New York Burlesque Festival Brings the Glitterati to Gotham

September 14, 2015
By Jimmy Berg

The glitterati is about to descend on the Big Apple in a flurry of sparkle, shimmies and smiles. The New York Burlesque Festival celebrates its 13^th anniversary, September 24 to 27 with a fabulous line up of legends, queens, kings, international talent and burlesque up-and-comers. Since 2003, the festival has boasted sold-out crowds and this year is shaping up to be another big one.

Founded by Jen Gapay of Thirsty Girl Productions and bonafide burlesque superstar Angie Pontani and featuring over 100 international burlesque and variety performers, it is one of the largest burlesque festivals in the world.

“The festival is an amazing and totally unique opportunity to see some of the best burlesque entertainers from around the world, right here in NYC.” says Angie Pontani. “Not only can audience members take in five amazing shows, they can shop, take classes and mingle with our amazing cast of stars. This festival gives a tantalizing taste of all the different styles and genres of performance within burlesque.”

All burlesque fans will love this luscious and star-studded line up: Dirty Martini, Midnite Martini who won Miss Exotic World 2014. Burlesque legend Judith Stein, boylesque legend Tigger!, founder of the legendary New York School of Burlesque, Jo “Boobs” Weldon, 2012’s Mr. Exotic World Russell Bruner, as well as Mr. Gorgeous, 2014 “Best Boylesque” winner at the Burlesque Hall of Fame. And this is just a tantalizing tidbit of what New York audiences will be treated to.

Brown Paper Tickets is proud to offer 4-day VIP passes for the festival. Get your tickets now.

PS. Event Industry Mixer + Burlesque Happy Hour

Brown Paper Tickets is hosting two free gatherings in New York at the same time as the festival and I’ll be at both. Come out Thursday, September 24 to meet our local NYC crew and soak up event ideas, suggestions, insights on how to best ticket and promote your events. It’s at Haylards in Brooklyn, just around the corner from the festival’s opening night venue. More details.

We would love to see our burlesque friends at Brown Paper Tickets burlesque happy hour (Sept. 27) at the Tippler during the New York Festival Burlesque Bazaar. Cocktails and conversation will be flowing. Mingle with burlesque performers, luminaries and event organizers. Enter our drawing for event tickets. RSVP now.

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Tuesday Tease: Boylesque – Part 2

March 25, 2014
By James Ulness

In this special, two-part series, James Ulness, Brown Paper Tickets Client Services Representative and an avid, enthusiastic member of the Seattle burlesque community, prepares to make his début as a boylesque performer. James has been a regular presence backstage at local burlesque shows for years but last Saturday was his first foray onto the stage. In the first part of the series, James talked about his decision to perform and his process in preparing for his act. In this, the second part of the series, James shares his thoughts and feelings on the actual night of his boylesque debut and announces his NEXT performance! Enjoy.

My boylesque début has come and gone. Just a short while ago I was surrounded by the chaos of the show. The cold air backstage, thick with glitter and the sounds of performers rushing about. My small corner of the world enveloped in a cloud of noise and excitement. But, now life is still, quiet and average. I can already feel the itch to get back on stage. To dive into another maelstrom and be tossed about like a ship cursed by an angry Poseidon. However, now it’s time to do reflect back onto the past couple of days and review what I did and what I learned.

How did it feel being on stage for the first time?

Amazing! A mix of fear and excitement. I hardly remember the act itself, only that it went off almost exactly the way I rehearsed it and the euphoria of coming off the stage after. It’s hard to come up with specific details, everything is a bit of a blur but, judging from the audience’s applause, I didn’t make a complete fool out of myself. Or maybe I did. Either way, they seemed to enjoy my performance. One thing that surprised me was my lack of nervousness before going on stage. I was not expecting to be relaxed backstage but as I stood in the wings, waiting for the MC to announce me, there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation in my body. I had rehearsed the act until I knew every beat of the song. I new every mark I needed to hit. Nothing was left to chance. I was on auto pilot as soon as I stepped onto the stage and it felt like home.
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Artist Ticket Picks: Glen Miller Orchestra, Thin Lizzy and More

March 17, 2014
By Brown Paper Tickets

Friday, March 28 I Whiteside Theatre presents The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra – Corvalis, Oregon

The Glenn Miller Orchestra has always been very musical, disciplined, and visually entertaining. And it has its own distinctive “sound.” That sound is created by the clarinet holding the melodic line, doubled or coupled with the tenor sax playing the same notes; and the harmonies produced by three other saxophones, while growling trombones and wailing trumpets add their oo-ahs.

