Gilding the Lili

I am absolutely covered in bruises this week! Sparkly showgirl, magic rehearsal, ice-skating bruises admittedly, but bruises nonetheless!

Sparkles!

I had a week off from 'real life' work this week, ostensibly to have a bit of a break, yet I ended up with more to do than I would have done if I'd have stayed on! But it has been fabulous fun, so I'm not complaining at all!

Skates on!

On Monday and Tuesday I took myself off to the ice-rink for Burlesque On Ice rehearsals. And, not to get ahead of myself or anything, but I think I'm *finally* starting to get the hang of this ice-skating malarkey! In the past I've had the issue that, when I look at a move, I know I can do it - my brain goes 'yep, I can totally see how that needs to be done', but my feet go 'nope!' Like my body didn't get the memo from my brain. However, in the last week or so I've started to get my head around some of the moves I was having mental blocks on (i.e. all of them) and work on some new, slightly harder things. Which is all good! Full credit for this definitely goes to Hollie Deller (who is playing the lead in the show!) who doesn't take any crap and just forces me to try things that I think I'd usually try and wiggle out of!

Burlesque On Ice - Tickets on sale NOW!

What wasn't so great was me throwing my hip out like an old lady! All the skating is exacerbating old issues I first encountered during college when I was dancing all-day, every-day, but thanks to having these things happen before I know what to do to try and make sure it doesn't happen again! Fingers Crossed!

Monday evening was an event I had been looking forward to for a while - a Cabaratiparti!! In honour of the unveiling of the Cabarevolution video, that I blogged about a few weeks ago, the organisers of the London Cabaret Festival hauled half of the performers in London to Proud Cabaret for a party! And it was wonderful!

Cabarevolution!!

On Tuesday evening I was in rehearsals for the amazing Simon Drake's House of Magic! I'm making my debut in this incredible show on the 2nd November and although my role is quite small it's insanely physical and takes split-second timing to get right. I felt like I'd been put through a Navy Seals bootcamp on Wednesday morning!
I'm so excited to be in this show - I have always been fascinated by magic and illusion and to be a part of such a renowned show is terrifying and wonderful at the same time!

So excited for this show!

Wednesday was a day of tending to my injuries and working on two new acts - one that I have the music and choreography for and just need to get the costume finished, and another that I have a complete costume for and no idea for music or movement!
My wonderful boy bought me a bunch of roses to help me recover from my bruises; roses are my favourite flower and the birth flower for June, which is nice! I also got new slippers! I know that's not really blog-worthy but I love them and it's my blog so deal with it.
I mentioned last week that I had signed up for NaNoWriMo and I got to work on the story planning and structure, ready to begin in earnest on the 1st November! I have the story and development all set out now, and a chapter plan as well so I'm excited to begin writing!

 

Roses! ** Sleepy Cat

 

NaNoWriMo ** Leopard PJ's and Slippers!

On Thursday, after a morning skating session, I headed off to the beautiful city of Canterbury for The Gilded Lili in the gorgeous Speigeltent at the Canterbury Festival. I did Lili's show at the Milton Keynes Festival last year and it's always a fabulous night. We were in a gorgeous venue and an amazing show - created, curated and hosted by the wonderful Lili La Scala the line-up was incredible, featuring The Boy With Tape On His Face, Mat Ricardo, Abi Collins, Ash Frith and Chantilly Lace. Just lovely! Apart from me having a little bit of a brain fart regarding my act and not even realising I hadn't finished it properly until I had left the stage! What is wrong with me?! Must be getting old :P

Gorgeous Speigeltent at Canterbury Festival

 

Two Mirror Pictures! With Ash Frith, Mat Ricardo, Lili La Scala, The Boy With Tape On His Face, Chantilly Lace and Abi Collins!

I don't know why it amused me that hotels *still* put bibles in the bedside tables.

I stayed over in Canterbury on Thursday night in a lovely little hotel and, after a *huge* breakfast headed back to London for an exciting interview at lunchtime. I spent the afternoon on the ice, trying to avoid kids on half-term and kamikaze hockey skaters - seriously I hate those guys.

