Le Cafe des Muses

 I'm out of my mind. I have just 20 days to come up with something "Leather and Lace" themed for the next burlesque show. The location finally confirmed. I don't know what possessed me (okay, yes I do, love of the art). I have no idea what to do music-wise or how I'm going to dance in a leather mini-skirt. Time to hit the thrift stores?

Oh, and the other reason I agreed? This club seems to have good tippers.

Here are my options for the March show.

1. "Strongwoman" ("Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger")
--There's no school like old school, and this was my first piece ever. I can probably make this a great deal shinier now, but the draw power for this one is that I have most of it already.

2. "Miskatonic Mishap #1" ("Ghost of Stephen Foster")
--Costuming-wise, this is stupid-easy. I own most of it (apart from the cloche hat, which I can probably make). Choreography-wise, it might take some work.

3. "Miskatonic Mishap #2" ("Move Your Dead Bones")
--Needs a lot more work done and buying of things, which I'm trying to avoid.

4. "Bonbon" ("I Want Candy")
--Have the costume still. I just need to remember to throw the candies UNDERHAND.

5. "Little Egypt/Sideshow Fortuneteller"(either "Maneater" or "Must Be Dreaming")
--The piece I've been hankering to do since day 1. Have most of the costume already.

Sadly, the femme fatale costume may have to wait (can't afford most of the costume), as will "Hard Candy" (same). Considering the time of year, I might at least try to fudge a "Cherry Blossom Baby" number, either to "Candyman" or "Hong Kong Garden". Also, I don't know if this is a full-length show and how many numbers I'll actually need.

EDIT: Just had a "Dream number" pop to mind (dream, because I don't have huge feather fans and couldn't store them right now either). A high drama fan dance to "Life on Mars?"

After several false starts, a great deal of delegation (my mother is an ever-loving saint, I'll have you know) and two mild panics (one was a bad pattern translation, the other was "omg, do i have enough boning?"), the eve is almost upon us and I'm taking a break to report on the corset.

First of all, if you are going to be frugal and go the zip-tie boning route, MAKE SURE THEY ARE PACKAGED STRAIGHT. I just opened a pack of "boning" and discovered to my horror that they would not uncurl. It may be salvageable if I stagger curled bone with straight and the fact that the short patches exist.

Second, I'm a wee bit worried. I forgot to pick up eyelets. I have a failed project I can cannibalize for eyelet tape, but I'm a touch concerned it won't work. There's no time to go fetch eyelets, so it will have to work. Ugh.

*genuflects* St. Jude, I know I'm a slack-ass and a ditz, but this being a lost cause, I pray you will find it in the plan for me to not only have a functional costume, but a killer performance. And due to the nature of the performance, Mary Magdalene, I pray that my feet will be light, my grin will be big and my costume will be sturdy.

So there's a new show coming up, just in time for the Winter Holidays. It's our first full-length gig, meaning I have two numbers instead of one (Yay-eek!) and two costumes (*swoon*).

Mom and I have managed to, between us, come up with costumes. One is a loaner, props and all, but the other is going to be made special for this, a "peppermint polonaise", shall we say?

It's got all the things I've wanted (18th c corset, bloomers, probably a hat of some sort), so the costume will be re-worn, even if it is piecemeal. I have the material for the bloomers and the giant poinsettia (not period, but if anybody squawks, I'll get a few roses or something to replace it) and some ribbon that we can hopefully use.

I'll have to call the shoe place in Richmond to see if I can special order the shoes I want or order them on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Funtasma-Pleaser-Womens-Candycane-48-Platform/dp/B002JATFNC/ref=reg_hu-wl_item-added). Believe it or not, I dance easier in those sorts of shoes than flat-footed. I can't explain it.

So, now I have to find some fabric to muslin with and figure out what the rest is going to be...

6th time and it still sucks, but it sucks less than it did, so maybe I can save this. I have to remember to be cute. I can't do sexy, but I can do cute.

This dance number is not working out. I'm tempted to just say "screw it" and tell L. I can't do this show. I'm stressed, overheated, tired and out of time. I want to cry at this point, because I knew this was coming and I should have prepared more, but I did nothing.

I'll try one more time tonight, then take my meds and try again in the morning when I'm awake and fed. I HAVE to do this, damnit. I am TIRED of never pulling through!