Cabaret Red Light
Encyclopedia
Cabaret Red Light is a theater group based in Philadelphia that performs vaudeville
, burlesque
, spoken word
and puppet theater, set to original music by The Blazing Cherries. In their first season, between November 2008 and July 2009, Cabaret Red Light staged the series "The Seven Deadly Sins". Their second and third series ("The Experiment", about a cabaret
that builds a time machine
, and "The Seven Deadly Seas", a pirate and gypsy-jazz show aboard the barquentine Gazela
) began in 2010, and they recently performed the premiere of their ballet-and-burlesque version of The Nutcracker based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's original Gothic short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
.
Cabaret Red Light’s shows have been described as a blend of Agitprop
and burlesque
, an unlikely combination that earned them the title “The Best Marxist Girlie Show in Hell.” In their third show in the Seven Sins series, WRATH!, the group handed out pamphlets announcing the emergence worldwide of “pornographic socialism.” In the finale of their fifth show, GLUTTONY!, they immersed a showgirl (Annie A-Bomb) in liquid chocolate and invited members of the audience to lick it off. When Holly Otterbein of Philadelphia City Paper
asked co-director Peter Gaffney about the politics of the show, he responded, "The common ways in which we entertain ourselves — TV, movies, the Internet — involve sitting in a room by yourself. Compare that to the licking scene. It's the opposite. It's real people in a room experimenting with themselves and testing out their own limits." In other interviews, however, Gaffney has denied that Cabaret Red Light has any overtly political agenda. "We think that theater has no business being in politics," he stated in an interview with Emily Orrson of The Daily Pennsylvanian, "and neither does the government."
and Peter Gaffney, Chris Aschman, Jim Boyle, Mike Corso, Kimberlie Cruse, Jay Davidson, Christine Fisler, Melissa Forgione (a.k.a. Melissa Bang-Bang), Rolf Lakaemper, Andrew Morris
, Shoshi Ruth, Angela Schleinkofer (a.k.a. Satangela) and Evan Smoker. Previous members, technical engineers and guest performers include Josh Anderson, Ryan Berg, Jess Conda, Andy Cowles, Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz, Nick Gilette, Biz Goldhammer, Toni Guinyard, Mike Harkness, Heather Henderson, Brian Hopely, Nicki Jaine, Julie-Françoise Kruidenier, Lindsay Ouellette, Gina Pickton, Kaveh Saidi, Timaree Schmit, Michael Schupp, Benjamin Shwartz (as The Ringer), Jeff Smith (a.k.a. Calvin the Jester), James Stapleford, Monsieur Thujone, Owen Timoney, Nick Troy, Koofreh Umoren, Marina Vishnyakova, Randi Warhol, and Kim Zelnicker (a.k.a. Svedka von Schotz).
, NSK (the Neue Slowenische Kunst
political art collective), Georges Brassens
, Kurt Weill
, Bulat Okudzawa, Bertolt Brecht
, Aristophanes
and Wilhelm Reich
, as well as more contemporary artists and performance groups such as Julie Atlas Muz, Les Yeux Noirs
, Frank Zappa
, Bread and Puppet Theater
, Tom Waits
, the Yes Men and The Yard Dogs Road Show.
Beginning in November, 2009, Plays and Players Theatre
began presenting Cabaret Red Light's series, "The Seven Deadly Sins!" These elaborately staged productions have included such things as an army of showgirl
s armed with feathers and weapon props, and a 20 foot octopus puppet.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
, spoken word
Spoken word
Spoken word is a form of poetry that often uses alliterated prose or verse and occasionally uses metered verse to express social commentary. Traditionally it is in the first person, is from the poet’s point of view and is themed in current events....
and puppet theater, set to original music by The Blazing Cherries. In their first season, between November 2008 and July 2009, Cabaret Red Light staged the series "The Seven Deadly Sins". Their second and third series ("The Experiment", about a cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
that builds a time machine
Time Machine
A time machine is a fictional/hypothetical device used to achieve time travel. The term may also refer to:-Novels and films:* The Time Machine, an 1895 novel by H. G...
, and "The Seven Deadly Seas", a pirate and gypsy-jazz show aboard the barquentine Gazela
Gazela
Gazela is a 1901 wooden tall-ship homeported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She serves as the maritime goodwill ambassador for the City of Philadelphia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the Ports of Philadelphia and Camden, New Jersey...
) began in 2010, and they recently performed the premiere of their ballet-and-burlesque version of The Nutcracker based on E. T. A. Hoffmann's original Gothic short story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King
The Nutcracker and the Mouse King is a story written in 1816 by E. T. A. Hoffmann in which young Marie Stahlbaum's favorite Christmas toy, the Nutcracker, comes alive and, after defeating the evil Mouse King in battle, whisks her away to a magical kingdom populated by dolls...
.
