Archive for December, 2008
Backstage Burlesque
Note: If you are not 18 years of age, skip this post. Now I know that this might make you want to read it more, but please do refrain. (Kidding!)
What do you get when you cross a few burlesque dancers, a stripper pole, a dancing vibrator and the Nutcracker soundtrack? Why it’s “The Slutcracker” of course! Take all that you’ve known about the much-loved Christmas ballet of a young girl’s dreams under the Christmas tree, and triple-X it. Rather than receive a wooden Nutcracker from her granny, let’s just say she receives something else that could be called wood. Ah, the many sexual puns you can make from this storyline! The story follows a young woman’s sexual awakening, and I’m sure that my Sex-and-The-City generation would get a good kick out of it. This certainly isn’t a play you’d want to watch with your parents.
I was immediately intrigued by the title and when I found out they needed volunteers backstage, jumped at the chance. I simply love production and working on sets. Plus, it can sometimes be more fun to see how the magic happens then simply watch from the audience. I arrived at the Somerville theater at 6pm dressed in all black and not knowing what to expect from a burlesque show, let alone working backstage at one.
As soon as I reached the dressing rooms, I was introduced to Honey Suckle – who is a fabulous burlesque dancer as well as in charge of running things backstage. The room was full of costumes, colorful props, hair products, sewing kits, as well as some leftover food from last night’s after-party. Most of the dancers were just arriving as I started making a list for will-call. Stage names like Sugar Dish (the director) and Pixy Dust were common and I was curious to meet these characters. I wonder what my stage name would be… Curly Frills perhaps?
Right before the show, I had to help out on stage arranging the props and sweeping. Got a good arm work-out doing that. I couldn’t stop cracking up when I discovered one of the main props was a huge p***s. HUGE – 8 feet at least! I heard from an interview with the director that they couldn’t have it flesh colored, so instead it looked more like a candy cane with loops of red around it.
Once Act 1 began, I was standing in the left wing of the stage and got to open the huge curtains. Definitely one of the highlights for me. It was very exciting to see the dancers on stage and then watch how quickly they get ready in between scenes – within seconds. We had to collect their props and make sure everyone was ready. Aside from one missing Chanel suit jacket, everything ran pretty smooth. The crew were very quick to make do with what they had to get things going. One guy backstage took off his shirt just to make sure the dancer had something white to wear in replacement for the missing jacket (and it was cold that day).
The show ended with the huge prop (you know what I’m talking about) sprinkling snow on everyone and the entire crew dancing to “Girl in the Blue Dress” by Mike Doughty. It was a really fun night and watching “The Slutcracker” from backstage was just as fun as it must’ve been for the audience. Great job to everyone involved!
Check out this sneak peek:
