Wine and Cocktails: Glitter and Gossip

Goodness me, what a week I've had! Full of shows, new acts, cocktails, wine, friends, gossip and glitter...

On Monday I started off my epic journey by travelling down to lovely London - for something of a break actually as I had no shows until mid-week: so after a lovely relaxing day and a wander around Covent Garden, I took the opportunity on Tuesday to see a West End show - something I haven't done in years, and Wicked didn't disappoint!

Blurry picture of the stage

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on two new acts and on Wednesday I debuted them both at Proud Cabaret

 

Costumes for 'Sugar' and 'Corbeau'

Whenever I debut a new act, I always make sure I'm also performing one that I know back-to-front, so as you can imagine, I was incredibly nervous for two new routines on one night! However, Proud City is a beautiful venue and I love performing there as all of the staff are so friendly and supportive. 

Proud: City

Wednesday night is billed as 'Nouveau Variate' and encourages new performers to take part, or for more seasoned performers to introduce new routines: 'Corbeau' went really well, for a first performance: I mis-timed the ending but the music is so epic it doesn't really make that much difference. However 'Sugar' went quite wrong as the sequins on my dress caught on the sequins on my shoes and tangled me up for half of the act until I could take them off, which threw me for the rest of the act. 

I use an awful lot of glitter during 'Sugar' and I found out after the show that the small table in front of the stage that bore the brunt of my glitter-casting had absolutely loved it and had scraped some of the glitter off the stage to continue covering themselves in the stuff!

Covered in glitter!! - post 'Sugar'

The rest of the cast for the night were wonderful: Abi Collins debuted a new act herself, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and the audience, though small, was incredibly appreciative. I especially enjoyed hanging out with Amelie Soleil, who I've not seen for almost a year! We had a lot to catch up on!

Mirror picture! With Amelie Soleil, Abi Collins, Coco DuBois and Dan Serra

On Thursday night, I returned to Proud for their 'Noir Night' and performed alongside the incredible Mat Ricardo, Betsy Rose and Dolores Delight. The audience wasn't as involved as the previous night even there were more than double the amount of people in: this time, 'Sugar' went really well (thanks to panic-buying a new pair of shoes during the day!) but 'Corbeau' felt as though it fell slightly flat, even though it fit the theme of the night much more.

I wasn't feeling particularly on-form myself on Thursday, however a couple of Espresso Martini's, a catch up with the fabulous Betsy Rose and a packet of Quavers helped restore my spirits!

Friday launched a fabulous weekend as I travelled with Elliot Mason and Abi Collins to beautiful Bath for High Tease at the Komedia. I love this show as there is always such a sense of camaraderie backstage and the audience are that rare sort that are up for anything - the wilder the better and the show certainly didn't disappoint with the line-up including a troupe of Cossack Dancers inviting audience participation!

Mirror Picture! With Frankie Lynn, Elliot Mason, James Malach, Dusty Limits, Abi Collins and Kittie Klaw

Unfortunately, in a break with Bath High Tease tradition, we didn't stay over after the show as Kittie, Frankie, James, Elliot and I had to travel back to Manchester due to 'The Burlesque Show' in Bradford on Saturday!

Saturday saw me waking up caked in glitter, yet Frankie Lynn (who I shared a room with) was miraculously untouched! Alexandra Hofgartner and I were forced to make a detour en-route to the show for industrial-strength glitter-removing products, which led to us becoming incredibly lost and arriving at the venue around an hour after everyone else!

Frankie Lynn rehearsing at the beautiful St. Georges Hall in Bradford

The sold-out audience loved the show, and even though they took some time to get into the swing of things, by the time Jim Devereaux sang them out as Elvis, they were calling for encores!

The highlight of the night had to be Kittie Klaw's 'Britannia' - she rounds off the act by dancing to 'Can't Touch This' while performing wheelies on a Dareway that's been pimped out to resemble a Roman Chariot. Too much fun!

 

Mirror Pictures! With Frankie Lynn, Alexandra 'The Hoff' Hofgartner, Lili La Scala and Coco Malone

Another Mirror Picture! With Jim Devereaux, Alexandra Hoffgartner, Elan Koszuk, Elliot Mason and Frankie Lynn

Once again we travelled in convoy back to Manchester, and once again Alex and I managed to get indecently lost (finding ourselves near Liverpool at one stage!) and landing back at Kittie Klaw's house several hours after everyone else!

Rounding off the most fabulous week was the most rainy Sunday: I went shopping and bought myself some new shoes to cheer myself up. However the day swiftly improved upon arrival at The Lowry Theatre in Manchester for the most packed and incredible show I've ever had the privilege to be part of!