Quote from Kristi Yamaguchi

Friday and Saturday I was back at Proud Cabaret for a lovely couple of shows with a whole lot of the usual Proud suspects (literally, as Friday night is Murder Mystery night!) It was a fabulous way to round off a stellar week!

The Silencing of Miss Scarlet

 

Friday Mirror Pictures! Mat wants to be the centre of attention! ** With Taz Zebrowski, Mat Ricardo, Beau Rocks, Teddy Boylesque and Jolie Papillon!

Saturday Mirror Picture! With Dee Riley, Helen Orford, Lili La Scala, Taz Zebrowski and Jolie Papillon!

Showtime

Despite only having one show last weekend, it was an absolutely wonderful one, with an incredible line-up!

Mirror Picture! With Abi Collins, Taz Zebrowski, Kiki Kaboom and Lili La Scala

Hosted by Lili, the show also featured Mat Ricardo: we joked that it was an award-winning line-up - Lili won at the Buxton Fringe Festival, Mat and Kiki won at the London Cabaret Awards, Abi won at the Milan Burlesque Festival and I... got my 25 metres swimming badge when I was 8...!

Abi performing on stage at Proud Cabaret

I then had the luxury of a weekend off to relax and catch up on Strictly Come Dancing (!) before my Grandparents arrived for a few days visit to the big city. We walked all around London, visiting the V&A, Harrods (for the Disney Princess Christmas windows), Oxford Street and Regent Street to see the lights, rounded off with a lovely meal and a theatre trip to see 'Singing in the Rain' - complete with a complimentary seat upgrade! Thank you very much!

V&A Museum

Harrods: all lit up for Christmas

 

Sleeping Beauty ** Rapunzel (Tangled)

 

 Rapunzel's Peacock ** Belle (Beauty and the Beast)

 

Jasmine (Aladdin) ** Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

 

Pocahontas ** Mulan

 

Tiana (The Princess and the Frog) ** Cinderella

 

Snow White ** Cinderella's Coach

Yes, I took a video of the glory of the Christian Louboutin Cinderella shoes :) 

Sweets, Cake and Squid in the Harrods Food Hall

Singing in the Rain stage

My Grandma,Granddad and I outside the theatre

Hat Trick

Thursday is the start of the weekend for me: it's usually the first day of the week I have a show and last weekend began by travelling to Barnstaple with Dolly Rose and Elliot Mason for The Burlesque Show.

The Queen's Theatre, Barnstaple

It was a lovely show, hosted by Lili La Scala and featuring the usual cast of wonderful performers. I hadn't seen Fancy Chance since the shows in Jersey back in August so it was great to have a catch up with her and she performed her fabulous 'Prince' act too, which I love!

Mirror Picture! With Kittie Klaw and Fancy Chance

We stayed in a nice little hotel overnight, and after a lovely breakfast I headed off through the rain with Jim Devereaux to Bath for one of my favourite shows; High Tease at the Bath Komedia.

Mirror Picture! With Sherry Trifle, Alexandra Hofgartner, Betty Blue Eyes, Velma Von Bon Bon, Dusty Limits and Kittie Klaw

The show was loosely Halloween Themed - one of the things I enjoy most about the Bath shows is that the audience always get really involved, dressing up to the nines and having a wonderful time. I was excited to see Velma's 'Fandango' act - the costume and concept was wonderful and the act itself was truly inspired. For me, the highlight of the night, though, was Alex's incredible double-act with her dance partner (sexy ping-pong! *not* that way... filthy people!) It was weird, wonderful, sexy and disturbingly gorgeous. I loved it! I also had a giggle performing as 'Zombie Marilyn' - singing 'My Heart Belongs to Daddy' complete with blood-soaked sponge heart!

Zombie Marilyn

After the show, we piled back to the Komedia flat, loaded with with burgers and chips from Schwartz Brothers (or Shwartzenburgen :P ) and lots of wine and beer to round off the night with several hours of gossip and giggles.

