Peepshow Menagerie was created in 2008 as a collaboration between producers Chris Beyond & Scarlett Letter. As they entered a new year and still within their first year of producing the show, they decided to start 2009 off with something BIG! So they produced the first edition of "BURLESQUELAND" which not only was a burlesque parody of all things Disney and Disneyland, but also was a Two Night production with a second night taking place at The Monday Night Tease in Hollywood where Scarlett was still co-producing at the time. And on the next day we all went to Disneyland for "Burlesque Day At Disneyland." As of this writing, this show has gone on for 7 years now and is always a multi-day production (although we don't always go to Disneyland anymore as the ticket prices at Disneyland have gotten out of control).
In February 2009 we were lucky enough to get comedian Toby Huss (as seen on MTV, The Adventures Of Pete & Pete, and as heard on King Of The Kill) to host a show billed as "A Hillbilly Tribute To Hollywood" titled "STARS AND MOONSHINE" - I'd love to revisit this theme sometime. The poster was also the first in a pattern of many posters to follow that featured a combination of circles and stars.
In March of 2008, I don't remember what the issue was now, but at the time we were going up against something. Also, because our show was doing so unexpectedly well on Sundays, our club Bordello decided to move us to a better night. Thus we started doing shows on Wednesdays. As we knew that with whatever that thing we were up against at the time and the new night causing confusion with fans, we decided to try a theme with a budget in mind. So we brought back David Liebe Hart (of Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!) along with comedian Gary Shapiro and producer/performer Lili VonSchtupp to be judges for "THE BURLESQUE GONG SHOW" for a decidedly unconventional burlesque show where we invited anyone to perform on stage along with a few "ringers" that we cast who were not meant to win, but just to perform silly acts and get gonged off stage. The winner got a cash prize of one hundred and eleven dollars and eleven cents. It was a fun, but VERY crazy show and we ended up being correct about that night not doing well. How much did we lose? Oddly enough: $111.11. The following month, we produced a fun show titled "A NIGHTIE OF FAIRY TALES" which was a burlesque show about exactly what you think it would be (as long as you aren't thinking about nighties). From there, the following month we did a show with a very tongue in cheek title called "PEEPSHOW MENAGERIE: THE SELF TITLED SHOW" which was a burlesque show themed around animals.
As we started the Summer, we did the first in what would be another long running show and the only show we do so far that continues where we left off, year after year. In "BEACH BLANKET BURLESQUE!" we meet for the first time our own burlesque parodies of Frankie & Annette. In the story Frankie & Annette (and friends) learn that their beloved Crab Shack club house on the beach is about to be taken over by greedy landowners and turned into a parking lot. So the Burlesque Beach gang decide to put together a Burlesque Luau to raise funds to buy the shack for themselves. While they are successful in raising the money at the end of the show, the crab shack ends up being burnt down anyway after a vigorous celebration, seemingly killing everyone.
We just don't do things normal. It's burlesque. We don't have to.
(Click on posters to see bigger images and bonus material)