 

Alexandra Hofgartner rehearsing on-stage at The Lowry, and playing with Joe Black postcards during sound-check.

For a start, we had completely sold out, and the audience were nuts (in a good way) - the show was hosted by the force of nature that is Dusty Limits, and the cast were incredible! The line-up covered every aspect of Burlesque and Cabaret, from Glorian Gray's 'Marie Lloyd' tribute act, reminiscent of the Victorian Music Halls, to Carrie-Ann O'Dell's epic Dita Von Teese tribute act, complete with giant martini glass.

There was Boylesque from Flixx Demontrant, performance-art from Vicky Butterfly, circus from AJ James, alternative from Joe Black, beautiful dance-based pieces from Frankie Lynn and Alexandra Hofgartner, and sultry vocals from Dolores Delight. We got a lovely review too.

The after-show was just as much fun as the show itself, and was definitely the best way to see out an incredible week of shows!

Cast Picture! With Vicky Butterfly, Carrie-Ann O'Dell, Dusty Limits, Frankie Lynn, Alexandra Hofgartner, Kittie Klaw, AJ James, Glorian Gray and Dolores Delight.

 

The 'eyebrow' pictures

Molesting Joe Black - as per...

 

Burlesque Girls backstage!

**Things I Love This Month**

**Espresso Martini**Quavers**Champagne Bottles full of Glitter**Boudoir Slippers**Unexpected Presents**Roses**Pyjama Days**

If you enjoyed reading this blog, why not check back on some other adventures: here's a good one!

xx

Stage to Screen

A few weeks ago a received a very exciting phone call from Granada TV asking me to be a featured extra in an episode of Coronation Street!! The scene was to be set in a strip club, but for obvious reasons they couldn't have strippers on Corrie so they chose a pole dancer and a burlesque dancer (me!)

Roxy on set

Filming took place in a venue near Manchester City Centre on a rainy, miserable morning. I arrived there and met Roxy (amazing pole dancer) and began a very, very long day of waiting around! I had taken a selection of things to wear, based on their specifications: not too much cleavage, no bums or "front bums* on show, midriffs are fine as long as there's not too much flesh on show, etc etc. However, we encountered a slight problem when they informed me that my outfit wasn't suitable as I was wearing stockings and a deep suspender belt, and they are prohibited items before the watershed!! Who would have thought?! So the costume department hurriedly found me a replacement item: which was too big...

Being sewn into my costume

They filmed me doing a basic fan dance but because there was to be dialogue during the scene, they played the first ten seconds of the track, cut the music, called 'Action' and I had to mime a fan dance for about four minutes while the scene went on to the right of me! I've never danced to silence before! Haha!

Because I don't watch Coronation Street, I actually had no idea who was who, or what the storyline was: my Grandma had to fill me in when I rang her later that evening! However it was an interesting day, and I'll possibly be on screen for all of about a nano-second on the 17th May!

 

Sneaky pictures in-between takes

A few days later, 'The Burlesque Show' tour picked back up again, this time at The Forum Theatre in Barrow for a small but appreciative audience.

Poster outside the auditorium

The stage show was as wonderful as ever - hosted again by the divine Lili La Scala - and the backstage shenanigans were just as fun as the performances!

The Afro-Pictures continue...

Mirror Picture! With  Fancy Chance, Coco Malone, Lili La Scala, Jim Devereaux and Elliot Mason

What to hang on a clothes rail when there are no clothes!

The next morning we all rendezvoused at a local cafe for breakfast: tired after drinking and gossiping half the night!

Fancy Chance asleep on Jim Devereaux

Our second show was at the Gatehouse Theatre in Stafford: a lovely little town - or what we saw of it as we staggered towards Starbucks was lovely anyway! - and in contrast to the previous show, we had completely sold-out!

Coco Malone sound-checking in the theatre

The show was hosted by the incredible Laurie Hagen - she is like a Tim Burton character come to life, full of bizarre energy and infectious humour, and the audience adored her!
Everyone really got into the spirit of the night and thoroughly enjoyed the show: It is sometimes difficult in a theatre setting to encourage the audience into participating as fully as they would in a cabaret venue, as there is the perception of the 'invisible fourth wall' which doesn't usually exist in burlesque, and performers such as Laurie and Fancy do their best to shatter!

The Boys changing room :P

The Girls mirror-picture! With Vicky Butterfly, Coco Malone, Laurie Hagen and Fancy Chance

The Afro-Picture

Read about other stops on 'The Burlesque Show' tour: this one? Or maybe this one...

