From Paris to Vegas, Baby!

The past two weeks have been full of great news and surprises! One is “Nuit Blanche”, an amazing, fabulous, and super glamorous show produced by “Dances of Vice”‘s Shien Lee who is also the vocalist in my show “Les Fleurs de Shanghai” at Duane Park. She is another fierce & creative Chinese-American female kicking ass in NYC creating out-of-this-world themed party events under the umbrella called “Dances of Vice.” Shien’s new show is called “Nuit Blanche Wednesday” at a swanky, upscale French brasserie called Beaumarchais in the Meat Packing District on W. 13th Street. Right next to Spice Market for those of you who are locals.

I am there every Wednesday, performing and MC-ing, and acting as the “burlesque category_ide” for this very “non-downtown” crowd. They are all eyes but no sound, unlike the downtown NYC crowd who is all sound and PLUS some. People who are not accustomed to or expecting to see burlesque while they are dining may feel uncomfortable. There are many different scenarios that can play out if it’s a couple. The man may be into it but afraid to appear as if he is enjoying the performance and the spectacle we put on, because of the woman he is with. The woman, on the other hand, is watching his reaction so much that she fails to notice that we actually are vamping it up for the ladies 90% of the time! Burlesque, after all, is a woman thing. We are not stripping for your tips. We are not trying to swindle men’s money to the “Champagne Room”. As I always explain by way of my introduction, “We put the tease back into the ‘striptease’.” This remark often puts everyone at ease a bit. There are other dynamics that are harder to…dissolve or massage, shall we say. But that’s another post for another day.

Beaumarchais is beautiful as are the people especially the DJ who helps us out with sound and plays really great, non-cheesy dance music. She is none other than Eve Salvail (aka DJ Evalicious) who was a supermodel in the 90s! You may remember her from her trademark shaved head with a dragon tattoo. She has appeared in The Fifth Element, Pret a Porter, and many other films. She was and still in Jean Paul Gaultier’s muse. I thought she looked trés familiar when we started working there, and during the second week of “Nuit Blanche” I finally blurted out, “You look so familiar to me.” She candidly and without an ounce of attitude said, “Oh I used to model. That’s probably why.” She is so cool and so down-to-earth and the best part, a huge supporter of burlesque! The food btw at Beaumarchais is simply delicious. Unlike many of the pretentious restaurants in MePa who serve tiny portions on a GIANT plate, their generous but not excessive portions reflect the warm spirit and hospitality they show their clientele AND us performers. Every week Shien comes up with a new theme. We debuted with “Las Vegas” then last week we did “Exotic East”. This week 3/21 is a flashback to 1940’s USO! The last Wednesday is the only week Shien and I won’t be at Beaumarchais because we will be at “Les Fleurs de Shanghai” at Duane Park – speaking of which, I found a Chinese musician who plays the “yang qin”! I am so thrilled to have her as our guest musician this month.

The other exciting news is that I found out I was accepted in the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend festival in Las Vegas at the end of May! This event is “The Oscars of Burlesque” or some call it “The Olympics of Burlesque”. The best of the best come from all over the world to perform and compete for a title. Since I’ve never performed there, I had to enter in the “Best Debut” category. This weekend is like intensive summer camp surrounding by hundreds of performers and fans alike! It happens at The Orleans for 4 days and 4 nights. NO ONE SLEEPS.

That about rounds up this brief update! Hope some of you will make it out on this Wednesday’s “Nuit Blanche” or to “Les Fleurs de Shanghai” next Wednesday!