SpielPalast Cabaret is Stuck in VT

SpielPalast Cabaret [25]

I know, this blog has turned into Land of the SpielPalast but I honestly cannot help it. I can't get the songs out of my head, the twisted cabaret visions, they come to me at night! What to do? Lobotomy perhaps?

It nearly killed me to squeeze my 8 hours of footage (you can never shoot too much, or can you?!) into this 7 minute segment which I KNOW should be shorter BUT the thing is, I just love every inch of this vlog.

After spending an all nighter snipping up this rag tag cast of characters, I have to say that I love them even more - more than I did before! Every single one of them is so special, hard-working, talented and larger than life. I feel privileged just to be a fly on their wall and totally unworthy to perform in their ranks.

The SpielPalast is a family as Max, Cupcake and Eloise all note - it is a family I am new to and, being me, am still a bit shy around. But I love them dearly and can't wait to perform with them again this weekend! Come to the cabaret!

Küss mich! More SpielPalast!

Oooh la la, how tantalizing! Thanks Jeff!

SpielPalast Weekend

3 shows down and 3 to go...and I wish they would never end. It is so hard to box up the experience of the SpielPalast Cabaret - but I wouldn't be me if I didn't try and thusly, I am vlogging it this week! But how to explain all that strange, elusive magic in 4 minutes or less?

Here are tiny tid bits of some of my favorite behind-the-scenes moments which of course, I was not able to capture on camera: Esse taking a catnap on the stage (raised in the theater, that kid can sleep anywhere and through anything!) with the curtains quietly sweeping shut behind her and an audience filing in; sultry Mimi ready to go on stage for Fever with a chair raised defiantly above her head; the pre-show on-stage warm ups with the dancers coated in a blood red light as they spin, kick and wait for the curtain to open; the frantic costume changes as performers haphazardly rip off their clothing, rushing to get ready for the next act; the inevitable breast comparisons that occur when women get naked together; a subdued white-faced Mr Dingalingalinga taking a low-key breather in the stairwell before his next explosive bit on stage; a bewildered, large-skirted Sally puttering around the cabaret girls as they change; Tony looking naked without her wig and gum, preparing for her cardboard wings which need to be safety-pinned to her back; becoming adept at attaching the many different types of garter belts which are constantly being connected to stockings in a hurry by a variety of hands; the buzzing hive surrounding the backstage punch (cheap vodka and cranberry, a deadly combo - I learned first hand); the quiet moments in the wings as performers wait to go on and occupy themselves singing whatever song is being sung on-stage since we all know the lyrics to everything (and can't get them out of our heads - ever).
And my most favorite moment of them all? That moment right before you go on stage as you are sweeping past the side curtains and going from a dark, hushed space to a bright, blinding surreal world with shadowed faces staring up at you. It is like being transported to an alien landscape where rouge-cheeked girls spin in sequined circles, boys wearing eyeliner belt out opera and everything else melts away.
Needless to say, the magic is impossible to capture. But the storyteller/documenter in me wants to at least give it a try.
Thanks to all the really fabulous audiences that have come out to see the cabaret so far and to Molly and Jeff for blogging it! And to Jeff for these pics! And to Bear, Seth, Colin, Scott and John for shooting it Saturday night! And let's not forget the various bars around town who have fed and boozed us every night post-show.

And here is a lovely endorsement from Miss Undead Molly herself who I was SO pleased to meet in person last night post-show!!:

Eva is one of the Spielpalast cast, all of whom are very talented actors, singers, and/or dancers. This is not a bunch of random amateur doofuses who have put on an obtuse burlesque just to have an excuse to run around in pretty underpants. It's a tight show of genuine quality and heart. Funny, mysterious, mythological, bawdy, compelling. My hands were numb from clapping by the end... wonderful, truly.

SpielPalast TONIGHT

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!
Fremde, etranger, stranger.
Gluklich zu sehen, je suis enchante,
Happy to see you, bleibe, reste, stay.

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome
Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret

YAY! Our opening night went smashingly darlink! The packed house was boisterous, drunken, sparsely dressed and sexy! City Hall has never had so much fun. Its marble corridors were shuddering with glee, its velvet curtains were decorated with lingerie and its stairwells were full of naked sweaty performers.

I figured if I could make it through ONE show without falling on my ass, missing a cue, forgetting to wear underwear (you are always changing your underwear so this is easier than you may think), losing my voice or dropping an armful of trays, I would be able to breathe easier for the next 5 shows. Now I can say goodbye to my worries and enjoy the beauty and magic that is the cabaret...

