Jezebel: cabaret

R.I.P. Blossom Dearie

Sadie — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 12:20:00 EST

Blossom Dearie, the cult cabaret singer famous for her girlish voice and gamine appearance, has died at 82. Hear her after the jump!

Video via Youtube
Blossom Dearie, Cult Chanteuse, Dies at 82 [New York Times]

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World

Sadie — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST

Have you heard about the "Mad Men Revue?" And yes, it's about as odd as it sounds: a cabaret act featuring early 60's music performed by supporting cast from the cult AMC drama. So far, it's only played L.A., but Lionsgate is working on a plan to book more dates in Vegas, New York and maybe overseas. The original act featured Bryan Batt, Robert Morse (the original How To Succeed in Business... star, after all!), Colin Hanks, Patrick Fischler and Maggie Siff doing numbers "that ranged from early Dylan to pop and jazz standards," conducted by Mad Men's composer. Word is, more of the cast is interested in joining up: we're obviously crossing our fingers for Joan channeling Peggy Lee. [Variety]

Dallas Club With 12-Year-Old Stripper Will Pay No Price

Jessica — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EDT

There's the old saying that fifteen can get you twenty, but in Dallas, Texas, it seems that twelve will get you no punishment whatsoever. Diamonds Cabaret, a Dallas-area strip club, is keeping its license even after it was discovered that the business employed a 12-year-old stripper for two weeks last year. According to Newsweek, the sixth grade runaway had no place to go, so she shacked up with David Bell, 22, and Diamond dancer Demonica Abron, 28. At first, Bell tried to fashion the tween into a prostitute, but she refused. So he took her to the Diamond Cabaret, a place described by Newsweek as located "in a dilapidated office park next to a business that rents hot tubs by the hour."

Newsweek continues: "...the girl lasted about a week and a half in November, working the stage amid flashing multicolored strobe lights and a pounding hip-hop soundtrack laced with obscene lyrics. She made as little as $100 a night, she told the authorities, and gave all her profits after paying the club fee to Bell and Abron, her 'caretakers.'"

David Bell, gentleman that he is, allegedly made the girl perform oral sex on him repeatedly; she eventually escaped while he was sleeping. Though Bell is now in jail (Abron is currently out on bail), the case has caused an uproar around Dallas, because officials have no legal means to punish the Diamond Cabaret. "City ordinances do not set a minimum age for dancers in adult cabarets," reports Newsweek, adding that adult cabarets "are subject to fewer restrictions than escort services, which are also regulated by the city." Essentially, here's no way to even suspend the club's license for a modicum of time although lawmakers are attempting to pass ordinances so that there are some repercussions for gentleman's clubs breaking the law.

Lost Girl [Newsweek]

Tory Burch Is So Over Lance Armstrong

Jennifer — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 12:00:05 EST

DesignerTory Burch is on the prowl! And just a few seconds shy of her ex Lance Armstrong. And we've got to hand it to the slinger of overpriced Upper East garb; she's dating both studio head Brad Grey and producer (and Katie Couric ex) Tom Werner. And all of them combined can't match the net worth of Lance's rebound, Ashley Olsen. Who, let us not forget, also designs clothing... and could be Tory Burch's daughter. Snap! [NY Post]
Oh God: Tom Ford reportedly wants to direct an adaptation of Christopher Isherwood's novel As Single Man, which tells the story of a day in the life of a Hollywood gay. In other words, Tom Ford wants to make his directorial debut making a movie about Tom Ford. [WWD, 1st item]
"The celebrity endorsement of pregnancy has made it a glamorous phenomenon." That's Fee Craig of the British maternity apparel website mama-la-mode.com. (Funny word to describe the act of perpetuating human existence, you know? "Endorsement"? Kinda dystopian even? And yet I'm pretty sure she said it without irony!) [WWD, sub req'd]
Kimora Lee Simmons and Macy's are fighting; they're saying they overpaid for a shipment of her line of beauty products and she's saying "no backsies." [NYP]

Caviar in a Yves Saint Laurent tin? Useful, right? And yours for only $556. [WWD, 3rd item]
Karl Lagerfeld guest-edited France's Connaissance des Arts magazine. And then put himself on the cover. [WWD, 1st item]
The British Fashion Awards are tonight. If Anya "I Am A Talentless Hack" Hindmarch wins for Designer of the Year, we will cry. [Vogue UK]
So many Lanvin boutqiues, so little time. The fashion house will be opening 12 more shops in the next 12 months, with more stores already being planned for the next two years. This impacts us not at all. [Vogue UK]
Donatella Versace made her first-ever "official" visit to Russia this weekend. Haven't the Russians been through enough??? [Fashion Week Daily]
Maternity wear designer to the stars Liz Lange is pulling a Rachel Zoe/Victoria Beckham and is writing a pregnant woman's style tome. Really, what more do pregnant women need to know other than, "BTW, your body is going to totally change" and "If you think this sucks, wait till your entire wardrobe is caked in vomit"? [NY Post]

Slate.com's Troy Patterson has offered up...

Jennifer — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 13:45:00 EST

Slate.com's Troy Patterson has offered up the following philosophical gems based on the Project Runway Season 4 "fashion show" yesterday: "Can these competing designers be said to share an aesthetic? Who is the Project Runway woman? On the basis of the most striking outfits sent out, she's got a lot of Holly Golightly and Sally Bowles to her, and has a thing for metallics." Whoah. This is even more exciting than we could have imagined! We have already begun praying that this means there is going to be a little impromptu staging of Cabaret in the workroom. With Tim Gunn as the emcee, naturally. And we're thinking it would be fierce if Nina Garcia and Michael Kors were dueling Sallys! We can totally see Nina tearing up "Don't Tell Mama" and Kors crying his way through "Maybe This Time." [Slate.com]

For his Spring / Summer 2008 Menswear collection...

Jennifer — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 18:51:34 EDT

For his Spring / Summer 2008 Menswear collection Valentino showed...topless women? In a move that sounds straight out of Kander and Ebb's 'Cabaret', the Italian designer (who still insists he's not retiring) had topless dancers bedecked in glittering red thongs and red and black feathered wigs shimmying away while he showed his suiting. Well, that's one way to make men more interested in fashion... [Reuters]