Back on Tour

Last Wednesday saw the first performance of the group 'The Absolute Bankers' for a new night at Proud Cabaret called 'The Bank Vault'

The Bank Vault at Proud Cabaret

We have been rehearsing for a couple of weeks and performed a lovely mix of songs, from standards such as 'Summertime' and 'At Last', a few standards with a twist, like 'Mack The Knife' (with a Jaws-style intro), and 'Bad Bad Leroy Brown' (mixed with 'Bad' by Michael Jackson), and some modern, unexpected songs, like 'Toxic' and 'Price Tag'!

Emma performing on stage

It was great fun, and although the audience was small they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, singing along and dancing to the upbeat songs. It's a shame that it doesn't look like the night will be repeated after all the work we put in, but it may lead to other opportunities in the future.

'The Absolute Bankers'! With Joe Morose, Emma 'Captain' Hook, James and Chris

Over the weekend I was excited to be back on tour with 'The Burlesque Show' as we headed up to bonnie Scotland for two shows.

Massive banner overlooking Dunfermeline

They were great fun, and the audiences were both fantastic - it was so lovely to be back with a fantastic group of performers and the shows went wonderfully. We even had a celebrity-style signing after the show in Motherwell!

 

Squishing into the lift! ** Mat Ricardo rehearsing on stage

 

Mirror Pictures!! With Rod, Elliot Mason, Alex and Kittie Klaw ** with Kittie, Alex, Glorian Gray, Elliot, Mat and James

Celebrity-style signing!

 Despite being unwell for most of the weekend I enjoyed myself immensely and it was fabulous to catch up with people I hadn't seen for months - though I was grateful to be home in my own bed to sleep off this lingering cold!

Snoozing in the car on the way back from Scotland!

Quirky and Cool

Such a fabulous few days! Over the weekend I took myself off to sunny (honestly!) Torquay for the night - Kinky and Quirky has such a fabulous, national reputation and I was so excited to be part of the show, especially as the line-up included Atheria Hart, Flixx Demontrant and the gorgeous Laurie Hagen!

Kinky and Quirky

It was such a wonderful atmosphere at the show - the audience were so enthusiastic (and with a line up like this one who can blame them?!) Mark and Sarah looked after us all so well and made us feel completely loved and welcome, and we had a great time backstage too!

Mirror Picture! With Fran Fandango, Atheria Hart, Sarah, Laurie Hagen and Mark!

The Fabulous Fran Fandango ready to rock on stage!

On Sunday I headed back to London for an afternoon rehearsal for a new night I'm working on with a couple of friends - it promises to be an exciting show and there's no burlesque! It's a live Jazz music night and I'm going to be singing! Singing more this year was something I really wanted to do: even though I trained as a singer, I'm not really known for it and as it's something I'm passionate about it's something I want to do a lot more of.

So... Monday was an event I'd been looking forward to for such a long time: visiting the Tower Of London for a private tour, a meal in the private Yeoman Warders Bar, and witnessing the Ceremony of the Keys with the Cabaret Family! 

Gathering at the Tower of London

At 7:30 we met with our group, organised by the gorgeous Slinky Sparkles, outside the Tower (apparently people were taking sneaky photos of us all looking glamorous!) for a tour by Barney, one of the Beefeaters at the Tower. He took us through the history of the Tower of London including some gruesome stories of beheadings and torture, past Traitors Gate and into St.Peter ad Vincula; 'the saddest spot on earth' where those who were executed at the Tower were buried. Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Lady Jane Grey are all buried under the altar! 

The axe that beheaded Katherine Howard! The *actual* axe!!

After the tour, we were taken to the exclusive Yeoman Warders Club where we were served Fish and Chips and took full advantage of the bar! I could have chatted to the Yeoman Warders all night, they had such fascinating tales, and Barney, our guide, certainly knew how to spin a yarn! Apparently the name 'Beefeaters' is not, and has never been, an official term for the Yeoman Warders, has never been written down as such and no one is completely sure where the name comes from! According to Barney, the closest theory is that, in the distant past part of the Yeoman Warders salary was in a ration of fresh meat as meat was expensive and not regularly available to the poorer parts of society, so the nickname of 'beef-eaters' stuck!

 

Eating and drinking with the Cabaret Family!

After our meal, we were privileged to witness The Ceremony of the Keys - the oldest surviving ceremony of its kind anywhere in the world: the locking of the gates of The Tower of London. It has been carried out at 10pm every night without fail for 700 years, except for one night during the blitz when a bomb was dropped onto the green of the Tower, delaying the ceremony by nine minutes! It was such a surreal, once-in-a-lifetime experience to watch this ancient ceremony being carried out then go and sit in a pub surrounded by a thousand years of history.

At the Yeoman Warders Club! With Ronnie, Joe Morrow, Missy Fatale, Carmen, Sophia St. Villier, Slinky Sparkles, Taz, Coco DuBois, Josh and Papa DuBois!

Oops!

Goodness me, it's been almost a month since my last blog! 

In my defence, I've moved house this month and didn't have internet access for some time - added to that I've been a little under the weather so I've not really had the motivation to do much more than curl up on the sofa with the cats and Disney movies!

However, despite this, I have had a lovely month - it began with a charity show at Proud Cabaret organised by the wonderful Hayley Coppinger at Clear Cut Events, with a marvellous cast!

 

"And All That... Cabaret!" ** Joe Morose on piano 

Mirror Picture! With Abi Collins, Tempest Rose, Jonathan Finch and Ben Brown

I had several more shows at Proud Cabaret and the beautiful Volupte Lounge during March - here's a selection of pictures from a few of them...

Electra warming up backstage ** Leah Debrincat onstage

Mirror Picture! With Taz, Coco DuBois, Joe Morose, Electra, Mat Ricardo, Sophia St. Villier, Betsy Rose and Frieda Rose! 

 

Carmen looking gorgeous! ** Coat and Hat artwork?

Mirror Picture! With Tempest Rose and Kitty Devine at Volupte!

Alongside shows, I also participated in a fun photoshoot for the band 'The Noise Next Door' - I spent a fun afternoon dressing up as a saloon/show girl with a group of lovely ladies and gentlemen and the results promise to be wonderful!

Sneaky Peek! With Twin and Tonic, Scarlett Belle and Liberty Sweet!

I also visited my hometown, Chester, to teach a Burlesque Workshop to an over-excitable hen party as part of the Vintage Pamper Box. They are a lovely group of ladies and I always enjoy working with them. The best part about visiting Chester is getting to see my friends and family; although the journey was a little fraught as I don't think Mother Nature has received the memo about Spring!

Snow covered garden in Chester

 

Hen Party at Telfords Warehouse ** Girls Night In with the besties

So, that's about it for March - it was a relatively quiet month, show-wise, which fortunately left me plenty of time and space to move house without lots of distractions. And obviously, being unwell, I actually preferred *not* performing as I wasn't feeling my best at all!

However, the next few months are looking promising and will hopefully be bringing some good things and exciting times, which I will, of course, share with you here - I promise not to leave it so long next time!

Ooh, and I got my hair cut!