Retrofitting the Cabaret Art Form for the Modern Age…
“Every time I go on stage, I worry about my costume falling off,” Meghan Mayhem says in the upstairs room of the Next Door nightclub, which has been transformed into a makeshift dressing room this Friday night. She is doing last-minute touchups to her costume, sewing fishing line into the bust of her dress. “One girl lost part of her outfit on stage once, but I haven’t. I have tripped, though.”
Three other girls are getting ready amid the chaos of cabaret fashion: wigs, nylons, false eyelashes and treacherously tall heels are strewn about the space. It’s all glitter and feathers, props and makeup, creating a meticulous yet exaggerated gorgeous, almost of transvestite quality; girls dressing as boys dressing as girls.
Among the trio are Cat Wings, Mabsy, and Lil Evilone, stage names that match the seductive, scintillating tones of the acts they are about to perform. Yet this is only a piece of the cherry pie; the Blossom troupe consists of ten girls, a number that is constantly fluctuating with tryouts held monthly and members leaving if the commitment becomes too big to handle.
“We all lead double lives,” explains Mayhem, adding that four of the performers are mothers, all deal with nine to five jobs, and some even moonlight as cocktail waitresses on top of that. How the girls manage to practice often, design and make their own costumes, promote the shows and perform so well is a miracle that lies only in their talent and passion for the art form of cabaret itself.
“I’ve always followed burlesque since I was a kid,” says Mayhem, who created the Cherry Blossom troupe in August of 2006. “I was entranced by the era; I loved the makeup and the costumes. My friends were in a troupe back in Denver, and I missed going to shows when I moved to Honolulu.” To satiate her longing, Mayhem and now-fellow manager Lola Love posted an ad on Craigslist.com, advertising a burlesque duet for hire. They were immediately booked by the Ong King Theatre in Chinatown without a tryout or even a meet and greet, and Love and Mayhem had a week and a half to choreograph a routine.
“We were new and people didn’t know what to expect,” says Mayhem. “But the audience liked it.” The girls then began recruiting performers, all the while throwing their own shows for audiences around the city. Their performances have branched out since then to benefit shows, modeling gigs, a recurring set on the first Friday of every month, even music videos
As for the shows themselves, you will be pleased to find a deliciously varied burlesque buffet; the girls mix the essence of traditional striptease in with theatrical and choreographed dances, political sketches (George Bush morphs into Hillary Clinton to a Nine Inch Nails song,) and lip-synched performances (a Chaplin-worthy rendition of “Mr. Cellophane” from the musical Chicago,) creating an unforgettable blend of sultry and stimulating. For the future, Mayhem says the girls want to expand their performances into a variety show, featuring anything from magicians to fire-eaters to comedians.
By: Lauren Kent
