If you’re one of us who loves cabaret and lean towards the macabre, you could do far worse than spending your Halloween weekend/Dia De Los Muertos at Columbia City Theater for the Dark Cabaret.
Put on by the fine people at Morbid Curiositease, the Saturday night event has an evening of burlesque, belly dancing, sword swallowing, conjoined twins, tarot card reading, and a lot more. It includes burlesque star Cherry Manhattan, pole dancer Holly Bordeaux, music from the Particular Pretzelmen, and more. It was curated by La Petite Mort (who also performs as a hoochie coochie girl).
Wanting to learn more about this near-sold out celebration of the macabre, I e-mailed some questions to Miss La Petite Mort.
How would you describe the Dark Cabaret to someone who hasn’t seen it before or isn’t familiar with your work?
The Dark Cabaret takes a lot of the classic elements from Vaudeville and gives them new life, but all with a more macabre feel. A lot of shows get stuck on one type of performance, such as burlesque or belly dance. The Dark Cabarets have a very diverse variety. They usually have some sideshow, burlesque, circus arts, always live music, aerial and fire if possible. Each year it has a new theme. There’s been Voodoo, Love, Grimm tales and this year it’s Circus.
What are your favorite things about putting on the show? Do you have any particularly favorite pieces in the Dark Cabaret?
I love curating all the acts and throwing folks together you wouldn’t normally expect. Last year Shanghai Pearl did a dark act that included a very visceral aesthetic. That’s not what most folks would expect. I give performers of all talents and levels a chance. I don’t think I can pick a favorite other than The Peculiar Pretzelmen. It’s my husband’s band from LA. I catch them as they go through each year on tour. This will be their third year doing the show. Dark Cabaret is a genre of music. I discovered them while looking for intermission music for the show so it’s a really perfect fit.
What goes into creating each Dark Cabaret event?
I’m constantly scouting new talent or acts from performers I have worked with. It’s a never ending cycle, but I do start planning about 6 months out. I love Columbia City Theater. I’ve been at about 4 different venues and it’s our home now. It took years to find the perfect spot. A few month out I make offers to performers, and then start the full blown marketing campaign. Then comes the script. Each one has a varied level of scripting and this one in particular is pretty heavy. Each show must have a through line and all come together. Otherwise it gets monotonous. I wanted a show I would be excited to see. Not many exist so I made one. I also am a big proponent of fair pay. I usually pay the bands and performers more than their minimum. Art isn’t valued or compensated properly and I’d like to help change that.
How do you keep each event original, so that they are different from each event you put on?
Each show has a different theme and a through line. There’s a story to it. The performers are almost always different and their talents are many. I try to create a time and place and just let the show happen. Wind it up and let them go. The show becomes it’s own beast in the best way possible.
What do you have coming up after the event this weekend?
October is my busiest month as a performer. I’ll be taking some time to recoup and then planning the next couple of productions. On 12/20 at Columbia City Theater we are putting on a rawkus style Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s relying heavily on our Mardi Gras format. It’s all standing room, the band will play the songs live and various performers will pop up as characters from the movie.
Then on Mardi Gras 2/17 The Peculiar Pretzelmen Big Band are doing the most proper NOLA style party in Seattle. It’s a massive 9-13 piece band and a bunch of performers. There’s even dancers from New Orleans flying in. It’s all live music and burlesque. This will be our third year. People actually dance all night which is a rarity for Seattle.