Burlesque- the last show!!

Dear followers!

This is a very sad post . . . . . this will be the last blog entry (apart from the evaluation!), as this last burlesque show, is the last of my WBL placements. . . .ahhhhh!!!

Not that I haven't had so much fun, from festivals, to nude modelling, stewarding and burly shows- what a great combination!

Anyway, onwards with my very last burlesque show . . .

After the very sad news in December about the cancelled shows, Kinky and Quirky were determined to come back in the new year with a bang! That and the fact that the 'Laugh Out Loud Comedy Festival' organisers (nationwide festival) asked K&Q to hold their burlesque show with comedy in mind, made this show probably one of the best that Exeter has seen!

We had the performers in the shape of: Lamb Chop Magoo, http://lambchopmagoo.blogspot.com/, the lovely Soup de Jour, and Warren Speed, maker of 'Zombie Women of Satan, and boylesque performer.

When Laura and I arrived at Havana, we were not surprised to see that it wasn't clean, but we were disturbed to learn that it had been like that for over a month. . .ew! To cut a long story short, there were many harsh words said been people, while Laura and I got on to clean the entire premises. I didn't really mind doing that of course, (I like my cleaning), but I could see how K&Q were disappointed in Havana, for letting their placement students take the hard work, when they were the ones who should have had the place at least clean before we arrived.

There was an awful lot of work to be done before this show however. Not only had we to clean the place, floor, tables, backstage, but we also had to get the tables moved and sort out where all the audiences were going to go. There was a large amount of couples this month as well, 30 couples in fact, so we had to get some people to stand, as we didn't have the room.

This is the amount of people we had to try and fit into the venue, with limited tables and chairs! The paper down the right hand side is all the couples!

We didn't get a break this show, as there was just too much to get sorted, we were still setting up at half 7 when the first of the audience started to trickle in.

The performers all came nice and early so they could either rehearse or just settle themselves down. We did a set list, but it was quite easy this month, as there either wasn't any props, or the performers brought them on themselves. It all seemed to be a crazy rush just before the show although!

I did go and do front of house at the beginning as well, the guys on the door needed some help getting the audience to their seats. I was given lots of compliments doing that as well, some of the audience members had never had a person to direct them to their seats before. I think it gives a good feeling to the start of the evening however. We also did have a little crisis when the FOH ran out of change for the tickets. I went and asked around the bar, but they were not very helpful, so I used my initiative and asked the set-up-shop at the venue.

The show itself went without a hitch, all the performers were well received and it was a shame to end the evening. The work seems to be getting easier and smoother the more I do it. There is always that fleeting dread feeling just before a performance however: have they got all their props, is their music about to play, have I put their props in the right place? Things like that, but usually the performers are really lovely and don't mind if sometimes you get it wrong!

Below are some photos of the last every Burlesque Show for me!! (sob sob!)

The venue, before Laura and I got our hands on it!!

And after. . . .cleaner and ready to be danced on!

The party in full swing!

Laura and I celebrating our last show . . .can't believe we got away with wearing this for our placements!

Evaluation: I have had so much fun doing this placement, and it is a shame that it has come to an end, so, without further ado, here is my evaluation for this WBL placement. . .

As ever, I will be keeping to the criteria, which is as follows. . .

1. Your feelings throughout each placement: I have to say, I have enjoyed every minute of this placement. Some parts have been hard, like coming to terms with certain ways of doing things, the business side of putting on shows (never been that good with numbers!) and keeping up to date with tickets numbers etc, those things were different, as I had never done them before. The backstage section of the sows were different for me as well, I'm always used to either FOH, stewarding, or actually on the stage. But to be back stage lesion, meeting the performers, doing a set list, making sure everyone knows what they should be doing, I really enjoyed this. I make make some mistakes in the beginning, but I suppose that's only natural, and the performers didn't seem to be too bothered by that anyway.
2. Whether a specific process worked or not, and why. There are certain things that Laura and I witnessed that we didn't agree with, or decided that we were not going to copy them. This is not talking about Kinky and Quirky at all. I will not mention names. . . Because Kinky and Quirky had been in business before, they knew how to set up for a performance, all the paperwork that goes with, the advertising, marketing, time plans etc etc. After the show on Saturday, K&Q have actually employed two cleaners to help them with cleaning the venue before the show, as some other third parties cannot be relied on. This is a process that is going to work far better than previously.
3. The affect work experience has had on your career plans. I think, when I leave my degree, I would be more inclined now to get a job backstage, or stewarding or FOH. Although saying that, I've never really been the one to want to go on stage anyway, I really don't think I have a strength there. I do enjoy being backstage, making sure everything is how it should be, making the performers life a little easier, although whether there's a career in that, I don't know.

With this, I will also be reviewing my A&O. Which are as follows . . .. . .

1. To gain confidence in myself and my abilities to perform tasks. I believe I have gain some sort of confidence, definitely with meeting performers, and being able to perform my tasks and make sure they are correct, and right. With notes to the 'confidence in myself', I don't think that is going to come anytime soon. So, on the whole, this Aim has been met.
2. To understand how to put on a Burlesque show, from complete start to finish. If I were to put on a Burlesque show now, or even any other type of show, I think I would still have to have some help, it's a major thing to pull off, and there is a lot of hard work involved. Sometimes I really don't feel as though we have helped K&Q at all over the past few months, because sometimes it felt as though the work we were doing was somehow trivial, even though they said otherwise. I do feel certain I have the gist of how to put on a show however.
3. To gain knowledge of performers out there, whose material is not considered 'mainstream'. This has probably been the best part of this placement, I have been able to meet loads of performers, and talk to them on a one to one basis, which is fantastic. I have been able to talk to them about their work, and why they do what they do, how they got into it etc. This aim has definitely been met.

One of my last ever blogs, is that of a complete evaluation about my all my placements (there have been quite a few!), so keep checking back to find out if this assignment was everything I wanted it to be!

Keep smiling

Ruby Foxglove xxx