Above are Seth and Bon in a quiet moment between skits. Seth has a supremely flexible face/canvas that can make you laugh or cry in 5 seconds flat - he was born to perform. Bon has a deeply resonant and beautiful singing voice and did you know that he works for British aerospace? Cabaret folk - it takes all types...
Above are the newbies, me, Nicci and Teresa. They are a grand group of girls (and so is Alex who is not in this picture)! I think I am allowed to say this now as the secret is out of the bag and the shows are officially underway. Hate to ruin any surprises...

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome
Im Cabaret, au Cabaret, to Cabaret

Leave your troubles outside!
So - life is disappointing? Forget it!
We have no troubles here! Here life is beautiful...
The girls are beautiful...
Even the orchestra is beautiful!

Performing is such an amazing experience. All the fear and anxiety melts away once you are on the stage spinning around and being blinded by powerful lights. All of a sudden you are in a different space, one that has no time or tangible boundaries and you ... just ... are.

I am sure many people have described this experience FAR better than me - Colette for instance. But it is something that I came to late in life and something that I adore. I don't want it to ever end. It is intoxicating.

Start by admitting
From cradle to tomb
Isn't that long a stay.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Only a Cabaret, old chum,
And I love a Cabaret!

And the best part of all, the after show drinks with the dancers, actors and musicians that I have come to know and love. Sigh, this is a rag tag family of talented misfits that I do not ever want to lose. I don't want the shows to be over, ever! Wish me luck tonight! And get your ass to the cabaret ol' chum! What are you waiting for!?

What good is sitting alone in your room?
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.

Put down the knitting,
The book and the broom.
Time for a holiday.
Life is Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret.

Come taste the wine,
Come hear the band.
Come blow your horn,
Start celebrating;
Right this way,
Your table's waiting

No use permitting
some prophet of doom
To wipe every smile away.
Come hear the music play.
Life is a Cabaret, old chum,
Come to the Cabaret!

SpielPalast Storms City Hall

Renée Néré was musing. She had applied makeup to her face in the French music-hall dressing room and looked into the mirror at her own reflection as it began to speak to her. Her image asked her why she was seated there, all alone.

Renée, seated in her dressing room, waited to go onstage for her act and listened to the voice of her double in the mirror, all the while wondering who or what would appear at her dressing room door to change her state of solitude.
- Colette's The Vagabond

Pretty glamorous, eh? Changing in a stairwell, lugging your crap in and out day after day, applying layer after layer of thick make-up, thighs covered in bruises from another girl's shoe and night after night of late evenings getting sweaty and dancing about in your skivvies. And did I mention that I love every minute?

Like Colette, I started performing late in life. No kiddie ballet classes for this bruise-covered, crazy-haired girl. But the vaudeville life is one I have always dreamt about: travelling from town to town with a rag tag gaggle of bohemians, ne'er do wells and artistic dreamer types; eking out enough spare change to eat a meal here, bargain a bottle of booze there and bed down in a haystack; tapping my feet out, smiling big and singing as loud as my lungs can carry.

And it is those moments in between run throughs and shows, the quiet moments when people are crammed into a stairwell and stripping down, applying ridiculous rouge circled cheeks and discussing mortgages while jamming a hairpin into their spit curl - those are the moments I like best.

****************Welcome....To SpielPalast!****************

Tickets on Sale Now!

6 Shows at Contois Auditorium in Burlington City Hall
May 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, & 19
$18 Advance / $20 Day of Show
Doors 7:30pm / Show 8pm
(cabaret seating available on a first come, first serve basis)

How Can You Get Tickets?????

Tickets Available at:
Flynn Box Office (M-F, 10am-4pm & Sat, 11am-4pm)
1-802-863-5966
ONLINE

***Tickets Will Also Be Available At Contois Each Night of Show***

For more info.visit:
SpielPalast Home
SpielPalast on MySpace
SpielPalast on YouTube

Chance, my master and my friend will, I feel sure, deign once again to send me the spirits of his unruly kingdom. All my trust is now in him - and in myself. But above all in him, for when I go under he always fishes me out, seizing and shaking me like a life-saving dog whose teeth tear my skin a little every time.

So now, whenever I despair, I no longer expect my end, but some bit of luck, some commonplace little miracle which, like a glittering link, will mend again the necklace of my days.

