By Alisha Proffitt Photos by Matt Johnson
Va Va FeVer, the 42nd production by Va Va Vixens will be heating up Art Sanctuary this February. Va Va FeVer is one of three uniquely themed large-scale shows they bring to the stage annually in February, June, and October. The team at the VOICE-TRIBUNE was lucky enough to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what to expect this year, as well as a look at everything it takes to put together the fabulously unique variety show that has captured the hearts of Louisvillian’s for 16 years.
True to its name, Art Sanctuary is a 501(c)3 non-profit community-oriented arts collective supporting local visual, literary and performing arts now celebrating its 20th year of uplifting artists, including Va Va Vixens, which was birthed out of Art Sanctuary in 2009. “Va Va Vixens evolved after a group of women approached me about renting Art Sanctuary for a burlesque event.” says Lisa Frye, Co-Founder of Art Sanctuary, “I thought it would be just the most amount of fun possible on the planet.”
Lisa now produces the show and manages the massive crew that makes the magic happen. “We all love it so much and we all have contributed and created to this incredible creative group together,” says Lisa. “For the people involved, this has been life changing. This collaboration that we have has helped us find ourselves, in a way. It has empowered our sexuality, our creative energy and certainly strengthened us as people. I know that it has changed so many lives. So, that’s what I’m in it for. It’s just an amazing creative experience.”
This sentiment quickly became a theme as I spoke with the performers and crew, many of whom were inspired to join the team after experiencing a show from the audience. “I was invited to a burlesque show; it was the Va Va Vixens. And I went and I was like, holy moly, like these women are so confident in what they’re doing and they all have this energy about them that just radiates goddess energy and I was like, I need this.” says aerialist and choreographer Queerella, who has been with the Vixens now for over 10 years, “So I just started volunteering because I just wanted to be around it but in doing that I couldn’t step away. I just kept trying to weasel my little way in. Yeah, this group is radiant and confident, and it is kind of contagious.”
It’s easy to understand how so many fans of the Vixens are able to see a little bit of themselves in the show. In the true spirit of a variety show, Va Va Vixens offers a lot of just that, variety. “We’re a diverse group of people. We have 18-year-olds, 70-and-80-year-olds, all shapes and sizes, and it’s just freaking cool.” says Queerella, “In a space like this where you see literally all kinds of people, colors, shapes, sizes, with different quirks and different interests, it really does leave it open for an environment where everything is welcome, and everything is celebrated. Our audience members come in sometimes wearing burlesque clothes themselves. They look like they could be on stage. So, it’s just really cool to see how we bring such an interest.”
The performances themselves are just as diverse. At a Va Va Vixens show you can expect to see a little bit of everything– song, dance, comedy, camp, and everything in between. “There are lots of surprises. The costumes are phenomenal. We have a lot of things that we haven’t even tried before that we’re trying this time, so we’re just really excited about it.” says Lisa.
“Our biggest costumer is Carrie. Her name’s Lola Dee Licious.” shared Beatrix B Naughty, who has been with the Vixens since the beginning and was in their very first show as a bunny. “Her and her mom, they own Good Girl Corsets, and they make corsets. They make full-length costumes. They’ve made a possum costume, which is amazing. A chocolate croissant. Artists from around will hire them to make insane costumes and they will make it. They can make anything. They’re amazing.”
“It’s a variety show, right? It’s not only striptease, it’s not only dancing, it’s not only people flying through the sky. It’s got a whole slew of things,” says Venus Pearle, performer with the Vixens for 11 years and owner of Pearle School of Burlesque, “What I really love is the fact that normally, most of us would not have ever met or even considered being friends because we’re all in different little subgenres of communities around. You bring together a bunch of very different individuals that put on a show together so that the show usually represents that same variety too. So, there’s so many different things that happen, different styles and there’s always something for somebody because we are all so different ourselves.”
The common denominator seems to be a love of self-expression and a passion for entertaining. “I grew up dancing pretty much all of my life, I’m a classically trained ballet dancer.” says Salem VytchTryells, “When you hear the audience going up it just, it’s caffeine right into the freaking veins like every time for me.” The symbiotic relationship between performer and audience brings with it a magical element that can turn even the shyest of folks into full blown extroverts. “Coming from somebody who’s an extreme introvert– It’s amazing to see. There’re a couple of us here who are actually very much like such little introverts, and then you would never guess that once we’re on stage.” she explains.
“It’s fun. I never thought that I would get up on the stage and strip down to one piece and pasties in front of my parents. You know what I mean? Like cross that off the bucket list. But I did it and it’s like, oh, I survived to tell you about it. None of us were mortified.” laughed Kara Luanne, who got her start with the Vixens as a guest performer and quickly fell in love with the group. “Like I said, it’s a very empowering thing to do where it’s like, this is my body and if you feel uncomfortable with it, then that’s your problem, not mine.”
There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes to put together a Va Va Vixens show, and Stage Manager Kat and her stage crew Cynthia and Lacy have been hard at work making sure everything is safe and ready to go for the upcoming Va Va Fever performances. “My assistant stage manager is also me and I call them Safety Kat.” Kat joked, “I went from door and security and front of house manager and now stage manager. And then I got all of the safety certifications that I needed to make sure these kids are safe. We have all the same worries of a major musical production and a circus simultaneously and I’ve got to make sure that we can take care of you know, these kids are premier athletes is what they are.”
“Unlike other stage crews that just do theater, we get to look cute when we do it. We get to dress up with the theme and play around and have fun with everybody” says Cynthia.
“I came to my first show and just like fell in love with how safe of a space it felt and like how you can see how much fun they are having. and I just remember walking away thinking I want to be a part of that” shared Lacee. This team’s work ensures that the show is not only a safe place emotionally, but physically as well, and there is a long checklist of tasks that need to be accomplished in order to do so.
Everyone on the stage crew is neurodivergent, this is their superpower. Together they work as a well-oiled machine to take the creative visions of the performers and set the stage for those visions to come to life. “I love it when they bring the impossible things and then we work together, and we make the impossible happen and it just blows people’s minds every time. They ramp it up, every show is better than the last, every show has more impossible things than the last and I love that. I have the best stage crew. When I can’t do the impossible, they do it for me.” says Kat.
So, what can you expect at the upcoming show? “Expect everything. Expect to be excited. Expect to be dazzled. Expect to maybe be a little uncomfortable at times. Expect to lose your voice because you might hoot and holler. Expect to see a little bit of everything.” says Queerella,”“I feel like the Vixens are a really wonderful way to find the window to get back into yourself, if that makes any sense. It opens doors that you didn’t know were closed.”
What you’re guaranteed to get is something beautiful, and unapologetically human.