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra made a big impact right before and during the war. It had more hit records in one year than anybody in the history of the recording industry. In fact, its recording of “Chattanooga Choo-Choo” earned the first Gold Record ever awarded to a performing artist.

Back in the days of the big band era of the forties, any dance band “worth its salt” had a distinctive theme song. It was the musical signature with which they signed on and signed off at their engagements and radio broadcasts. The theme of Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was the beautiful “Moonlight Serenade”, and it is still the signature tune of the Glenn Miller Orchestra today.
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Tuesday Tease: Here Comes Festival Season!

March 5, 2013
By James Ulness

Winter is coming to an end and spring is springing up all over the place! The snow is beginning to melt away and be replaced by flowers, which can only mean one thing: festival season is here!

Burlesque conventions are a great way to not only network with fellow performers but also to see some great up-and-coming talent, perhaps see a living legend of burlesque and to witness the top burlesque performers that are touring the convention circuit. You can get a few tips, perhaps pick up some stage gear, and hob-nob with your burlesque idols.

This year, Brown Paper Tickets is ticketing more burlesque conventions and festivals than ever before and the first batch are going on sale already with the PA Burlesque Festival coming up this weekend, quickly followed by BPT newcomers, the Southern Fried Burlesque Fest and The Great Burlesque Exposition in Boston, where Brown Paper Tickets will have a table set up and where we’ll be teaching a class on the Sunday of the conference. If you’re planning on attending the Expo, be sure and come up and say hi!

As we get closer to summer, we’ll feature more festivals but be sure and get your travel plans in order for these incredible festivals and conventions. Just judging by this list, it’s going to be HOT this Spring!
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Tuesday Tease: When the boys come out to play…

November 20, 2012
By James Ulness

In its tireless march toward world domination burlesque has evolved far beyond it’s original incarnations. It’s Lamarckian transformations have allowed it to branch out into many and varying forms, creating a lush and vibrant (and sparkly) family tree.

The branch of the burlesque family tree we are focusing on today is boylesque! No longer is the world of glitter and feathers the strict domain of women. More and more men are stepping out on stage to show audiences what they’ve got. The art has even gotten a recent write up in the New York Times!

Often the boys are preforming along side of the girls so it can be a challenge to find a show where you can just watch the boys dance. But, luckily for you, I have gone and done that heavy lifting and here are the fruits of those labours. The best boylesque shows (and burlesque shows featuring male performers) from every corner of the county!

Los Angeles, California

Monday, November 26 | Monday Night Tease! presents MEATFEST 3 Come join Monday Night tease in celebrating the men of burlesque with their third annual production of Meatfest! This all male show will feature performances by Bobbie Burlesque Harry Merkin, Mr Snapper, Tito Bonito, Lee T Killer, Doctor Lust and “the reason it’s always wet in Portland” 2012 Reigning King of Burlesque, Russell Bruner!

Seattle, Washington

Friday, December 14 through Monday, December 24 | Homo For The Holidays! This December Homo for the Holidays will be bringing you two shows a night on the 14th, 15th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd at 7:00pm and 10:00pm. Along with a Christmas Eve show on the 24th at 10:00pm! “Homo For The Holidays! is a seasonal spectacle guaranteed to make even the most stubborn Yuletide gay! An unforgettable all-star cast of burlesque, cabaret, dance, drag, and musical local luminaries come together in a display of glittering grandeur.”
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Tuesday Tease: Mama Dixie and The Pink Box Burlesque

October 9, 2012
By Brown Paper Tickets

Burlesque and vaudeville are booming in the South! We recently started selling tickets for an incredible burlesque troupe with a serious vaudevillian streak out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They call themselves The Pink Box Burlesque and they’ve been keeping the South steamy for the last five years.

