Welcome to The Dollhouse

• 09:06 Happy Monday! VOTE to make THE BOSTON BABYDOLLS "Boston's Best Dance Troupe, Sexy" bit.ly/aAG3ql so we can stop these daily reminders
• 09:40 Thank you so much! We love Annie Darcy, Elsie (who made it back for the last night) and the band! Expect more live music at our shows.
• 14:15 New stars in The Glitterverse! Welcome @DiAhnaRestry @indianpoliticia @Jaymieeaka @FishnetFollies @CTWPromotions @EDDY1804 @rachelb0430
• 07:05 Morning! Time to VOTE to make THE BOSTON BABYDOLLS "Boston's Best Dance Troupe, Sexy" bit.ly/aAG3ql Serious Victory party if we win!

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

We've got a show tomorrow night at ImprovBoston in Central Square. We're keeping on eye on the weather, but as Rick Allen said "The show must go on!" (I think he actually said, "Hmm... seem to have lost my arm. Oh well, I'll just play drums with only one arm now", but it's the same sentiment).

It is going to snow. It's Boston, it happens. ImprovBoston is about 250 feet from the Central Sq. T stop in one direction and 200 feet from a free parking lot in the other, so getting to the show shouldn't be an issue. The snow is projected to wrap-up around 3 p.m., so by 9 p.m., the roads should be pretty clear.

That said, we'll monitor the weather and put something up around 4 p.m. to confirm that we're still a go.

In the mean time...



Vote The Babydolls Ticket! It's just the right thing to do. Remember, you can vote every day -- so please do. The more you vote for us, the sexier you are. That's just common sense.

Hey kids!



Vote The Babydolls Ticket! It's just the right thing to do.

And just so there's some content here...
Betty is back from India and "treated" the troupe by running a warm up. There's a reason we call it "Death By Shimmy"... Take one fast song (MiserlouPulp Fiction), add Betty doing whatever shimmy combinations strike her fancy (walking while shimmying, chest circles while shimmying, &c), mix a bunch of hapless burlesque dancers trying to keep up. Repeat as necessary

• 10:48 On SuperSunday remember another competition: VOTE BOSTON BABYDOLLS at bit.ly/aAG3ql
• 18:53 sigh. Last night of #SleepNoMore. What will I do tomorrow... And tomorrow and tomorrow?
• 01:34 At the #sleepnomore abd @artgatz cast party. I'd tweet about it but you guys wouldn't believe me.

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 11:33 2/6/10 Did You Know? Betty Blaize just got back from a month in India. Her first show of 2010 is this Wednesday at www.improvboston.com

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 10:46 Welcome to The TwitterGlitterverse! @findtheITfactor @PaulineBrechlin @kitastcyr @bloc11cafe and @zombiesandbacon
• 13:08 This is your daily reminder: Vote Babydolls at thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/dancetroupesexy/?widget=true and please re-tweet!
• 19:37 Read our newsletter! All the news that's fit to print in more than 140 characters! r8t.us/a56ZsP

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 14:07 It's an honor just to be nominated - but we'd rather win. Vote Babydolls at thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/dancetroupesexy and RT
• 15:22 Come to "VOTE BOSTON BABYDOLLS!" Today at 8:15 pm until <br />Saturday, March 20 at 11:15 pm. We did it! Thank you... bit.ly/dnMISu
• 21:17 2/4/10: Did You Know? In ancient Japan, the blood of Boston Babydolls was considered a powerful aphrodesiac.

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

Thank you!

To everyone who nominated us! We are in the running for "Best Dance Troupe, Sexy" in The Boston Phoenix's "Best of Boston". It's an honor just to be nominated... but we'd much rather win.

Here's where you come in: follow this link and vote for us every day (you've gotten in the habit of nominating us every day... so why break a trend?)

We have several worthy opponents, and we know they're all out there mobilizing their friends and fans, so we need you to do the same for your favorite burlesque troupe (that's us, by the way).

Thank you for your support. There will be a huge victory party if we win!

• 16:23 Busting my butt to get all my work done so I can go steward tonight at The #SleepNoMore Haiti Benefit.
• 19:28 Just learned there are about 10 more tix for the #sleepnomore benefit tonight. Get here now!

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 09:35 2/2/10 Did You Know? The Tlingit tribe of New Guinea have 117 words to describe burlesque -- but no word for "stock analyst".
• 19:46 Man, I know it's only Tuesday, but it sure feels like a Friday. #longday
• 19:48 BTW, if you haven't gotten your application in there's an online version at www.burlesque-expo.com and we've extended the deadline.

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 18:28 Just curious... do y'all read our blog at bostonbabydolls.livejournal.com (it's mirrored on FaceBook).
• 23:24 Walking the halls of Cawdor one last time on Wednesday. Special #SleepNoMore benefit for Haiti. $100 but for a good cause.

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 09:36 Some dancers look funny, we just ARE funny. LAFF YOUR PANTS OFF, Wed., 2/10 10p @ImprovBoston 40 Prospect St, Cambridge bit.ly/9PWWk1
• 09:40 Welcome to our Glitterverse @thrivenation @SimonSkills @JillToma @JeansMcQueen @JaredWGBH @MissA4Advice @emiblake @karmicphoto @ImprovBoston
• 22:08 Apparently it's can-can madness night at bpstpn babydolls rehearsal. Pictures to follow.

