Burlesque Legend Miss Topsy!

-

Above: Miss Topsy. 
Image from the Collection of Burlesque Hall of Fame Board Member Neil Nez Kendall

A message from Nez! His text follows:

BREAKING BURLESQUE LEGEND NEWS
I have amazing news!!
Since last June I have been on and off chatting to 1950's Burlesque Star Miss Topsy thanks to some amazing people in the US community who got me in touch with her.
She is a huge and significant part of Burlesque history so with that in mind.
I AM GOING TO DO A LAST MINUTE FUND RAISING BID TO COVER HER AIR FARE TO GET HER TO BURLESQUE HALL OF FAME THIS JUNE!! I am already running a half marathon and have set up a Just Giving Page in the body of this post !
Topsy has never been to Vegas and hasn't been aware of our work at Burlesque Hall so its time to redress that balance!!
I have just come off the phone to Topsy and got a yes to a visit in June !!
... its taken weeks to convince her to come and this is coming months after Sweetpea put me on a detective trail to find her last summer.
I am going to pay for her plane tickets myself and set up a just giving page so we can cover her hotel and ground transport costs. Gin Minsky has copied all the 10 x 8 I have of her so she can sell those and make some cash at the weekender.
We just spent one hour recording her story over the phone.Topsy had quite the career working in France, London, the Far East and throughout Europe. She was a major star in the business and worked from the late 1950s into the 1970s
Here is what she had to say
'Wow,wow, wow!! I want thank you all for bringing burlesque back ... that is amazing.I would love to come to Las Vegas but I haven't been on a plane since 9\11.I would love to come to Vegas and I can't believe anyone would remember me!'
She is full of life and hilarious!! Perle Noire Tawnya Konobeck Dirty Martini and Livia Alour I am going to need your help on this but we have a green light for go !!
Whilst Miss Topsy is calling her granddaughter so she can travel with someone I am going to set up a page to raise funds to cover her costs over the weekend. So please watch out for the link
For a living POC legend from the 1950s to be rediscovered is truly remarkable and the fact that I have persuaded her to come is even more amazing!!
I can sell the following 10 x8 s taken by Maurice Seymour to cover the costs of her hotel fees and to start have three high quality poses below for £12 each. Plus she will be vending part of the weekender and signing the prints from these collections which Gin Minsky has made high res copies of !!!
PLEASE GIVE THIS A SHARE !!! Let's make this happen !! Don't forget to donate to the Just Giving Page.
So, in a nutshell, I will cover her plane ticket the Just Giving Page plus all sales of her pictures I hope will cover her granddaughters plane ticket and ground transport! I hope that makes sense.
END Neil's message. Follow him here.

Dustin Wax, Executive Director at BHoF, says, " If Miss Topsy wants to come to the Weekender, we can cover her airfare and hotel (2 days on her own or all 4 if she'll room up with another Legend). Plus pass and vending space so she can sell photos."

Support Miss Topsy coming to Vegas at:

If you don't know about the Burlesque Hall of Fame, learn more here:

I'll soon be posting an article about what it means to me!
--Jo Weldon

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Girls in Giant Champagne Glasses

-
Image
Today I received this question from a reader: "[I] was wondering if you might know where one could purchase an oversized champagne glass, like the one dita von tease or catherine d'lish uses????" Venus Delight in her Giant Champagne Glass circa 1989-1994. Photo Property of Venus Delight. Catherine D'Lish in her champagne glass at Tease-o-rama 2002. Photo Copyright Jo Weldon. Honestly, I probably can't afford a giant champagne glass, and if I could afford it, I probably couldn't afford to store or transport it, and even if I could, I couldn't afford stage hands to get it onto the tiny stages I usually occupy. It just so happens, however, that I do know how to purchase one. What I know is that you have to have one made, unless you can find one used, as they are not mass-produced. If you want to have one made, you first have to locate a prop maker or custom acrylic fabricator. The same prop makers who make props for movies, theater, and events a
Read more

How to Get Started as a Performer in Burlesque

-
Image
Above: Jo Weldon performing at The Burlesque Hall of Fame. Photo by Tigz Rice. Many students come to my classes with the intention to perform professionally. Not all who want to perform want to become fulltime performers, but they'd like to get onstage now and then. I work in the field of what I call "Independent Burlesque," where most performers are creating individual acts that then get booked into variety or burlesque shows. People also sometimes hear about a theme for a show and then create an act based on that theme, or start producing a show for which they then create acts. There are as many different approaches as there are people to come up with them. However, for this article, let's focus on what most of my students are asking me about, which is how to get booked as a solo performer in a burlesque show that already exists. I'll also be focusing mostly on how things work in New York. Traveling to work is a separate topic, but I'll have an article
Read more

Tami Roche

-
Image
Image courtesy of Skinnergy . When I was growing up in Atlanta, I saw the strip joint signs and old burlesque signs; I was also aware of Atlanta's burlesque star, Tami Roche. Because I started working the clubs in 1980, there were still some dancers who had done burlesque in the 50s and 60s around, some of them still dancing but most of them not interested in the full nude table dance format (and sometimes not so nice about us doing it), still working in the clubs as costumers or managers, wearing fabulous hair and nails and giving us great advice about showmanship and terrible advice about how to make money. I didn't get to meet Tami Roche but her name came up frequently as one of the last great tassel-twirlers. She appeared in Russ Meyer's Beneath the Valley of the Ultra Vixens with Kitten Natividad (one of the most lovable and darling people ever born) And she appeared in Ann Corio's revival of This Was Burlesque in 1981. Available on VHS as "Here It
Read more