Ye Olde Sweet Shoppe - Bath

On Saturday morning we had a couple of free hours to have a lovely brunch and wander around the beautiful shops in the centre of Bath - the weather was bright but freezing cold and I was so happy for my gorgeous new coat I bought in Camden last week! Then we loaded the cars back up to complete the hat-trick of shows with another 'The Burlesque Show', this time in St. Albans.

Mirror Picture! With Jim Devereaux, Elan, Dolores Delight, Tempest Rose and Kittie Klaw

This show was spearheaded by one of my favourite hostesses, Tempest Rose, and she absolutely slammed it! The audience were onside from the very start and the whole show was so much fun (even though I put the heel of my shoe through the sequinned dress for my 'Sugar' act and had to perform a very unsexy manoeuvre to unhook myself!)

This is how I'm spending my Sunday!

So, tired, aching but completely contented, I made it back home for a lazy Sunday in front of trash TV! Blissful!

Interview - Lili La Scala

Lili la Scala is one of the UK's top female cabaret comperes, much in demand for her quirky vintage style and nightingale voice, able to whip the crowd into a frenzy whilst keeping them hanging on her every word or note. From classical training, through street performing to burlesque, Lili's exceptional journey has made her the versatile performer she is today. As well as hosting shows, Lili is well known for her love of vintage songs and has several successful solo shows under her belt: 'War Notes' which enjoyed international success and also the award-winning & internationally acclaimed 'Songs to Make You Smile'. Her own variety shows, 'Another F*cking Variety Show' and 'The Gilded Lili Variety Revue' have received rave reviews and have had their stages graced by some of the world's top variety and burlesque artists. When she's not telling audiences what to do, Lili enjoys sphynx cats, high heels and hoarding vintage clothing and music.

Lili La Scala: The Songbird of Trafalgar Square

What was your first experience of Burlesque or Cabaret and what convinced you to start yourself?

I first experienced cabaret back in 2006, I saw La Clique at the Edinburgh Fringe. I was a street performer at the time, a busking opera singer, and many of the acts in La Clique were street performers too. The jump from street to stage came on the suggestion of a friend who ran a burlesque night and wanted something different. He persuaded me to combine opera and striptease, which was a a fabulous suggestion as, at the time, there wasn't anyone else doing that sort of thing.

Lili's exceptional journey has made her the versatile performer she is today

Tell us a little about your favourite experiences so far

The travelling has been amazing, I've seen some fabulous places and done shows at really great festivals. I particularly love the Adelaide Fringe as it is always a marvellous month of shows with great audiences and dear friends.

"A friend suggested I combine Opera and Striptease, which was a fabulous suggestion!"

Who or what are the influences/inspirations behind your performances?

I tend to take inspiration from music rather than people. Although I have retired my burlesque routines now, I used to find an aria that I loved and then build an act around it. Now, I do one woman shows of vintage songs, the shows create themselves depending on the music that I unearth. Costume-wise, I love old movies, so sometimes I'll see a costume in a movie and take inspiration from that. My most recent costume was originally based on the Milady de Winter from The Three Musketeers meets old carnival.

 

Lili takes her inspiration from operatic arias and old movies

Have you ever had any stage nightmares?

Radio mics always give me nightmares. It's always a problem when techs forget to turn them on, or the frequency hasn't been checked or the battery dies. It's always a tense time until I know it's working.

"Radio Mics always give me nightmares"

Where do you see yourself in the future?

Hosting shows of mine own and for others, creating one-woman vintage song shows, producing other performers solo shows and bringing up a baby whilst maintaining my current level of glam!!

"ravishing retro glamour" The Telegraph

Tell me something no-one would suspect about you...

I'm really, really good at decorating. When I was younger and not getting on with singing I actually considered being a decorator! Can you imagine?

"When I was younger... I actually considered being a decorator!"

Any words of advice for newcomers to the Burlesque and Cabaret scene?

It's a dance not a race, a marathon not a sprint. Take your time, perfect your art. Be meticulous. Don't steal ideas, borrow inspiration. Get off your fucking arse and work hard.

"It's a dance, not a race... Get off your fucking arse and work hard."

More Lili

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