Blonde Ambition

When I get bored, I play with my hair - this is just what happens in my life: this is one of my favourite books:

However, I haven't changed the colour for quite some time, and I fancied a rather drastic change: Over the years I have had several different colours and styles:

The Light Studios: one of my first shoots, just as I started Burlesque - curly, slightly ginger/brown, longish hair

  

Anthony Farrimond Photography: same hat, different hair! This is pretty much my natural colour (mid-dark-brown) and a basic, shoulder length style.

Vermin Art: almost black, with a blonde Mallen streak, and clip-in hair extensions - I had this style for about two and a half years but the upkeep of the streak was a pain, and looked awful unless I styled it properly.

Tip Top Photography, for Red's Ribbons: 1920's style curls and short, mid-brown hair (again, pretty much my natural colour)

So yes, I got bored a few weeks ago and decided I wanted bright red hair... this didn't go so well for me:

With all of the previous dye on my hair, the roots went dark red, the middle went an odd purple, and the ends went black... damn...

So I decided to take the obvious course, and try and get to blonde!! I've always loved platinum and ice-blondes, like Gwen Stefani, but never thought it would suit me - I have green/grey eyes and pale skin - and I thought blonde would wash me out. However I tried on a platinum wig at Kitte Klaw's house a few months ago, so with this image in mind, I set out on the long road to blonde!

Stage One:

I used a Garnier Pre-Lightener, which I left on for the recommended time of one hour - I found it relatively easy to use, although it's fiddly getting the powder into the small opening of the mixing tube! I applied it to the darkest lengths of my hair, and left it for half an hour before adding more product to the roots.

I then applied a platinum dye by Schwartzkopf. I knew I would get orange hair at first as I dyed my hair black when in college and used this same method to lift it back to light brown (see the very first picture!)

I left it this colour for about three weeks - partly to give my hair time to recover, and partly because I actually quite liked the colour itself! During this time I used a few deep-conditioning treatments and brushed almond-oil through my hair about once a week before bed.

With Elle Amour and glowing orange hair!

Stage Two:

I have no pictures of this! I repeated the pre-lightening and platinum dye process (using the same two products) and it turned my roots neon-yellow and the lengths bright orange! I looked like I was auditioning for the circus!! I had a little bit of a panic, so rinsed my hair using the John Frieda Blonde range of shampoo and conditioner, and it toned the luminosity down a little!

Again, I also only applied the bleach to the roots of my hair after leaving it on the lengths for around 45 minutes, and didn't put the dye near the roots at all, so my head is fine (I had horror stories fed to me of blistered scalps, and hair falling out from the roots in clumps!)

Stage Three:

Here is where I am indebted to Facebook: I posted a plea on the Blushing Marvellous Beauty Parlour group asking for advice, and was pointed to the Blonde Ambition website, which provides advice and tips for anyone attempting to go blonde from a dark colour.

I decided to follow the (bad) example of the websites author and the next afternoon I repeated the pre-lightening and dye process. However, I decided to use a different pre-lightener: I forget which brand it was, but I chose it as it claimed to have lower levels of ammonia so to be kinder on the hair than most commercial dyes. I have to say this was a huge mistake - it was very awkward to mix and apply, and despite leaving the dye on for around two hours, there was almost no change in the colour of my hair. It was only when using the platinum Schwartzkopf dye that the colour lifted even slightly. Again, I rinsed using the purple shampoo and conditioner from John Frieda.

The colour lifted a little and became a warm gold: it looked like I had yellow-blonde hair with an orange rinse through it.

Warm gold with orange tones

Stage Four:

Again, thank heaven for the powers of Facebook and Twitter - I tweeted a plea for advice and was told to use Directions toners. A quick internet search revealed that, on bleached hair, the White Toner from this range could turn hair snow white! I headed into town and bought two pots to be on the safe side. I found it easy enough to apply and use, but I'm glad I bought two pots, because again, despite leaving the product on for a lot longer than suggested, I hardly noticed any change in my hair colour. It was only after using the second pot, leaving it on for around two hours (recommended time is one hour, maximum, as there is a risk of the product tinting the hair lilac!) and rinsing with the John Frieda products that the colour lifted to somewhere near what I've been looking for!

Fortunately, the Directions toners are not dyes, and work as deep conditioning treatments too, so I didn't fry my hair!!

Parts of my hair went white-blonde, but others still had a stubborn orange tint - although a few people said they actually liked it, as there was more depth than having an all-over colour!!

Hair of many colours!