They’re unique in that they incorporate both men and women in the troupe and mix things up with contortionism, live music, hula-hooping, comedy and even live piercing. They really harken back to the grand old days of carnys, rubes and midways while adding their own decidedly modern and seriously Southern take on it.

Pink Box were also sponsors of the first ever Alabama Burlesque Festival which took place this past weekend. It’s great to see the Southern burly scene thrive and produce unique talent like The Pink Box.

I caught up with Pink Box’s main Madam, Mama Dixie and asked her about her troupe, the Southern burly scene, the rise of boylesque and more! Without further ado, I give you, The Pink Box Burlesque!
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Tuesday Tease: Monthly Burlesque Revues Near You!

August 14, 2012
By James Ulness

Over the past few years the popularity of burlesque in the United Stated has exploded like a bursting dam. No matter where you live you can be sure that there’s glitter and spinning tassels somewhere near you.

As the number of shows has grown so has the number of styles. The art has taken off in all kinds of new directions. There are forms of burlesque that were non-existent just a few years ago; There’s still classic burlesque out there but now there’s also neo-burlesque, boylesque, gorelesque, burlesque with live bands. There are shows that incorporate art, magic, books and even lube wrestling. Anything you can think of can and probably has been made into a burlesque routine.

One happy outcome of this is that there are tons of reoccurring monthly shows nearly everywhere you go! I’ve done the hard work for you and dug through the Brown Paper Tickets event listings, pulling out some of the best of the monthly burlesque shows from around the country.

Seattle, Washington

Tuesday, August 21, at 8:00 PM Lucid will be home to Tuesday Tease, Seattle’s only monthly burlesque show featuring live music. Sailor St. Claire and Ace Carter will host. And The Lurid Spectacles will provide musical accompaniment for Sara Dipity, Holly Lets’em Downlightly, and Roxy Ruby. Tuesday Tease began as a bi-monthly event but the first few sold out shows made it clear that this needed to happen more often! The show has thus become a regular event on the third Tuesday of every month at Lucid.

Thursday, August 30, at 9:00 PM the Westside Burlesque Review at the Skylark will be featuring performances by Scandal From Bohemia, Whisper De Corvo, Serafina Fiero, Katie Kat and Cherry Killer Tomatoes. The Westside Burlesque Review features contests and prizes along with the performances. And August’s show coincides with the host’s birthday, which means that there will also be a “kinkature” artist and of course CAKE! If you miss this night the Westside Burlesque Review can be found at the Skylark on the last Thursday of every month.

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San Francisco, California

Thursday, September 6, at 8:00 PM EL RIO will be host to a unique combination of burlesque and lube wrestling. Red Hots Burlesque presents Go Deep: Let’s Wrestle. This event comes in two parts. The burlesque portion of the night will begin at 8:00 and feature Alotta Boutte and Ginger Skyye, along with hosts Dottie Lux and Barbary Doll. At 9:00 the burlesque show ends and the main event will begin. lube wrestling! This part of the evening is exactly what it sounds like and you already know that you don’t want to miss it. VIP seats are available for this event but you’ll have to hurry because they are limited If for some reason you miss this night, you can catch Go Deep: Let’s Wrestle on the first Thursday of every month.
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Arts >

New York Burlesque Festival Brings the Glitterati to Gotham

Tuesday Tease: Boylesque – Part 2

Artist Ticket Picks: Glen Miller Orchestra, Thin Lizzy and More

Tuesday Tease: Here Comes Festival Season!

Tuesday Tease: When the boys come out to play…

Tuesday Tease: Mama Dixie and The Pink Box Burlesque

Tuesday Tease: Monthly Burlesque Revues Near You!

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