Dearest Kats and Kittens,
Ever feel like a “freak”?  Well, you’re not alone!  Ms. Bea felt that way through most of junior high (…remind her sometime to tell you and 8th grade and a girl actually named Heather)…And well, we suspect that many of you felt similarly at some time in your life.  This weekend, Girlie-Q is extremely proud to present a new show that celebrates the freak in us all. You won’t want to miss it.

Go. See. This. Show.

Sunday, April 11
Girlie-Q, Ms. Bea Haven, Adil Monsoor & Jenn Tyburczy:
The Freak Museum: a performance installation in celebration and examination of freakdom
Mary’s Attic
5400 N. Clark @ Balmoral
$12 with friends & family code, $15 without or at the door.

Tickets available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/106122. Friends and Family code: Let your freak flag fly

See human oddities!
Witness sexual deviance!
Behold vaudeville variety!
Survey stunning spectacle!
Gawk at sideshow madness!
Gape at divine excess!
Spy sultry striptease!
Feast your eyes on fascinating freaks!

The Freak Museum will show human “exhibits” investigating different aspects of freakdom, from bearded ladies, conjoined twins, giants, cultural “others” from “foreign” and “exotic” lands…the usual menagerie of “freaks” that populated zoos, sideshows, to dime museums in the nineteenth-century. Imagine, as well, the freaks of today such as reality television stars, cosmetic surgery debacles, terrorists and other fear and anxiety-inspiring stereotypes.

This carnival/performance installation exemplifies the divine aesthetics of excess, filled with people and characters whose performances provocatively and powerfully speak about “normal” standards of beauty and conduct. Witness glamorous and gritty performance, connected to a history of monstrosity and monstrous bodies that encapsulate the fears, desires, and anxieties of a particular place and time. Drawing from sideshow, burlesque, performance art, body art, fetish performance, vaudeville, and more, the Freak Museum will enchant, titillate, and make you think.

Starring:
Ammunition
Candyland
Brad French
Ms. Bea Haven
Special K
Adil Monsoor
Lara Oppenheimer
Mister Overdone
Titty Perkins
Sultry Susan
Chairman Wao
and More!

Upcoming Dates
Friday and Saturday, April 22 & 23: In the Dark @ 1901 Gallery, starring yours truly, Zoe Brooklynne, Titty Perkins & more!
Saturday, April 24: Private Party
Sunday, April 25: Salon DeVine @ Joie de Vine
Thursday, April 29: Ms. Bea Hosts the Festival of Flesh at Lucky Number Grill!
Friday, April 30: Ms. Bea and Candyland in Ties N’ Tassels @ Joie De Vine
Saturday, May 1:  the return of The Girlie-Q Variety Hour, our classic burlesque and vaudeville show, at Morseland
Sunday, May 9: Salon DeVine @ Joie de Vine
Friday & Saturday, May 17 & 18: In the Dark @ 1901 Gallery
Sunday, May 16: I Want Candy! at Mary’s Attic
Sunday, May 23: Salon DeVine @ Joie de Vine
Thursday, May 27: Ms. Bea Haven hosts the Festival of Flesh @ Lucky Number Grill!
Friday – Monday, May 28 – 31: Girlie-Q at Mondo Homo in Atlanta, GA
June 4, 5 & 6: Girlie-Q Ensemble members star in Hot N’ Heavy’s Tribute to This is Spinal Tap!
Saturday, June 5: Girlie-Q at Cake Chicago
Sunday, June 13: Girlie-Q at the Milwaukee Pride Festival

Le Cabaret Erotique
Uncommon Ground Devon
1401 W. Devon
Chicago

We’re putting together the hottest classic burlesque this side of well, everywhere. Expect darling dances, jumpin’ jazz, sizzling striptease, crazy camp, vaudevillian variety and all kinds of sexy fun.  Come and watch Girlie-Q do “classic with a twist” in the prettiest and most classy room in town. Featuring Chicago’s queerest cast of burlesque hotties, a unique variety of acts, and a carefully curated show, Le Cabaret Erotique will be your new Saturday night must-see.

