be found here

Friday night's show features a whole host of goodies for you! We have music, magic, singing, hula hooping, contortion, and so much dance! Belly dance, cabaret dance, tap dance, burlesque and more! With performances from...

• Zehara Nachash
  
• Bethany Boles
  
• Erzulie
  
• Al Millar, The Human Knot
  
• Ben Reynolds
  
• Pamela Passion
  
• The Infamous Miss Huff
  
• Madame X
  
• Blitzen vonSchtupp
  
• ...and, of course, The Boston Babydolls — showing off their burlesque and non-burlesque talents.

As if that wasn't enough we'll also have fabulous raffle and door prizes, cool stuff to buy, and some amazing auction items! Things like... two nights at The Pilgrim House in Provincetown, MA; a two-hour private lesson with Miss Mina; a photo session Ana Reyes Photography; a copy of Unwelcome Bodies, autographed to you by author Jennifer Pelland; a $50 gift certificate at Church of Boston; a belly dance gift bag (including a dance lesson!) from Zehara Nachash; a corset fitting from Beautiful Iniquity; a 60-minute therapeutic massage from Seacret Gardens; a portrait sitting with Lisa Lassner; and a billiards party for 20 including food from the folks at FELT; and lots more cool stuff.

Hope to see you all there!

This is a two-parter about the same thing — The Boston Babydoll Benefit on this Friday, May 15.

First, have you bought your tickets? They're going fast.

Second, we're going to have both auction items and door prizes at the show. Currently donated items include: two nights at The Pilgrim House in Provincetown, MA; a two-hour private lesson with Miss Mina; a portrait sitting from Ana Reyes Photography; a copy of Unwelcome Bodies, autographed to you by author Jennifer Pelland; a $50 gift certificate at Church of Boston; a belly dance gift bag (including a dance lesson!) from Zehara Nachash; a corset fitting from Beautiful Iniquity; and lots more cool stuff.

So... where do you come in? Well, if you (or your company) has something you'd like to donate to the cause, drop us a line. And, if you're coming to the show, this is just a heads-up to save a little folding money for the auction or raffle.

You're all following our tweets, right?

We'd be much happier if the site was called "Glitter"...