A Sweet Letter from an Eyewitness!

 Woke up this morning to this lovely letter in my-inbox from a nice gentleman and "old school Hawaii burlesque eyewitness" R.L. It made my morning to know that someone out there actually googled the words "Beretania Follies" because of fond memories, and took the time to get in touch to share their memories! Hopefully I can convince him to share a bit more later on his memories of the show, Chinatown and Honolulu in the 60s!

Mahalo for sharing R.L!!!! <3 <3 <3

"Just wanted to send you a little message, concerning The Beretania Follies.

I was stationed at Pearl Harbor, from 1961 to 1964. As most other servicemen there, I visited the Beretania Follies. 

Today, I had a flash back of my days in Hawaii and Googled Beretania Follies. I came across your little article and I want to wish you the best of luck, on your research.

I am sorry that I have no pictures or other information  to send you.

I ,again, wish you the best of luck , on your research.  You have made my day a little happier, thanks!"

-R.L. III

Here's a brief write up on Hawaii burlesque talking about the Beretania Follies by the Hawaiian Historical Society:
http://www.hawaiianhistory.org/time-capsules/daily-life/burlesque/#.UXAsUEruySo

Here's a link to a photo showing the Beretania Follies!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vic-and-becky/5599559756/


Aloha & have a wonderful day!

V

The Official 2013 Hawaii Burlesque Festival & Revue Logo and Poster are HERE!

I am literally thrilled to be able to share this amazing (and amazingly cute) design by Claudette Barjoud of Fluff! Claudette is one of my favorite artists in the world and I'm so happy and honored to have had a chance to work with an icon in both art and fluffiness!

I commissioned this design for the Second Annual Hawaii Burlesque Festival & Revue, as I wanted to be able to really captivate peoples imaginations both locally and not, I thought that Claudette's artistic vision wold be perfect to personify the fun, teasing nature of the event and the art form and boy, was I RIGHT!

Check out more of Claudette's beautiful art as well as her line of accesories & clothing called "Fluff" at" 

www.fluffshop.com 

Stay tuned for more info on where to get prints, stickers, t-shirts and the like of this AWESOME design, for sale via the Hawaii Burlesque Festival & Revue website at: www.hawaiiburlesquefestival.com SOON!

Also check the website and the HBF Facebook page for more info on the event, tickets, performers and MORE! 

Hawaii Burlesque History

I've been thinking alot about long-term projects and I'm fascinated with researching & cataloging Hawaii's burlesque & stage show history. 

I've been a "research associate" in the working world and I LOVE history, especially Hawaii history, so this seems like a perfect nerdy fit for me! 

Part of my research included trying to find performers/musicians/promoters/whoever, who were around in the golden days of burlesque in Hawaii, and while I cant share it all here, there are some very interesting stories! 

I was able to meet with Mr. Jack Cione, who is a nightclub legend in Honolulu. He was responsible for populating our island stages with buxom women from far flung places and was a popular, beloved and controversial figure. We spent several hours together talking about the old days of Hawaii stage shows and burlesque and I definitely came away feeling as if I'd been charmed by a true Showman. I'm looking forward to working with him on several projects to try to preserve our local burlesque heritage!

Here's some info on Jack:

http://www.midweek.com/jack-cione/

http://youtu.be/IA3T5L6h_x0

I learned so many amazing details from Jack! For instance, did you know that Hawaii was a "spoke" on the wheel of travel for Burlesque performers in the 50's and 60's? Some of the famous names that performed and vacationed here:

-Lili St. Cyr

-Blaze Starr

-Mae West

There were MANY MORE! I'm looking for them and anyone with stories, material or experience that relates to this topic. If you know anyone please feel free to email me at violettaberetta@gmail.com

I'm stoked to be able to share this VERY OLD photo from the collection of Jack Cione, of a 1950's burlesque show, at the infamous club "Forbidden City" in Honolulu.

Here's a pic of me and Jack!

Stay tuned for more Hawaii Burlesque History! XOXO V

"There's a girl who dances down in Chinatown.."

Hiya!

Barring a more concise introduction, this blog is pretty self explanatory. I'm hell bent on documenting the burlesque blitz blasting it's way through the new bohemian frontier that is Honolulu's Historic Chinatown.

As a burly girlie who's been working the nightlife in Downtown for years my qualifications are many and my passions are glitter, glamor and the art of the tease in Paradise! 

Recently the a historic fixture of Chinatown, Club Hubba Hubba was re-modeled, fought a sign variance battle and had a grand re-opening (just the space, not the club.) I'll post more extensive information on all of that but for now here's a few photos of the night! It was AMAZING! Not only did it give me chicken skin to be sharing the stage with the ghosts of those long-ago glamor girls but getting to meet a few of the former burlesque dancers and listen to their stories was truly an honor.