Diary Saturday 11th November 2017
@arthurchappell (44941)
Preston, England
November 12, 2017 9:24am CST
I expected today to be the beginning of a long weekend in, apart from some shopping.
During a quick shopping expedition I overheard a conversation about a burlesque event taking place at a city centre bar, The Stanley Arms. I headed to the bar to check the details and posters there confirmed the event was on.
Not having been to a burlesque since the New Year I decided to go to this one.
The show was listed as starting at 7pm, so I got to the bar about 6.45, and aw that the main downstairs bar was very busy. Staff told me the show wouldn’t start until 7.30pm, so I headed up and paid at about 7.20 pm.
There were about twelve people present, but the atmosphere was lovely and lively. Compere Cherry Lace introduced herself and shares my Manchester roots.
The show itself started about 8.30pm, with its most extraordinary set opening proceedings. Sally Vamp performed as Norman Bates, against a screen showing the famous Psycho shower scene. As Sally cleaned up her murder scene he took not only her own clothes off, but also those of the skeletal mother, also dressed in burlesque costume. It was genuinely the creepiest fun routine I have seen performed.
The horror theme made the show feel as if it had missed it Halloween opportunity by a few week, but it was still great to see.
Sally Vamp dominated the show, which is understandable as she promotes it, though it felt as if other performers gained less attention than they merited. This peaked after her Ghostbusters dance as a sexy ghost when she quickly returned to do the next number in the same outfit, Fagin’s ‘Be Back Soon’ song from Oliver, the only dance of the night not directly linked to horror. The costume now seemed decidedly out of place, as if there should have been a costume change that somehow failed in the changing area. It also made ally herself seem overexposed (not in the sense of displayed flesh, which is central to a burlesque tease, but in the how being over-centred on her, as good as she is).
There were great songs from The Black Queen, a great vampire set inspired by the Bad Blood TV series, and some fun games run by Cherry Lace involving audience participation.
After the show the audience were invited to complete survey forms on our reactions to how the event went and our desires for future events. I started filling in the form mentioning that I am a poet, and writer, and sometimes help write burlesque routines for performers. The form ran to three pages and just finished it as the bar man handing it out moved away. I called after him twice but he didn’t hear me. I ended up leaving my copy on the bar, wondering if it might see the light of day or not. If such feedback really matters, it ought to be easier to give such forms in once completed.
I caught a late bus home after a very good show that till could have been improved in some respects but a huge thanks to the performers, organizers and venue for presenting Preston with another great event.
Arthur Chappell
11 people like this
11 responses
@SallyVamp (5)
• United Kingdom
12 Nov 17
Greetings, Arthur Chapel!
Thank-you for tagging us in this post and writing your review. We do have your feedback form. I feel I must address points you raised in your review.
Regarding times for our shows I'd say to always go off posters/flyers/the event page or speak to a member of the team. I'm sorry that you were misinformed about the show by a third party. The posters said doors at 7pm and a couple of the sites said doors: 7pm, start: 8pm approx. For our shows we open the bar at 7pm and the event begins at 7:45/8pm. However for this show due to a low turn out we did push the start time back while we did a last min swoop of the pub, message promps etc. to try to draw in more of a crowd. I instructed a few announcements to be made to keep the audience in the loop, but my apologies for your wait and thank-you kindly.
Each season our shows have a different theme. We were unable to hold a Halloween show and therefore decided to not hold a Halloween show for our Autumn show. Both the autumn show and winter show happen to have dark themes. Our autumn theme was Vintage Horror Burlesque Show and our upcoming show in February will be Vintage Villains Burlesque Show.
Our shows vary from very much a variety show, to less variety theme specific to one woman shows with support acts. Members choose which shows they wish to participate in, which roles they wish to take up, number of pieces they wish to perform and so on. Our acts express their burlesque through a variety of art forms including dance, singing, strip tease, stand up, sketches, improv' and more. We welcome any art form at our shows and you'd be very welcome to read some poetry at our shows.