- Colette's The Vagabond

Liminal Engagement is Stuck in VT

Liminal Engagement [24]

PS And many thanks to Bill and everyone for your kind words about my YouTube demise. It makes me feel much better even if it still stings a bit. Gotta run, four days of dress rehearsal in a row!! Egads, my feet will fall off from all this dancing! I finally found my own pair of Red Shoes!

Wonky Weekend

Not even sure where to begin. Crazy busy weekend with all sorts of swell little perks such as a delicious bargain Nutella crepe from Jon, one of the owners of The Skinny Pancake (which you can visit at their cart on lower Church St OR at their new restaurant by the water).

Jon also runs Step It Up with a gaggle of college pals. Who knew that Step It Up was based in Burlington and consisted of a small hard-working group of people taking the internet by storm?! Saving the environment AND feeding us yummy hot pancake-like goodness, well, that is quite a tasty combo.

Also vlogged Liminal Engagement at the Firehouse and had a swell time floating with the jellyfish-like interactive art exhibition and figuring out new fun ways to film a 3D art object. It is a beautiful show and well worth a visit. Also had a nice time talking to Ruth, Katie and Eric of the Firehouse who are all highly entertaining - or was that the Bee's Knees!? Hee hee.

The thing about Burlington is, it is mercilessly small and you run into people you know all the time. An art opening is crawling with familiar faces but, being pretty new here, I still find the familiarity enjoyable: Nick from my video class at Champlain who was graduating the next day and had his mom in tow; James and Eli Kochalka (my first STVT subjects and Eli has already grown since then!?); Pamela from 7 Days; Alexa and Ted who likes jellyfish; Alyssa, Dave and Nash who makes funny faces; Dan enjoying an after work beer; David sans accordian; the nice guy from Magic Hat whose name I can't recall - the list goes on and on...

However, Burlington is also weirdly big and you meet new people all the time. Sadly, I met Ruth, the curator of the show, a little too late as she is leaving for NYC in the near future. Curses. New York steals another one.

On the upside though, I talked to someone who loved the New Yorker article about old age as much as I did?! What are the chances that you would randomly read a New Yorker article in the afternoon (after neglecting the New Yorkers for months) and then run into a medical student training to work with old people? Weird world - and don't forget to take good care of your feet! Neglect of your feet is the first sign of aging.
Oh, and then the following day there was more bra shopping (after a while, all the bras begin to look the same, how do girls do all this shit!?), a craft exploration (dreamy goodies), sun bliss out with Suzanne and an encounter with Rob and Steve who could not believe that I spent 100 clams on 2 bras. The tattoo below is half finished and on Rob's calf:
So anyway, this post is all over the place but I guess it is all to say that, with or without a YouTube account, it is pretty nice to be able to ride your bike downtown (even if it is still crisp enough that a jacket is required) and soak up all the awesome treats Burlington has to offer, edible and otherwise.

That said, I am counting the days to June when I get the hell outta here! San Fran sissy, here I come!!! But in the meantime, it feels pretty good to be stuck in Vermont...

PS And thanks to Molly for the swell badger balm goodness! Mmmmm!!!

GoodBye YouTube, Hello Tulip

I never was too good with goodbyes - or endings for that matter, especially abrupt ones.

As of Saturday night, my evadeadbeat account was suspended due to copyright infringement. I am still a little numb - kind of feels like I got sucker punched in the gut.

After one year, almost 200 videos, 1700 subscribers (granted, most were just thanks to dumb luck), and countless hours spent building and working on my YouTube home - it is all gone in the click of a mouse. Poof.

I almost expected my Blogspot, Gmail and MySpace accounts to be deleted as well. It seemed like the invisible and all powerful internet gods had deemed me unworthy to exist in this strange new world and kicked me back to dull ol' meet space to pay penance.

Is this what life is like without YouTube? Colorless and gray? Generic and tasteless?

Do they make Hallmark cards for this sort of thing?

"Sorry to hear your YouTube account was suspended due to copyright infringement. Bummer. Now all those videos I embedded are worthless black holes of meaninglessness. Damn you."

According to the rules of YouTube, once you are suspended, you may never open another account ever again. Who knows how strictly they police this or if I will bother to try to get around it.

Maybe it is a message from the gods that I need to spend more time in the garden and less time clacking away at my computer. Perhaps this is the excuse I need to make time for knitting and baking?! After all, it is almost summer and think of all the outdoor time I could soak up if I wasn't glued to YouTube all day long!?