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

About four years ago I got an inquiry about doing a show from a woman who runs Glory Restaurant up in Andover. She was very interested in having us come in and do a weekly show. She asked a lot of detailed questions and I put together a bunch of written proposals and documentation (photos, press clippings, references). We e-mailed back and forth on an almost daily basis. Then she vanished; stopped replying to emails, stopped returning phone calls. It happens. I put her on my "once a month" list of people to check in with and after six months or so, dropped her from that. It happens. People get cold feet, go in another direction, realize they can't afford us, find God (specifically a god who doesn't like burlesque), whatever. Sometimes I can re-use the materials I've prepared for a specific potential client, sometimes I can't. In any case, the cost of finding business and exploring failed leads is all part of overhead, right?

I just got a call from the same woman. I didn't remember her at first but she jogged my memory (she runs a couple of restaurants with her brother as a partner. It was an interesting enough detail that I remembered her). She's figured out all of the things that were stumbling blocks before — budget, issues with some locals, the explored another direction that didn't go so well. In short, she's found a new god and his name is Burlesque. And Scratch is his prophet.

Starting Thursday, February 25, we'll be doing free burlesque shows from 10 p.m. to midnight at Glory Restaurant up in Andover. I offered her a one-off event to test the waters, but she said no, she wanted a longer commitment. I said "How about a 4-week trial?", but she wants to put a lot of money and energy into promoting this, and insisted on a 10-week contract. It's nice to be wanted.

I think it's going to be great. We're starting in a small, but elegant room, and there's room to expand if the night proves to be a winner. I mentioned high-end dinner and a show events like Indigo Blue's Blue Moon Cabaret a$225 per ticket (!) extravaganza in Seattle and she loved the idea. But, since we're starting small and low pressure, it's a great place for our newer dancers to get their feet wet.

What a nice weekend this is turning out to be. ;-)

• 14:24 Whirlwind trip back from great show in VT. Dropped @misshuff of at the train. Now change clothes & off to see @ARTGatz - both halves today!
• 17:25 The first break at @ARTGatz. WONDERFUL so far. It's like Naked Girls Reading... With clothes. And men. And a production budget.
• 21:32 Am I a big theater geek if I say the sound engineering for @ARTGatz is incredible? 1.5 hours to go... So good! See it!
• 00:10 Love people who say things like "RT this X times to win!" and then announce winners when it's so easy to see the lack of RTs. #pantsonfire
• 00:15 Yoiks! Someone started selling V FOR VIXEN tickets without us! SUn., 2/28 at Oberon. Get yours at www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/7892845
• 01:12 TWO SPACES LEFT in today's class at 1 p.m. Sign up before noon! bit.ly/8eFqLC
• 03:16 Come to "LAFF YOUR PANTS OFF" Wednesday, February 10 from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm. IMPROVBOSTON
  40 PROSPECT... bit.ly/9PWWk1

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 23:24 Good night Johnson State College & thanks for everything. Your warm welcome made up for the -2F drive back to the hotel! See you soon!

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 23:34 1/28/10: Did You Know? The Boston Babydolls have performed our "Arbor Day on Ice" show in almost every state in the union (sorry Tennessee).
• 06:21 Come to "Niom. Nom. Nom." Today at 10:50 am until <br />Sunday, February 28 at 1:50 pm. The short version is, go to... bit.ly/d12cxM
• 07:08 Come to "Into The Seraglio" Sunday, February 14 from 4:00 am to 11:00 am. The mysterious and exotic east...... bit.ly/aVdzfh
• 08:02 1/29/10: Daily Factoid: Did you know that "Did You Know?" was trademarked and that some corporate lawyers have no sense of humor?

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

The short version is, go to http://thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/ and nominate The Boston Babydolls for "Best Dance Performers" or "Best Theater Company" (both of which are under "Arts + Entertainment"). Do it once a day, every day (yes, seriously) until we tell you to stop.

Here's the "why"...

Boston has a strong, rich, and diverse burlesque and cabaret scene. I'm not telling you anything you don't know, because you're already part of it. However, if you look at the various local publications, you'd think that there was more burlesque in Boise, Idaho than there is in Boston. Sure, every once in a while someone will be able to grab a little coverage of one event or another, but for the most part, Boston ignores it's burlesquers, vaudeville performers, dragsters, sideshow artists, cabaret performers, sketch artists, and anyone else that doesn't fall into a neat little box.

It's not that they're afraid or puritanical. It's just that they won't create a new box. Yes, all of these wonderful arts are a niche -- a special interest -- but so is classical music and so are childrens' activities.

We really hope that if The Boston Babydolls, a burlesque troupe, is nominated for "Best Dance Performers" or "Best Theater Company" than maybe, just maybe, we stand a chance of having a "Burlesque/Cabaret" section in the weekly listing calendars, alongside of jazz and sporting events and spoken word and rummage sales and all the other great things Boston has to offer.

