In it’s 3rd year of “pepperminttasticness” Ricki Derek’s A Merry Little Christmas Show returns to the historic Lakewood Theater in Dallas on Saturday, December 17^th at 9:00 pm for one night. This show is designed to make you forget the stress of the holidays, get your feet tappin’, and your face smiling. It’s a tip of the hat to the great holiday TV specials the Sinatra, Bing, and Dino used to do. So come with bells on and Ring-A-Ding,Ding. This year’s Dallas show sponsored by Sfuzzi!

If having a swingin’ Christmas Show at the historic Lakewood Theater wasn’t enough, hows about….Ricki Derek and his Orchestra joined by special guests Melissa McMillan, Clate Bowen, Matt Tolentino, Louie The Elf (via satellite from the North Pole), The Velvet Kittens, and old St. Nick himself. Don’t miss it. Tickets on sale right now through the Lakewood Theater.

For more information about Ricki Derek’s A Merry Little Christmas Show, visit here.

We would also like to give a special thanks to Hyena’s Comedy Night Club and their employees for sponsoring Candyland! and accommodating us for this event, as well as our additional sponsors supplying lights and sound system and creating a extraordinary stage experience for our performers, and OMGHairstyles.

Thank you all for the generous toy donations for the Brandon Bass Reach Back Foundation.  See you at Candyland! A Night of Sweets! next year!

Happy Holidays!

The Goldsat National Nutcracker Award (aka the “Nutty”) is an annual contest of Nutcracker productions in the nation.  Each nominated Nutcracker is chosen “for being one of the most beloved Nutcrackers in the country.”

The “Burlesque Nutcracker” is written by Mark-Brian Sonna, and choreographed by the Velvet Kittens’ very own artistic director/choreographer Jana Edele and Mark-Brian Sonna of MBS Productions, and features it’s own Velvet Kittens cast!

To learn more about the annual “Burlesque Nutcracker” show and to reserve tickets, please visit here.

Visit the Velvet Kittens Sponsors:

When:  Sunday, December 11, 2011

Where: Hyena’s Comedy Night Club in Downtown Fort Worth (605 Houston Street, Fort Worth, TX 76102)

Time:  Doors open at 6:30 pm; Showtime is 7:00 pm

Admission:  One unwrapped toy (or $20.00 without toy)

 Candyland! A Night of Sweets! features an all star cast of professional dancers, actors, singers, & comedians, and variety of dance styles including jazz, ballet, tap, burlesque, & cabaret.  This light-hearted, bawdy variety show is one holiday treat you don’t want to miss!  Guest performances by the Bombshell Dance Studio and Burlesque Body Sculpt ™ students.  Admission is one unwrapped toy, or $20.00 at the door. No reservations needed; first come first seated.

Candyland!  A Night of Sweets is sponsored by Hyena’s Comedy Night Club, OMG Hairstyles, Burlesque Body Sculpt ™, and the Bombshell Dance Studio.  All toys collected go to the Brandon Bass Reach Back Foundation.

About the Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque:

The Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque present Variety Theatre and Vintage Night Club Entertainment at local venues in the Dallas and Fort Worth area.  Our ensemble cast features classically trained and professional dancers, singers, actors and comedians in a full-length variety show influenced by the genres of vaudeville, cabaret, burlesque, and theatrical musicals.  The Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque’s Variety Shows take you on a comical-dancical-musical journey that’s unlike anything else in Dallas-Fort Worth!  Fasten your seatbelts…it’s going to be a hysterical, titillating, & wild ride!

Tickets now on sale!

November 25 – December 27, 2011

The Beulaville Baptist Book Club Presents: A Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker!
By Mark-Brian Sonna

Are you tired of the typical Holiday shows? Come check ours out! The women of the Beulaville Baptist Book Club are in dire straits financially, and as a last ditch attempt to save their book club they decide to do a fundraiser and hire the Beaumont Ballet to perform Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”. Madge’s Piña Colada Casserole unfortunately sickens the entire cast with food poisoning and they are unable to perform. Luckily, there is another dance troop in town. It seems the Velvet Kittens Burlesque Dancers are stuck in Beulaville because their van broke down on their way to New Orleans. Madge has never heard of Burlesque, or as she pronounces it “Bur-less-Q”, and in an act of necessity hires the dance troupe to do “The Nutcracker”. The end result? The most original, unusual, and comical Nutcracker you have ever seen!

The show will be presented at the Stone Cottage Theatre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison TX 75001, 214-477-4942.

Directed by: Charles Ballinger

Choreography by: Mark-Brian Sonna (MBS Productions) and Jana Edele (The Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque)

Visit the Burlesque Nutcracker website here.

