Dear Constant Reader,
This past Saturday was our debut performance at House of Hatchets, an axe-throwing emporium on Cape Cod. Ticket sales were a bit slow, so I was very nervous. I mentioned to a friend that I hoped the show would go well and she asked if I thought I’d have fun. I realized I *always* have fun with Betty and Ava and Devastasia and Scratch. Even if the show sucked (spoiler: it was awesome), we’d have a great time together.
Our dressing room was one of the axe-throwing lanes with a curtain over the front. We could hear people throwing axes in the other lanes. Pretty cool! We were supposed to be on the archery range, but we didn’t actually need that much room.
Since this was our first show, we just went with a classic theme, plus a couple of pointed acts (see what I did there…). It was clearly the right mix, because the audience was so enthusiastic, especially one particular table (more on that later). Oh, and tickets sales ended up being just fine, despite my early worries.
We could not have done the show nearly as smoothly without the help of long-time stagehand Marek (who drove down from the snowy north) and first-time (but you’d never know it) stagehand Aurora.
Aurora took some video of us warming up, which you can see here.
And the show went something like this:
Devastasia: Real Gone (Sam Taylor)
This is classic bump & grind. A great way to start the show!
Scratch & Aurora: Magic
This is a fun trick with a lot of audience participation as Scratch tried to choose a tie to complete his outfit.
Ava Fox: He’s a Tramp (Peggy Lee)
A languid striptease with gorgeous dressing gown highlighting Ava’s costuming skills and love of pink.
Betty Blaize: You’re the Boss (Brian Setzer)
Betty’s classic dance with the Devil. Mr. Devilhead has gotten an upgrade with both his head and his robe and Betty has incorporated a few magic tricks to make it really special.
INTERMISSION
Mina Murray: My Room (Earl Okin)
This was my first major fan dance and still one of my favorites. I used to perform it with a maid to unzip my gown, but during the pandemic I added a quick release, so I could do it myself.
Devastasia: Why Don’t You Do Right? (singing)
This song gives Devastasia a chance to seduce with her voice as well as showing off her impressive vocal range.
Scratch: Urban Legend (magic)
This is a “don’t try this at home” tricks that involves double-edged razor blades.
Ava Fox & Betty Blaize: Purple Wail (Red Prysock)
This is a brand new duet. We had a bunch of trios and some four person numbers, but few duets. The stage was pretty small, so if we wanted to perform a group number, we needed a new one. Devastasia had a duet she had used for teaching and the four of us took that simple routine and ran with it. We had a lot of fun in the creation process!
INTERMISSION
Ava Fox: Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Johnny Lang)
Cute and oh-so-dirty, Ava thinks back to her schoolgirl days. If you look really carefully, she has an Umbrella Academy crest on her blazer.
Devastasia: Egyptian Fantasy
One of Devastasia’s newest numbers, with a lovely costume (that she made) in a gorgeous shade of aqua. And if you’re a fan of Devastasia’s you know how rare it is that she wears a color like this.
Betty Blaize: Nightmare/Misirlou Twist (Artie Shaw/Dick Dale)
Betty starts with a black (faux) fur-trimmed robe (her creation, of course) and dramatic movements. Then she switches to a blurringly fast feast of shimmies.
Mina Murray: Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing (Chris Issak)
When we were booked for a show in an axe-throwing emporium, we knew Lizzie Borden had to appear! It’s a messy act, but one I love a lot and the audience seemed to as well!
After the show, we were on the stage taking pictures, and a bunch of the most enthusiastic audience members joined us. One asked me if we used to be The Boston Babydolls. She had seen us at the first Burlesque Marathon — 14 years ago! She remembered that it had been Scratch’s birthday and everyone had cake. She also had a personal epiphany during the show, but that’s not my story to tell.
Even though I didn’t take any pictures (although my Patrons got a little BTS video). Ava took this one before I rehearsed Lizzie Borden.
The fuzzy slippers were a gift from Devastasia. We love keeping our feet warm (and clean) backstage!
Big thanks to Cliff and all the staff at House of Hatchets for having us and being so good to us! We’ll be back on June first with Isle of Tease!
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