Who are the Burlesque Moms?

From the Lips of Miss Sadie Vine:

Cabaret & Cocktails is funny. We are 4 friends who all love burlesque/cabaret and cocktails (hence the name). We create numbers together for our group, but also work together to flesh out our solo acts too. Our dynamic is great and we collaborate really well as a team. I want to share that with the world. We already share the outcome of that collaboration, but I think people would enjoy seeing the process as well. Plus, we have some really funny stories of how that process works, and how often times it involves our kids, families and sometimes pets.

Of the four of us, I think I’m the most grounding, the most realistic when it comes to the creative process. I take everyone else’s crazy ideas and reign them in and figure out how to make them happen in the real world with a real timeline. That’s not to say I don’t have my own great creative moments, but I think what I bring to the group is the ability to take the crazy ideas and figure out how to make a coherent number out of them. I do tend to quash some dreams along the way though, lol.

With this podcast I hope we can share some of the fun we have behind the scenes of Burlesque performance and production, and just some of the crazy things we have going on in our lives.

From the Lips of Miss F-Bomb:

Cabaret & Cocktails is family. The 4 of us are like chosen sisters. We all have each other’s backs. We all disagree, argue, and fight. We all are there for each other through life’s drama and chaos. Each one of us has a very specialized series of talents that lends themselves to further our group as a whole. We really are a bunch of bad-ass ladies!

Life brought us all together mostly through dance. Lily and Sadie were pretty much neighbors and grew up dancing together. I met Sadie through dance, and then Lily through performing with another Cabaret troupe. Sadie and I discovered Bourbon while taking our very first pole dance class. It is almost like the universe hurled us all into each other’s lives. I could not imagine my life without this incredible group of women.

I love having this awesome formed family! We eat and drink together… a lot. Someone is always available to run an errand or step in to babysit in a pinch. We watch out for each other. Then, we get together for shenanigans. There is drinking, and choreography, rhinestones, props, music, laughter (lots of laughter), and tons of glitter and fun.

Cabaret & Cocktails has provided us all with an awesome outlet for our talents and creativity.

From the Lips of Miss Lily O’Lei:

At our weekly dinner, wine, and Cabaret & Cocktail rehearsal, we talk about everything. From Pastie removals to diaper changes, managing promotions and how to make a cocktail with a chicken in your lap. As moms, performers, chicken caretakers, entrepreneurs and fabulous friends, we laugh, bedazzle and wrangle kids as we share our stories over a glass of wine… or two…

Being able to express my creativity without being afraid is a gift that Cabaret & Cocktails has given me that I cherish. No matter how silly, strange or out of the box, these lovely ladies are there to give it a go and refine it with their own individual style. It’s what I enjoy most about being a burlesque performer, the creative process from the idea to the stage. The cherry on top is the support and friendships that have grown stronger over the years and performances. As I enter a new decade in my life, fabulous 40, I am so excited to see where our rhinestoned adventures on and off stage will take us.

From the Lips of Miss Bourbon Layne:

I was basically tricked into this whole thing. There I was, minding my own business as a pole and aerial instructor when in walks Miss Sadie Vine and Miss F-Bomb to one of my intro classes. I could instantly tell these two were incredible dancers…and two weeks later I was hanging out at Miss F-Bomb’s wedding! Who invites someone to their wedding after only two weeks?! Well, apparently, she knew something I didn’t.

It was shortly after that I was lured to a Burlesque rehearsal, enticed, no doubt, by libations; and it was there that the ladies asked me a very strange favor—would I take my clothes off for Lily? I don’t know exactly how they asked (insert third or fourth glass of wine—Lily is a heavy pourer), but it sounded like that in my head. But it’s not what you think. Cabaret and Cocktails had a few performances scheduled on Oahu, Hawaii and Lily couldn’t make one because she had an obligation with one of her sons. They needed a stand-in and they had decided it was me (there really was no reasoning with Miss F Bomb). After teaching me this incredible, ridiculous (how many freaking high kicks does this number have?!) routine, we were off to Oahu.

I thought that one night was the end of it…but five years later, I couldn’t imagine not knowing these ladies. They helped me leave my house (harder for me than you might think). They talked me through multiple business woes. They celebrated with me when I got engaged…and drank with me when I called it off. They helped me raise my kid (now THERE’s a story!), and they helped me be a better friend and person. That’s what I want to share with this podcast—the incredible people Burlesque has brought me and all that it has taught me.

Have a question? Want to talk? Feel free to leave a message in the comments below!