The Black Horse of the Blog World

With no excuse given (or needed) to throw a party, we decided to call it a “We’re here, so are you” party. Want to come to a party? Click here: http://anyvite.com/cv2th4jupw to see the invite, details, and to make a response!

Last night was the first night of The Wrathskellar.  It’s been named an Editor’s Pick by Boston.com.  Anyhow, back to last night.  Last night was what was termed an ‘Open Dress Rehearsal’.  Tickets were $5, and the audience was warned that there might still be a few ‘rehearsal moments’.  Sure enough, right in the very opening there was a missed lighting cue (not that anyone but us knew), but that’s how it goes.  Live theater is an intrinsic gamble, because you never know -exactly- what’s going to happen the way you do with fixed mediums like Cinema.

What happened next though was one of those things that you can’t ever really be ready for.  Betty Blaize, one of our performers, was in the middle of her sword dance and fell.  Hard.  And landed on her foot in the process.  Work lights went on we got her backstage, and in a few moments her ankle was the size of a tennis ball.  But the show goes on, so while we got her some ice and got her back to the dressing room the work lights and house lights came down and the next act went on.  Betty got dressed and because she was an integral part of the last two numbers of the first act, we skipped those and went to intermission early.  She was taken to Mt. Auburn hospital.  She has a bad sprain, but nothing broken.

It does mean we’ll be reworking parts of the show to eliminate or replace her numbers.  We would just cut her dances entirely, but she’s part of the only duet piece in the show, and it’s very relevant to another performers plot line.  We’ll figure it out.

Otherwise, everything went fantastically.  All the numbers are excellent and really tight, and the audience loved them.  The Q&A session with the audience went -very- well and I hope the cameraman was recording that, because there were some nuggets there to be sure.  The photographer got some good shots, and we chatted with a press member after as well.

If you like dancing, Dresden Dolls, Yma Sumac, dark humor, hula hoops, Buster Keaton style physical acting, good tech tricks, singing, burlesque, jazz, or just like live theater and want to support local artists, go buy tickets now! Still seats available, but it turns out there are only 72 chairs set, so I expect some of the nights to fill up.  Tickets are $13 for Wed and Thur, and $18 for the weekend shows, and are worth every penny.  Cheap for a live show.  Saturday there is a special lecture with Miss April March before the show.  The lecture is $10, or you can buy a $25 combo ticket for the lecture and the show, saving $3.

I know some of you are planning on going Thursday, and others on Friday, so the rest of you need to get to it and join us!

I’ve mentioned in passing to a few, and a few others have asked about it, so let me say again that you should all go see The Boston Babydolls perform in their new show “The Wratheskellar”, going up next week. There’s an excellent writeup in the local paper, which you can read here: http://www.wickedlocal.com/watertown/fun/entertainment/arts/x631620399/Burlesque-troupe-the-Boston-Babydolls-to-perform-in-Watertown

The Babydolls are an amazingly talented group who bring so much fun and love of the art to their performances that I dare anyone to go and say they didn’t enjoy the show.

Tickets can be bought here: http://www.tinyurl.com/wrathskellar and you can read more about the troupe at their web site: http://www.bostonbabydolls.net/

It’s a small blackbox theater, and they’ve chosen a darker theme for this show. My guess is that it will be a recipe for a smashing success.

Here’s the official blurb:

The Boston Babydolls present a very dark shade of burlesque in this archetypal underworld tavern where hearts, promises, and crockery are broken with abandon and secrets are hidden just below the surface.

The Wrathskellar is just off an alley in Queen Victoria’s London or down a flight of stairs that Mack the Knife might have tread.  In the dim limelight, a chanteuse sings forlornly of a lost love, while a diva plots revenge for some imagined slight.

A departure from The Boston Babydolls usual mix of bubbly fun and retro glamour, The Wrathskellar is a moody whirlpool of sinister dirges, predatory laments, and torch songs in a minor key.  Instead of big band and swing, the soundtrack for The Wrathskellar features atmospheric and evocative works from The Dresden Dolls, Tom Waits, and Cirkestra.

The Wrathskeller is an evening of revenge, betrayal, sex, and murder… all to your favorite tunes.

Came across http://www.ethangilsdorf.com/F_Fantasy_Freaks_Promo.html today (off of the Boston Gamers mailing list), and became rather annoyed at it. Why does the media continuously perpetuate the perception that gaming, larping, fantasy, etc. is only an escapist pursuit? I suppose they do so because it makes a quick buck by giving the non-gamers a justifiable rationale for not trying to understand the hobby and for thinking those who engage in it are somehow deficient. I know a -lot- of gamers, and very few of them are active in the hobby as a way of escaping from real life. They’re well adjusted, productive members of society, who have the same daily problems as anyone else and deal with them the same way as anyone else. They just happen to enjoy exploring fictional adventures that are impossible to find in the non-fictional world.

I don’t hear the media calling Romance Novels escapist. Videogames have gone mainstream and are not called escapist. Community theater and improv troupes are not called escapist. What gives?