And I'm Feeling Good

I've had such a lovely couple of weeks! I feel very, very lucky and happy :)

I rejoined my House of Magic family for a rehearsal and a fun show; much fun and hilarity was had by all and it was great to be back after a couple of months break:

 

 

Scenes from Simon Drake's House of Magic! With Abby Drake and Stevie Smallwood!

I spent a lovely Sunday night with friends and had an amazing roast dinner cooked for me! I've not had a Sunday Dinner for absolutely ages and it tasted like heaven!

Thank you Emma! All the yummy stuff!

Last year I was lucky enough to be invited to The Tower of London for the Ceremony of the Keys; and on Monday we were invited back again! It was another fantastic evening spent with friends; I'm such a geek for History and being in such a historic place with like-minded friends was just lovely. We were served sausage and mash in the Yeoman Warders Club, with cake in a teacup for dessert, and I won a bottle of wine in the raffle!

 

At The Tower of London with Chastity Belt, Taz Zebrowski, Joe Morose, Ruby Deshabille, Ben Carpenter and Rachel!

On Tuesday the Cabaret community came together in grand style at a fundraising event for Kitty Devine's little nephew who is very poorly in hospital. It was a truly fantastic night at Proud Cabaret; raising a couple of thousand pounds to help Baby Nolan!

Outside Proud Cabaret with Trixie Kixx, Scarlet Cuffs and Vanity B!

 

 

  

 

 

 

All photos above by Zebrowski Photography: featuring Mister Meredith, Scarlet Cuffs, Elsie Diamond, Kitty Devine, Delores Deluxe, Amelie Soleil, Jonathan Finch, Coco DuBois, Ruby Deshabille and Trixie Kixx!

I had an amazing 'first' this week as well: I went to the opera! The incredible Leah Debrincat was performing in Cosi Fan Tutte at The Coliseum and I went along with a couple of friends to watch. Having never seen an opera live before I wasn't sure what to expect but the sets were amazing, the singing was beautiful and the costumes were envy-inducing! Afterwards we met up with Leah in the Opera Room of the bar next door!

 

At the Opera and Opera Room!

In between all the fun and frolics, I found time to have a picnic in the park, and have downtime with the boy and the cats! I've also had some exciting developments in 'real-life' that I shall be sharing at a later date! It's been a good week!! :)

 

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!

Disney Princesses

Previous Disney Princess posts have focussed on the realism of the Princess themselves, but what about the costumes they are wearing? The Disney films are based on traditional fairy-tails, which were set in specific time periods, usually around the time they were first told. So the Princesses outfits should surely reflect the times in which they are set?

Now, artist Claire Hummel has re-imagined the Disney Princesses: creating for them beautiful gowns that fit the period the stories are based in...

Snow White

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - 1937

A traditional Bavarian folk tale, the best known version is that of the Brothers Grimm, collected in 1812. It is set in 16th Century Germany (which is the most likely time-frame for the first appearance of the folk tale) and Hummel's version is based on fashions from the early 1500's

Cinderella

1950

The origins of this story are considered to be the Ancient Greek historian Strabo in the 1st Century AD. However the most popular version comes from Charles Perrault in 1697. Ballets and Pantomimes based on the tale gained popularity in the mid-1800's and it's this period that Hummel has depicted her Cinderella wearing to the ball as it bears the most resemblance to the time-period of the Disney film.

Princess Aurora

Sleeping Beauty - 1959

Based on a classic Brothers Grimm fairy story, the first translation was by French author Charles Perrault in 1697, however it was set much earlier in Medieval Europe. Hummel's version is based on French court fashion from the late 1400's.

Ariel

The Little Mermaid - 1989

Firs published as a ballet in 1837, Hummel states that Ariel's wedding gown in the Disney film with the 'embarrassing' 1980's sleeves was also reminiscent of the slash-sleeve evening gowns of the 1890's so this creation would not look out of place in a mid-century wedding dress

Belle

Beauty and the Beast - 1991

The first published version of the traditional tale 'La Belle et la Bete' appeared in France in 1740, although the abridged version gained more popularity towards the late 1700's. Hummel has created for Belle a ballgown in true, 18th Century French court fashion.

Princess Jasmine

Aladdin - 1992

One of the most popular tales from the legendary 'The Book of One-Thousand and One Arabian Nights' - Hummel has placed Jasmine within early 18th Century Persia: the first translation from Arabic was via French scholar Antoine Galland around 1709.

Pocahontas

1995

Based on the historical figure from the early 17th Century, the movie is very liberal with the actual facts (when the 'real' Pocahontas first met John Smith, she was around the age of 10!) however Hummel's depiction (apart from age!) is true to Native American dress of the period

Megara

Hercules - 1997

Hercules is the Roman adaptation of the Greek demi-god Herecles: he first appears around 350 BC however fashions of both empires were relatively similar and simple and this version of the mythological characters first wife (according to one version of the story he killed their four children in a fit of madness - not very Disney!) is simply elegant and beautiful - like a Doric column or marble muse.

**I know she's not an official Princess but she's the only non-princess in this series and I didn't want to mess up the chronology!**

Mulan

1998

Another example of Disney playing fast and loose with historical fact: Fa Mulan (the historical character) probably lived around 386-534 AD, however the Hun invasion of China took place much earlier (around 200BC) and both the clothing the characters wear and the Emperor's 'Forbidden City' is from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Given this historical confusion, Hummel has still created a beautiful costume reminiscent of the late Ming/early Qing dynasty fashions.

Tiana

The Princess and the Frog - 2009

The Disney film is based on 'The Frog Princess' by E.D. Baker from 2002, which in turn is based on 'The Frog Prince' by... you guessed it; The Brothers Grimm! Disney based their movie in 1920's New Orleans and Hummel has re-imagined Tiana's 'Princess dress' from the movie's finale as a true 20's Flapper dress.

Rapunzel

Tangled - 2010

Now, the story first appears written down in 1812 by the Brothers Grimm and is an adaptation of an earlier tale 'Persinette' from 1698, which in itself bears striking resemblance to a 10th Century Persian epic poem. However, Hummel describes her version as 'late regency... circa 1820' reasoning that the Disney version is not tied to any particular land or time, and I suppose it bears a little passing homage to the time period of the Brothers Grimm