This show the theme was a horror (meaning an intense feeling of fear, disgust or shock. Hopefully the show did create "fear, disgust and shock" even in a comical sense) and not a Halloween (Christian festival to celebrate the saints) show. Halloween wasn't mentioned nor did we intend to celebrate saints. Horror as a genre can be enjoyed all year round e.g. horror films are released all year round.
My costume was correct for 'The final strip'. That was how it was intended. It was a strip and reverse strip tease ending one show and setting up for the next. Our shows always end with a piece that is either a sum up of the show, a preview trailer piece for an upcoming show or a fusion of the old and new. For this show I decided on a fusion piece. Spooky the residential ghost appeared on the stage with her vintage horror backdrop, she then stripped and dressed up as a villain (bar forgetting to pop on the villain moustache and tie due to the fact I was so engrossed in the song and just in the moment with the music) at which point the backdrop changed to a villain backdrop. The whole piece was performed to "Be back soon", because we will be back soon.
The feedback forms were at the Front of House Desk from the moment doors opened until the front of house table packed up with announcements made throughout the evening to fill in a form to win a free ticket to an upcoming show. I am unsure why the bar man got involved and began handing the feedback forms out. The forms should have remained at the front desk and are just optional along with the mailing list on the Front of House desk.
Thank-you once again for attending the show, your feedback and the article. I hope we will see you at a future show as an audience member or performer. Your feedback is appreciated and will all be taken on board.
2 people like this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
12 Nov 17
@SallyVamp cheers Sally, happy to come along to the February event if free - depends on the dates as it will be a busy month for me
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
15 Nov 17
@SallyVamp abolutely, I look forward to it, thanks. - Hope you enjoy the Mylot site - you can get paid for comments / likes on your posts here - not much, but better than nothing. It is quite a nice community too.
@SallyVamp (5)
• United Kingdom
15 Nov 17
@arthurchappell No probs. We will be announcing the date of the next show following next weekends meeting. If you can't make the February show. I really hope to have you on board for a future show.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
12 Nov 17
@LadyDuck yes it was an interesting show
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@RasmaSandra (97957)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
12 Nov 17
Sounds good. I have never liked filling out forms. I love that bar sign.
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@SallyVamp (5)
• United Kingdom
12 Nov 17
The forms just sit on the front of house desk and can be picked up and filled in should anyone wish with the chance to win a free show ticket.
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
12 Nov 17
@pgntwo I should imagine there are burlesque events in Northern Ireland
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@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
12 Nov 17
@arthurchappell Not that I have heard of... but then perhaps I am not listening to the right stuff ;)
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@pgntwo (22405)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
12 Nov 17
@arthurchappell Hmm. I had a check, the clip below comes from a club in Belfast. Ah well, one day maybe.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
12 Nov 17
@Kandae11 The Stanley family of Earls were majot land and business owners in Preston in the 20th century and owned the pub itself for a time
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@SallyVamp (5)
• United Kingdom
12 Nov 17
Thank-you for your feedback. Both our autumn and winter shows have dark themes this year. Please see my post for more details.
1 person likes this
@ricki_911 (21625)
• Toronto, Ontario
12 Nov 17
It certainly does sound interesting!
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@LeaPea2417 (40026)
• Toccoa, Georgia
12 Nov 17
That sounds like an interesting and unique show.
1 person likes this
@Poppylicious (11134)
• United Kingdom
13 Nov 17
That sounds like fun. Except for the audience participation bit. I can't abide things like that!
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@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
13 Nov 17
@Poppylicious I enjoyed the audience participation element - it breaks the 4th wall between performers and audience and everyone who took part really gave it their all too
@teamfreak16 (43573)
• Denver, Colorado
13 Nov 17
Sounds like it was an entertaining show. Glad you had a good time.
1 person likes this