Still, I think of all the internet friends I made who share similar interests to my own (Digibudi, Junk Thief, Tonci, James, Tony, Parisa, Zach, Sadia, a Japanese school teacher) - all these people from all over the world whom I never ever EVER in a million years would have met had it not been for my little slice of the YouTube pie.

After just one year of existence on YouTube, I had become accustomed to an email box full of comments and messages and YouTube notices. My lonely email will feel funny without YouTube crammed inside it.

It is sad to think those internet socializing days are over. My home away from home on the internet was washed away in a flash flood, never to be seen or heard of again. Do they do disaster coverage on this sort of thing? Is there national relief aid on its way? Perhaps a benefit concert organized by Bono is in the works?

It remains to be seen how this major life change sinks in. I am too busy caking on make-up and rehearsing steps, lines and costume changes to think about it too much. And besides, have you seen the red tulips that are blooming in our yard? Hello dolly!

Old Age Creeps Up

Before retiring to my cold basement to edit, I spent some time in the sun drinking coffee, smoking a cigarette (I know, I know - I need stress relief right now, so there!!) and reading this highly disturbing article in The New Yorker about aging (which quickly made me regret the cigarette).

Here are some excerpts but I recommend reading the whole thing (here) to be properly scared shitless :

"After all, for most of our hundred-thousand-year existence—all but the past couple of hundred years—the average life span of human beings has been thirty years or less. (Research suggests that subjects of the Roman Empire had an average life expectancy of twenty-eight years.)

Today, the average life span in developed countries is almost eighty years. If human life spans depend on our genetics, then medicine has got the upper hand. We are, in a way, freaks living well beyond our appointed time."

- "The Way We Age Now" by Atul Gawande, April 30th, The New Yorker Magazine

By all rights, I should be dead now that I am over 30. Hell, in Roman times I would be ancient! So I plan to enjoy every damn miserable moment I get on this planet as my organs harden, my teeth fall out, my eyes get worse, my feet become unattended, my inner hard drives fail, my prescriptions increase and I slowly begin to fall apart...

"Nonetheless, as the defects in a complex system increase, the time comes when just one more defect is enough to impair the whole, resulting in the condition known as frailty. It happens to power plants, cars, and large organizations. And it happens to us: eventually, one too many joints are damaged, one too many arteries calcify. There are no more backups. We wear down until we can’t wear down anymore."
- "The Way We Age Now" by Atul Gawande, April 30th, The New Yorker Magazine

And to make matters worse, there are not enough doctors to deal with all us aging, malfunctioning factories! Who wants to deal with machines that are falling apart when you can work with nicely oiled, brand new machines?

All of this reminds me of an ethnography I wrote in college connecting an old age home to American's obsession with horror movies. My thesis was that we are so afraid of the decline of our bodies that we hide the evidence away in nursing homes. Still, we are fascinated by the inevitable process, so we indulge in horror movies with decrepit zombies falling apart and trying to eat us as a way to indulge our hidden fears.

We are all gonna die. Some sooner than others. There it is. Sucks.

So all we have is this moment, the present. I guess I am glad I had that coffee and a ciggie (a heavenly combo if there ever was one) and sun/reading break (also heavenly combo) after all.

SpielPalast Next Week!

Mein Teurer Schatz,

What do you get when you cross the shadowed underbelly of a 1920's Berlin nightclub with the eclectic energy of some of Burlington's most talented, daring, and scantily-clad performers? More than you bargained for, and then some.

****************Welcome....To SpielPalast!****************

Tickets on Sale Now!

6 Shows at Contois Auditorium in Burlington City Hall
May 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, & 19
$18 Advance / $20 Day of Show
Doors 7:30pm / Show 8pm
(cabaret seating available on a first come, first serve basis)

How Can You Get Tickets?????

Tickets Available at:
Flynn Box Office (M-F, 10am-4pm & Sat, 11am-4pm)
1-802-863-5966
ONLINE

***Tickets Will Also Be Available At Contois Each Night of Show***

For more info.visit:
SpielPalast Home
SpielPalast on MySpace
SpielPalast on YouTube

Remember to pass this along to all your best pals!

Du bist schön. Dein Liebespfeil hat mich getroffen! Komm bitte her und verarzte mich! Mein Herz schlägt nur für dich!

Tausend Küsse,
xox Eva xox

Here are some tasty bits from last year's show:

Craft Goldmine Saturday!

If you live in Burlington, you are sure to be out and about soaking up this glorious weather all weekend. Additionally, you should definitely hit up the Queen City Craft Bazaar this Saturday at Union Station.