Stage Five:

After a week of rest and recuperation (for a couple of days I brushed almond oil through my hair, slept with my head in a headscarf then rinsed out in the morning with an intensive conditioner) I headed back into town - once again I bought the Garnier Pre-Lightener, the Schwartzkopf Platinum dye, and two pots of Directions toner.

The pre-lightener, however, had the exact opposite effect to that desired, by returning my hair to a hideous streaky orange shade! Damnation!! So I applied a pot of the Directions toner and sat with my hair in cling-film for two hours, occasionally blasting my head with hot air from the hair-dryer. The result was an all-over lightening effect: still a little peach in places and with a slight lilac tinge, but definitely much, much closer to my ideal shade! 

Next I applied the Schwartzkopf Platinum dye: again only to the lengths and ends of my hair. I left it in for around an hour again, to try and bring the colour of the peachy sections close to the colour of the brightest sections. When I rinsed out the hair still didn't look as bright as I wanted it to, but obviously wet hair is darker than dry - the roots were lovely, however! So I repeated the toner process a second time and *finally* achieved....

Blonde!! Actual blonde!! :D

The End!!

I think, anyway... there are one or two streaks of orange left in my hair, but I think this is an ongoing process of using toner once a week or once every couple of weeks to get rid of the brassiness.

What do you think? Have you had any hair disasters? What are your best tips for going/maintaining blonde?

I also blog about Glossybox and Vintage Shopping trips!

'The Burlesque Show' Weekender

Friday saw the next stop on 'The Evening of Burlesque' tour, so I travelled with Coco Malone and Kittie Klaw to the lovely little market town of Lichfield to the Garrick Theatre:

Our name on the Dressing-Room door!

 

The Lichfield Garrick Theatre

The show was hosted by the hilarious and talented Ria Lina and the regular cast were joined for this episode by the gorgeous Vicky Butterfly, and international Dita Von Teese tribute act, Carrie-Ann (complete with giant martini glass and the most sparkling costumes I've ever seen)

Backstage with Carrie-Ann and Ria Lina

The show was wonderful, and everyone from the crew to the staff at the gorgeous hotel were incredibly helpful, which definitely makes all the difference when you're hopping from one place to another each week!

 

Beautiful hotel and log cabins!

The next morning, we enjoyed a long lie-in, as the Saturday night show was only an hours drive away! After indulging with a leisurely brunch and we even had time for a round or two of crazy golf before heading off! Although I have to say, the first (easiest) hole took me about twelve shots so I gave up - haha! 

Brunch with Ria Lina, Elan and his lovely wife, James, Jim, Kirsty, Glorian Gray, Coco Malone and Fancy Chance

 

Cabaret Crazy-Golf!

I was excited to perform in Crewe at the historic Lyceum Theatre, as I used to come and watch pantomimes here with my family when I was younger - there are also wonderful ghost stories associated with this theatre (including a ballerina who threw herself from the grand circle, and the ubiquitous 'Grey Lady'!) and the history of music-hall and variety shows in England is woven into the city as it stands on one of the main rail-network interchanges meaning the city was once a crossroads of the travelling entertainment industry: all of which lends a sense of nostalgia yet excitement to this early 20th Century Theatre (built in 1911, I believe)

The Crewe Lyceum

Huge display in the foyer

The show itself was another sell-out and the audience definitely warmed up as the night went on: although I'm sure we had Statler and Waldorf (part of The Muppets Show, for those of you who are confused!) sat in the top right balcony, which led to a few laughs backstage! We also had Elliot Mason and Dolores Delight back for the evening, along with the wonderful Glorian Gray lending a hand with the show management, which was fabulous!

Mirror Photo! With Ria Lina, James Malach, Glorian Gray, Dolores Delight, Elan Koszuk and Fancy Chance

One of the things I love most about 'The Burlesque Show' cast is that, even though there may be different people at each show, because it is a revolving cast, there is always such a wonderful camaraderie backstage...

 

Jim Devereaux as Elvis, and a gloriously befuddled Elliot Mason

Elliot Mason and Fancy Chance - two of my favourite photos ever!

Ria and Fancy - Bag Ladies: and Fancy asleep on a confused Elliot

Glorian, Jim, Kirsty, James, Elliot, Fancy, Dolores and Ria - a well deserved after-show drink!

**Things I Love This Month**

*Rimmel Gel Eyeliner**Flash Paper**Sunshine**The Smell of Spring**Ice Cream in the Park**Hot Right Now by DJ Fresh**Directions Toners**Lindt mini Chocolate Eggs*