Hosted by The Great Chicago Fire, Ms. Bea Haven, Girlie-Q is guaranteed to entertain, titillate and make you think.

Starring:
The Dolls of Doom (Lola Martinet and Tila von Twirl)
Jolie
Faustina von Feist
Honey La Fleur
Plucky Rosenthal
The Puterbaugh Sisters
Scarlett D’Evil
and more!

This is burlesque the way it should be–leather banquettes, a full cocktail menu with fine spirits & classic cocktails and a dinner menu made of only the finest locally-grown organic ingredients. Come early for dinner; stay late (11:00 pm start time) for the show.

Admission is a $15 suggested donation. The show is all ages.   From Girlie-Q, Chicago’s best queer burlesque and variety, since 2001.

EVERY SUNDAY
Show at 8:30
Girlie-Q Presents: Salon deVine
Joie de Vine, 1744 W. Balmoral @ Ravenswood
No Cover

Miss Derringer

I’m super excited to announce that Miss Derringer has just been added to the Under the Sea lineup!

Their bio: Miss Derringer is a Los Angeles-based band heavily influenced by American music of the late-50s and early-60s particularly the vintage sounds of outlaw country like performers Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash or the girl group pop of the Ronettes and Shangri Las. The band also finds inspiration in the music and attitude of early punk bands like the Misfits and Black Flag. The band’s lyrics deal with honkytonk subjects like prison, alcohol, sobriety, God, death, and murder.

Miss Derringer has released two albums with Sympathy for the Record Industry. The first King James, Crown Royal and a Colt 45 was released in 2004. Their newest album Lullabies features drummer Clem Burke from Blondie and is co-produced by Derrick O’Brien formely of Social Distortion and currently in The Adolescents.

Miss Derringer will be appearing on dates this fall (east coast) with Blondie (and the Girlie-Q’s!). Miss Mcgrath is also a well-known and respected artist who recently had a book of her work published by Last Gasp titled Everything that Creeps, and will be featured in a national Target commercial later this year.

Friday night was fun. Me and Cruel Valentine tore it up at the Flesh Hungry Dog Show. It was a lovely evening. Host Gary Airedale always does such a nice job and the bands were great. I love Beazley of the Beazley Phillips Band. He’s awesome.

Yesterday morning, me and my partner, Special Lady T, hit Lost Eras, this AMAZING thrift/vintage/costume store on Howard. Oh. My. God. It is the place I had been having elaborate dreams about for years. You know, the one where you go shopping at the best, most extensive vintage store ever and then you make up and feel sad that you didn’t actually purchase that robin’s egg blue 1950’s satin girdle/garter belt covered with rhinestones that are set in, not glued? If I hadn’t had to teach class yesterday, T might have had to haul my computer over there and forward my mail, because I might still be there.

Then last night, me and T went out to see El Circo Cheapo Cabaret at Aloft Loft–to support Girlie-Q favorite Dizzy Lizzy and to finally see the show. We’d been trying to go since February, but we almost always had shows the same night. WHAT A SHOW! The aerial dance was great, there were some cool clowns, and Cameron Esposito (one of our favorite local queer standups) was hilarious. Our favorite aerial acts were a woman who used black silks and the showstopping couple at the end who did acrobatics from a little platform that they rigged up.

The first woman had a sparkly and amazing costume (thin shiny gold lame strap/bust coverings and sequinned black bottoms. It looked like a vintage swimsuit) because she used her black silks in a way that made them look like a dress draping off of her body. T and I were talking about it after the show and we loved how she made the silks not just something that was a vehicle for performance, but an actual integral part of the act/costuming. She had a really cool james bond-y jazzy score, too. Our second favorite was the couple at the end because they just did real live circus feats. The guy swung off the platform and held the woman by her wrists and she swung back and forth like he was a trapeze. Amazing. (And it was all set to “So What, I’m Still a Rock Star” by Pink. Fun!) And Lizzy, of course, was adorable. She did her glass walking act as a sunbathing routine with a vintage swimsuit. It was as cute as faux sunbathing on broken glass can be. (How cute is that? Pretty effing cute.)

