“We’re setting up our own Oktoberfest beer hall in a beautiful big room in the Town Hall. There will be a pop-up bar, German sausages, pretzels, roving beer maids plus the spectacular Oktoberfest Burlesque show”, says Cherry.
Previewing in a smaller show at the Burlesque Bar, Oktoberfest Burlesque promises to be both uproarious and polished. Cherry explains “it’s really an event with atmosphere. There is comedy, singing, German food and beer, broken up into segments with energetic entertainment as well as burlesque performance. It’s good fun and very entertaining, different from the classical elegant type of burlesque. This is more bawdy and fun.”
Cherry and her partner Dominic (who manages the tech side of things) handpicked performers they wanted for Oktoberfest Burlesque. “People who are consummate professionals yet with an energetic edge,” she says. The line-up includes ‘larger than life’ chanteuse and funny lady, Geraldine Quinn, and international circus performer, Anna Pocket Rocket Lumb, who will be hula hooping and roller skating. Also involved are cabaret misfit Dirk Hoult hosting the show (“he’s full of energy”), burlesque comedienne Honey B Goode, flaming temptress Vesper White (who does intense things with fire, according to Poppy), reigning Miss Burlesque Victoria Becky Lou, and of course, ‘burlesque strumpet’ herself Cherry as Frida Bompalot. Cherry says her Frida is “a really different character, an over-the-top cheerleader type who leads the drinking songs. She does a shoe slapping dance, which traditionally is a male dance but she wants to have a go. I picked the craziest German sounding song I could find – a high intensity yodelling song!”
She’s been doing burlesque as a solo performer for four years now. How did Poppy Cherry get into burlesque dancing to begin with? “I used to see aSydneyperformer called Imogen Kelly. I became her sort of groupie. I thought ‘I want to be like her.’ She’s an incredibly talented woman. There have been two instances in row where I have performed with her. I come from more of a comedy and acting background not a dance background so I call myself a ‘burlesque performer’ rather than a ‘burlesque dancer’. Mine is a character based performance.” Cherry used to perform burlesque full time but found the pressure of having to make a living out of it was killing the enjoyment of it for her. “I got into this because I enjoyed it,” she explains. “Sometimes it’s something you want to prove, that you can make a living out of it but if I take the financial stress out of it, it’s now just about the quality of what I do and the enjoyment of it.” Other projects for her involve presenting themed film events with her partner based around Italian noir films of the 60s and 70s. No doubt she’ll find a way to include elements of burlesque in those, too.
Pulling the whole Oktoberfest Burlesque show together is hard work says Cherry, but that’s the case with any show. Cherry, fresh from performing in and stage managing the 2013 Australian Burlesque Festival national tour says doing the marketing and promotion is hard. “But that’s a boring answer.” Along with producing she is also stage managing Oktoberfest Burlesque. “Dealing with my nerves leading up to an event is hard. The cast are all wonderful people to work with. It’s all looking really exciting. Everyone who comes along has an awesome time. It’s about more than just the show. The entertainment begins from the moment you walk in the door.”
BY LIZA DEZFOULI