Cabaret Red Light’s shows have been described as a blend of Agitprop
Agitprop
Agitprop is derived from agitation and propaganda, and describes stage plays, pamphlets, motion pictures and other art forms with an explicitly political message....
and burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
, an unlikely combination that earned them the title “The Best Marxist Girlie Show in Hell.” In their third show in the Seven Sins series, WRATH!, the group handed out pamphlets announcing the emergence worldwide of “pornographic socialism.” In the finale of their fifth show, GLUTTONY!, they immersed a showgirl (Annie A-Bomb) in liquid chocolate and invited members of the audience to lick it off. When Holly Otterbein of Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper
Philadelphia City Paper is a free alternative news weekly in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was established in November 1981 as a spin-off of the now defunct WXPN Express newsletter. New issues are released every Thursday....
asked co-director Peter Gaffney about the politics of the show, he responded, "The common ways in which we entertain ourselves — TV, movies, the Internet — involve sitting in a room by yourself. Compare that to the licking scene. It's the opposite. It's real people in a room experimenting with themselves and testing out their own limits." In other interviews, however, Gaffney has denied that Cabaret Red Light has any overtly political agenda. "We think that theater has no business being in politics," he stated in an interview with Emily Orrson of The Daily Pennsylvanian, "and neither does the government."
Cast members
Regular members of the Cabaret Red Light cast include co-directors Annie A-BombAnnie A-Bomb
Annie A-Bomb is a modern burlesque and vaudeville performer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-Education and Early Life:Born in Philadelphia on January 4, 1976....
and Peter Gaffney, Chris Aschman, Jim Boyle, Mike Corso, Kimberlie Cruse, Jay Davidson, Christine Fisler, Melissa Forgione (a.k.a. Melissa Bang-Bang), Rolf Lakaemper, Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris
Andrew Morris, Mayor of Galway, September 1588 to September 1589.Morris had served as a bailiff for Galway Corporation in 1565. His single term of office occurred during the Spanish Armada. Some two hundred Spanish sailors were imprisoned in the town by June 1589. In the same month arrived Sir...
, Shoshi Ruth, Angela Schleinkofer (a.k.a. Satangela) and Evan Smoker. Previous members, technical engineers and guest performers include Josh Anderson, Ryan Berg, Jess Conda, Andy Cowles, Alexandra Cutler-Fetkewicz, Nick Gilette, Biz Goldhammer, Toni Guinyard, Mike Harkness, Heather Henderson, Brian Hopely, Nicki Jaine, Julie-Françoise Kruidenier, Lindsay Ouellette, Gina Pickton, Kaveh Saidi, Timaree Schmit, Michael Schupp, Benjamin Shwartz (as The Ringer), Jeff Smith (a.k.a. Calvin the Jester), James Stapleford, Monsieur Thujone, Owen Timoney, Nick Troy, Koofreh Umoren, Marina Vishnyakova, Randi Warhol, and Kim Zelnicker (a.k.a. Svedka von Schotz).
History
Peter Gaffney and Anna Frangiosa created Cabaret Red Light in 2008 in order to challenge the common perception that burlesque is not serious theater, and that politically engaged theater, on the other hand, is serious to a fault. Their influences include Anita BerberAnita Berber
Anita Berber was a German dancer, actress, writer, and prostitute who was the subject of an Otto Dix painting. She lived during the Weimar period.-Early life:...
, NSK (the Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst
Neue Slowenische Kunst , aka NSK, is a controversial political art collective that announced itself in Slovenia in 1984, when Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia. NSK's name, being German, is compatible with a theme in NSK works: the complicated relationship Slovenes have had with Germans...
political art collective), Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens
Georges Brassens , 22 October 1921 – 29 October 1981), was a French singer-songwriter and poet.Brassens was born in Sète, a town in southern France near Montpellier...
, Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Bulat Okudzawa, Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
, Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
and Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich
Wilhelm Reich was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry...
, as well as more contemporary artists and performance groups such as Julie Atlas Muz, Les Yeux Noirs
Les Yeux Noirs
Les Yeux Noirs is the name of a French band combining elements of jazz manouche and other Romani music, Yiddish and Klezmer music. The group was founded by two brothers, Eric and Olivier Slabiak, who both play violin...
, Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
, Bread and Puppet Theater
Bread and Puppet Theater
The Bread and Puppet Theater is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, currently based in Glover, Vermont...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, the Yes Men and The Yard Dogs Road Show.
Beginning in November, 2009, Plays and Players Theatre
Plays and Players Theatre
Plays and Players Theater, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is one of the oldest nonprofessional theater companies in the United States, founded in 1911. The theater building was designed and constructed in 1912 by Philadelphia architect Amos W. Barnes as a dramatic school, but soon was used as a...
began presenting Cabaret Red Light's series, "The Seven Deadly Sins!" These elaborately staged productions have included such things as an army of showgirl
Showgirl
A showgirl is a dancer or performer in a stage entertainment show. Showgirl is also often used as a term for a promotional model in trade fairs and car shows, etc...
s armed with feathers and weapon props, and a 20 foot octopus puppet.
External links
- Marty Moss Coane of WHYY's Radio Times interviews the co-founders and directors of Cabaret Red Light on their new production of NUTCRACKER
- New York Times article on Cabaret Red Light's The Seven Deadly Seas aboard the Tall Ship Gazela
- "Cabaret Red Light stages burlesque NUTCRACKER at the Painted Bride in Philadelphia" by Molly Eichel of Philadelphia Daily News
- Article on Cabaret Red Light's series The Experiment in Philadelphia City Paper
- Article on Cabaret Red Light's series The Seven Deadly Sins in Philadelphia City Paper
- Article on Anna Frangiosa in Philadelphia City Paper
- CBS News on Annie A-Bomb's Burlesque class with Cabaret Red Light footage