We ended the night at Joie de Vine, the local lesbian-owned winebar, where we had a lovely conversation with one of the owners. We had some cocktails and came home early and went to bed. Today is a busy (haha. I almost typed “busty”. It’s always busty!) day. I’m rehearsing my acts for next Thursday (Guilty Pleasures 2 at Betty’s) and Saturday (Le Cabaret Erotique) at Design Dance. Then we’re having a two hour group rehearsal for the Pride Show, THEN two hours of auditions for the Naked July Show. Whew.

Long pause to see who won Miss Exotic World. Results? Kalani Kokonuts. She looks really great–Very classic and pinup-py. And wow, what costumes! (She’s from Vegas, so it figures…)

So, I guess I need to go get ready for my day. Mas later!

xox,
Ms. Bea Haven

I spent the first part of it working on costumes and the second part making this here website pretty. I’m pretty excited about the site in particular, because it’s been such a long time in coming. I wish I’d sat down and figured all of this out a year or two ago, but better later than never. Also this week, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a mobile computer device (aka the Gphone). I’m super excited because now I can shoot photos and post here right from my phone. Expect lots of updates from the L–and keep your eyes peeled (get it? peeled?) here for updates on the featured performers page and (probably next week or the week after) videos of people’s acts and more photos.

I’ve got a backlog of about six months worth of media to process, make pretty and post.

In other news, I am performing tonight in the Flesh Hungry Dog Show along with Cruel Valentine. It’s gonna be a fun night. (You should come out!) Gary Airedale always puts on such a cool show. (And there’s the added bonus of getting to be in the basement at Jackhammer for our dressing area, which I am not supposed to focus on…But it’s got a pummel horse and a swing. How can I not?) And I’m super excited to see our friend DJ Sky, who is also spinning at the queer prom on June 27!

Also this weekend, I am working on some promo for the prom and holding auditions for The Girlie-Q Variety Hour, which is the headlining burlesque show in the Naked July Festival at National Pastime Theater starting on July 3. Super psyched about that! We’re seeing a whole lot of amazing performers. I won’t give away who is auditioning, but watch this space for updates. It’s going to be an outstanding cast!

Sidenote: I was looking for the link to National Pastime Theater and in my search, I thought that they might have been npt2.org. Oh, how wrong I was. Ever heard of the National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology Training? Me neither, until this morning. In case you were wondering, their mission is to: “provide the pulp and paper sector of the United States forest products industry with a globally competitive, technologically advanced workforce and to give students and incumbent workers around the nation exciting and effective education and training opportunities.” Wow. The internet is a vast and fantastic place.

All righty. Gotta jump now.

xox,
Ms. Bea Haven
The Great Chicago Fire
Public Feminist #1

Just thought I’d share. I’ve been thinking about “barsexuals” for the last few days and this is the mix I made for the group act we’re doing for Pride. (What all of the very gay costumes are for…)

Well, we’re in day 5 of the Girlie-Q web project and I’m a little obsessed. I keep going back and forth between making gay costumes for our annual Pride show and trying to figure out WordPress widgets and formatting. It’s pretty exciting–this “new ditch effort”. I feel like once all of this is set up, we’re going to be rockin’ and rollin’ in a most serious way.

In other news, I am getting a G1 phone (the T-mobile version of the iPhone) so there are mobile updates in Girlie-Q’s near future. I’m pretty excited about that.

I have to jump now, but I wanted to leave you with some exciting photos for the day. I’m gonna go shoot those now and insert them at the top of this post (look, you are privy to my non-linear editing stylings!) Mas later.

xox, Ms. Bea Haven

xox,
Ms. Bea Haven