I know some of these crafty folks personally and their goods are absolutely mouth-watering and irresistible. So if you got some cash burning a hole in your pocket, spend your money local and support your crafty people!

Here is a Stuck in Vermont vlog I did in March about some of the participants. I was moved by the fire in their bellies, their obsessive need to create and their beautiful goods:



PS I only wish my crafty pal Nikolaas was here - we would have so much fun sorting through the goodies!!!

Magic Hat Afternoon

What is it about a free jug of beer that makes you want to cancel your plans for the day and sit in the sun drinking the sweet, sweet nectar to your heart's content?

Well, I didn't spend the entire day basking in the bright sun and crisp spring breezes but there was some relaxation plus beer enjoyed.

I've been doing some videos for Magic Hat and one of the perks is the free beer when you leave. I chose a growler of Circus Boy Hefeweizen (YUM!) and even though it was only noon, I wanted to take a swig SO BAD - right there in the parking lot! But I resisted and stored the booze in the Flynn fridge while taking Tracy's high octane dance class.

After last night's dose of intense yoga and 2 hours of dance rehearsal, today's class nearly killed me. All the death defying lunges and leaps - it is so hard to ignore gravity and bounce your body UP in the air repeatedly - the hip thrusts and spins - zowie, I am gonna hurt tomorrow. Pain. Lots of it headed straight my way.

There were some dudes putting cement on the roof next door and I considered giving them the free growler of beer. It seemed like the proper thing to do, hard working people always appreciate a cool refreshing drink when doing manual labor. But I figured cement + booze might not be the best combo and therefore justified my selfishness.

Magic Hat is such a cool factory - sort of like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crossed with Beetlejuice and sprinkled with Mad Max. If you have not gone on the factory tour, by all means, go soon. I have a real fondness in my heart for gigantic, funky industrial spaces, especially ones filled with beer and smelling of wheat.

While creeping around and taking pictures, I marvelled at the magical beer bottle filling process. It was like Laverne and Shirley's opening title sequence (embedded below), or like Wayne's World parody of it, but SO much better!

The beer bottles whizzing along, getting disinfected and filled with the magic elixir in an air tight chamber, the fancy inner-workings of the machines that make it all happen and drop the beer into boxes with delicate metal paws, the never ending walls of beer cases wrapped in cellophane awaiting transport to a supermarket shelf near you. It is exciting, and makes a girl thirsty.

Anyway, where was I? Yes, after dance we had our girl lunch sans Suzanne (sniffle) and then ran errands around town while soaking up sun. The best errand was definitely the bra fitting - girls love to try on expensive lingerie, what can I say.

Then it was back to Suzanne's to eat candy from Costa Rica (thanks Tracy) and FINALLY take a sip of the delicious Hefeweizen which is unfiltered and unfettered. Mmmm. I earned that.

Go on Singing Orson

For some reason I started thinking about the fabulously brilliant Orson Welles today.

Two seconds later I was whizzing through YouTube's hallowed halls watching his drunken champagne outtakes (video) and all of his unfinished movies.

Oh YouTube, never leave my side, what would I do in a world without you?

My favorite Orson video is this entirely random bit between James Stewart, Dean Martin and Orson Welles. They are at a man's hair salon poking fun at girl talk and it is just so...odd...and did I mention the singing, wigs and "sausage curls"?!



Also, of note, Orson Welles' "Voodoo" Macbeth (Macbeth with an all black cast) and Orson Welles on London Clubs and a haunting clip from F for Fake in which Orson waxes poetic about life and death:

"Our works in stone, in paint, in print are spared, some of them for a few decades or a millenium or two. But everything must finally fall in war, or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash - the triumphs and the frauds, the treasures and the fakes.

A fact of life, we are going to die.

"Be of good heart," cry the dead artists out of the living pasts. Our songs will all be silenced, but what of it? Go on singing. Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much..."

Urban Dance is Stuck in VT

Urban Dance Complex [23]

Awesome, talented, cool, inspiring and a little bit scary, dancer and choreographer, Sarah Cover came back to Vermont to make a difference.

Urban Dance Complex is her dance studio and VT Elements is her dance troup which recently performed "Hard Knock Life," a hip hop version of Annie.

"I ... am trying to create a Vermont that I wish I had lived in when I was 13."

I wish she had been here when I was 13, changing the face of Vermont and making her hip hop ripples. It is good to meet people like her who are out there working hard and changing lives.

Good luck in LA Lu (Sandy) and stay true to yourself MJ (Annie)!