New York City's newspapers have a 'Burlesque' section in their calendars. So do Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and L.A. – and our alternative scene is just as vibrant, just as thriving, as any of those places.

Please help spread the word by inviting folks from far and wide (you don't have to live in Boston to nominate us).

If just one person logs in, nominates The Boston Babydolls and logs out every single damn day (and I am), he's a lone nut and they won't listen to him,

And if two people do it (in harmony), they'll think they're both fame whores and they won't listen to either of them...

But.... Can you imagine, three people loggin' in, nominating The Boston Babydolls and logging out? They may think it's an organization. And can you imagine... can you imagine fifty people a day – I said fifty people a day – logging in, nominating The Boston Babydolls, and logging out? Well, friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , The Boston Babydolls Burlesque Rally for Boston, and all you got to do to join is nominate The Boston Babydolls in this year's Boston Phoenix "Best of..." Awards -- we're Boston's burlesque home team.

One more time... Go to http://thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/ and nominate The Boston Babydolls for "Best Dance Performers" or "Best Theater Company" (both of which are under "Arts + Entertainment").

• 14:23 Plz Nominate us! Best Dance Performers + Best Theater Company, both under Arts + Entertainment @ thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/
• 16:13 Love the quality of light and the color of the skies this time of year.
• 08:28 Please Nominate us! Best Dance Performers + Best Theater Company, under Arts + Entertainment @ thephoenix.com/thebest/boston/vote/

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

• 11:20 1/26/10: Did You Know? 3 of the 5 most recent First Ladies have auditioned to be Boston Babydolls. None of them made it (sorry, Ms. Obama).
• 16:01 Welcome to the Twitter Glitterverse @BostonFab @twiitterrrrrrrr @OpusAffair @COburlesquefest and @DeviceWay -- we're glad you're here!
• 17:58 Vote for us! bit.ly/9RzqCi
• 08:20 1/27/10: Did You Know? Boston Babydolls attendees are 17 times more likely to win the lottery. Get lucky on 2/10 tinyurl.com/lafftix

This is the daily feed of our tweets. If you want to read them as they actually happen, you can follow us at www.twitter.com/bostonbabydolls

(And, for bonus points, tell me where that quote was bred)

And for "Fancy" read "Inspiration". People often ask 'Where do you get your ideas?' and, with apologies to Stephen King, I usually say "Oswego, New York. I mail order them". That joke is out of step with the times; these days I suppose I should day "www.Burlesque-ideas.com; I download them".

More often than not, a number is born of a collision of fate, necessity, inspiration (very little), and dumb luck (quite a bit). The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2010 will be upon us before you know it (it's April 2-4; we're working on the ticketing now) and, as the hosting group, The Boston Babydolls like to do something spectacular. Sometimes, like last year, it was something spectacular that we had created for another show, and we considered doing that with something out of "V for Vixen", but most of those numbers had one feature dancer and several back-up dancers, and besides some of the Vixens may not be around for The Expo. So we're looking at creating something completely new... and soon.

With that gently buzzing in the back of our heads, everything takes on a new light. When we discovered that chorine Billie von Bonbon can sing the tires off a Mack truck (that's a good thing. It's 2 a.m., what do you want from me?), Miss Mina turned to me (Scratch) and said "What if we do a number where Billie sings while the rest of us dance...?", which seemed to fit into the 'spectacular' category.

Moving on. There's a room in Boston Babydoll Manor that is ostensibly a guest room, and since we don't have that many guests, I tend to store a lot of my formal-wear in that closet, along with a bunch of other stuff I don't use often or have forgotten about. I was getting out my white dinner jacket the other day, when I noticed a box of half a dozen red-and-white tabards (look it up), left over from a fighting unit I used to run in the SCA. I turn to Mina, point them out, and say "What about... some sort of Alice in Wonderland number? You know, with the chorines as playing cards". Mina liked the idea and immediately rattled off half a dozen characters we could have (with her as Alice, of course) until I pointed out the point was to use the tabards. So, we agreed on Mina as Alice and Betty as The Queen of Hearts ("Off with her clothes!")... and we're still negotiating the other players. Of course this may all still get pushed aside by another idea. No promises.

The next part of the equation is music. Since the dance is going to feature a large number of people, we want to make it on the longer side -- around 4 minutes -- and the music needs to be right for a power struggle between Alice and the Queen, and it's got to fit our aesthetic, and a backing track has to be available for it. I skimmed my music library and came up with a couple of possibles (Goody Goody; My Baby Only Cares for Me; Everybody Knows, (which would make for a much darker piece); Whatever Lola Wants; or King of Swing. None of them are quite right, but all of them have potential... and none of them are available as a backing track (at least, none of the versions I want).

I'll keep you guys posted as the act progresses.

This weekend -- off to Vermont to perform at Johnson State College. Should be fun, if the weather holds, and Mina and I are rushing back on Saturday to catch a 3 p.m. curtain for GATZ at The A.R.T.

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Now playing: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - King Of Swing
http://foxytunes.com/artist/big+bad+voodoo+daddy/track/king+of+swing