April has special significance for the burlesque community. Legendary fan dancer Sally Rand was born on April 3, 1904, striptease legend Gypsy Rose Lee died on April 26, 1970 and it was in April of 1937 that New York City began to close the original burlesque houses.

While they tried to kill it, 77 years later, burlesque is bigger and stronger than ever! Therefore, April seems to be the perfect month to announce a very exciting collaboration between Boston’s Great Burlesque Exposition and Brown Paper Tickets.

THE BRASSY AWARD

The Great Burlesque Exposition and Brown Paper Tickets are excited to announce that we are now accepting applications for The Brassy Award. The Brassy Award will reward innovation in burlesque production with prizes that will support the production of an ultimate burlesque event. To enter, simply submit your dream production idea for a chance to win.

“We want to inspire world-class innovation and originality in an effort to revolutionize burlesque productions and help the industry to continue its worldwide growth,” said Scratch. “By celebrating creativity and supporting the production of an ultimate event, we hope to bring the burlesque industry to new heights.”

The Brassy Award prize package includes up to a year of mentoring by the Brassy Committee, a special edition commemorative cup, a cash award to be used towards event production costs, venue location services, publicity assistance provided by Brown Paper Tickets, as well as a full weekend’s admission to the Great Burlesque Exposition of 2015 (Feb. 20-22, 2015), where the Brassy Award winner will be announced. The Brassy Committee includes some of the most successful burlesque producers across the U.S.: Scratch, founding chair of the Great Burlesque Exposition and impresario behind The Boston Babydolls; Lili vonSchtupp, producer of Monday Night Tease, longest-running weekly burlesque show in Los Angeles; Sailor St. Claire, Seattle producer of The Tuesday Tease, a weekly fusion of burlesque with live music; and Red Hot Annie, producer of The Windy City Burlesque Festival and Vaudezilla shows.

“We all see the shiny performers on stage, forgetting the work that is needed to make the magic happen from behind the scenes. The Brassy Award is how we can encourage and promote excellence in production through mentoring,” said Lili vonSchtupp.

Brown Paper Tickets has empowered burlesque artists and event organizers for more than a decade by providing award-winning complimentary services that boost event success. Examples: social media promotion, regular burlesque blog posts, curated press lists, promotional counsel, a library of event production best practices, live 24/7 box office phone agents for event producers and ticket buyers, the industry’s lowest fee for ticket buyers and charity donations from every ticket sold and more.

”Burlesque event producers were largely ignored by ticketing companies 8 years ago, when I started The Great Burlesque Exposition, because we weren’t bringing in thousands of people,” Scratch said. “Now, there are troupes in every city and festivals popping up all over the world. In their own way, Brown Paper Tickets is partly responsible for the growth of the burlesque scene. They’re the only ticketing company that matches or beats the technical performance of other ticketing options while offering support that goes above and beyond for the burlesque community.”

Apply for Burlesque Brassy Award

Applications close in October, with finalists announced in November and the award-recipient announced at The Great Burlesque Exposition in February. All complete event concept submissions will be evaluated by the Brassy Award Committee. Get details and submit proposals for your dream production at The Brassy Award website or by e-mailing Brassy@Burlesque-Expo.com.