Jo Weldon's New York School of Burlesque

Hey folks! A lot of my students are asking about stage kitten duties. I'm creating a handout, and one of our former students will be conducting a workshop. I'd appreciate your thoughts on what I've written. Most of the shows I produce are workshop showcases, so I've gotten input from regular producers and kittens who work for them. Ray Ray Sunshine kittening after my Godzilla act at Michelle L'Amour's Speakeasy in Chicago. FOR THE KITTENS It’s crucial to understand first of all that each producer will have their own guidelines, some of which may be different than these. However, these will let you know some of the things stage kittens need to think about, with the questions they most frequently ask. Q: What is a stage kitten? A: A stage kitten is the person who picks up the costume pieces and props after a burlesque number. They get lots of stage time! When you're kittening, be sure to watch the performers undress to help you know what to ...

True Confessions of a Pick-Up Artist! Beginning burlesque performer Fleur de Lis talks about what it takes to help burlesque performers keep track of their unmentionables. What does a pickup artist/stage kitten do? It's pretty simple. You basically show up looking cute and help out the producer, emcee, and dancers. You introduce yourself to each dancer and find out if they have any special needs for their act such as props that need to be set or special pieces to look for. After they come off the stage you pick up all of their costume elements from the stage. You may have some time to interact with the emcee but mostly you just want to make sure that the dancers don't have anything to worry about except what they do on stage. It's not a difficult job but an important one and if you do it right they will call you back. How did you come to be a pickup artist? I came to NYC a year ago this week from New Orleans. I had lost a whole lot in the storm and spent a yea...