See what the critics are saying…

“The choreography by Mark-Brian Sonna and
Jana Edele, is ingenious, inspired and amusing. By turns graceful and bawdy, with just the right balance of edification and dance-hall shimmy.”
Christopher Soden – Edge Dallas

The Beulaville Baptist Book Club Presents: A Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker is laugh out loud funny. The playwright/actor Sonna is insane, funny and smart.

A Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker bumps and grinds its way to big laughs.”
Marilee Vergati – Examiner.com

“rollicking irreverent…
Once you’ve seen it, it will become a new (grown-up) tradition for your family every Christmas.”
Carol Anne Gordon, Associate Theatre Critic for John Garcia’s THE COLUMN

“Whoo-hoo!”
Gini Moscorro – KERA FM

“An unqualified hoot.
Highly recommended.”
Mike Orren – PegasusNews.com

“MBS Productions have shunned tradition and has delivered a new holiday favorite all wrapped up and tied up with a fishnet stocking.”
Lyle Huchton, Associate Theater Critic for John Garcia’s THE COLUMN

“MBS Productions lovingly spoofs ‘The Nutcracker,’ and the result is plum funny, sugar.”
-Mark Lowry, TheaterJones.com

“..is as ridiculously fun as its title suggests….
This is a ‘Nutcracker’ for anyone who always wanted to chuckle during the ballet but didn’t feel they could. Here, it’s encouraged.”
Arnold Wayne Jones – Dallas Voice

“MBS Productions’ A Bur-Less-Q Nutcracker  transcends the conventional with gleeful delight and sends its audience out into the night with ho ho ho holiday hubba-hubba.”
Alexandra Bonifield – PegasusNews.com
 

“Nothing enlivens family holiday gatherings quite like a burlesque routine.”
Jessey Hughey - Dallas Observer

“See a naughty Nutcracker…The fictional Beaulaville is possibly the only place on earth not familiar with burlesque, and high comedy ensues when the characters (and the audience) get exposed to it.”
S. Anne Durham – Dallas Observer

Recipient of the 2008 Column Award Nomination as
BEST NEW PLAY OF THE YEAR

Dance Audition is Sunday, October 30th at 5:00 pm.  All dancers are requested to RSVP for the audition (rsvp information listed at the end of the casting notice). Auditions will be at the Stone CottageTheatre, 15650 Addison Rd, Addison, TX 75001

We are looking for dancers for the upcoming events:

Theatre Production:

THE BEULAVILLE BAPTIST BOOK CLUB PRESENTS: A BUR-LESS-Q NUTCRACKER!

By Mark-Brian Sonna
Directed by Charles Ballinger
Choreography by Mark-Brian Sonna & Jana Edele
Dance auditions will commence at 5 PM, acting auditions will begin at 7 PM. Rehearsals begin November 1. The show runs November 25 through December 27 at the Stone CottageTheatre. To read more about this particular show, visit here.

Charity Show:

CANDYLAND! A NIGHT OF SWEETS

Choreographed/Directed by Jana Edele

Rehearsal schedule tbd to coordinate with cast availability.

Showdate Dec. 11, 2011

7:00 pm (Venue in Dallas, TX, tba)

On-going New Velvet Kitten Show:

VARIETY SHOW

Choreographed/Directed by Jana Edele

Rehearsal schedule tbd.  New show will feature a rotating cast of singers, dancers, comedians, and actors at a new venue in Dallas beginning in Jan. 2012.  Currently auditioning dancers only. Opening date: Jan. 2012

To attend Sunday’s auditions, please visit here, and at the bottom of the page please click on “Request an audition.”  Or email info@mark-briansonna.com or call 214-477-4942.

This variety show is on Saturday, October 22, 2011 at J. Gilligans (Arlington, Texas), 9:00 pm.  This is a charity event for Save 2^nd Base.  We will all feature guest performances by the Burlesque Body Sculpt ™ and Bombshell Dance Studio student dancers.

Matthew Rubel/Rubel Photography

All students who attend a Burlesque Body Sculpt ™ workshop in September will have the option of continuing on to rehearsal classes and a performance opportunity in the Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque Variety Show on Oct. 22^nd, 9:00 pm at J. Gilligans (Arlington, Texas), benefiting the charity Save 2^nd Base (Breast Cancer).

Please check the links below for complete schedule of burlesque classes & workshops, additional adult dance classes & workshops, rates, and registration information.

For Dallas BBS Schedule & Info visit here.

For Fort Worth BBS Schedule & Info visit here.

For Additional Adult Dance Classes visit here.

Matthew Rubel/Rubel Photography

Read on for info!

The Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque will be presenting a full-length revue show at the Can’t Stop the Serenity music showcase!  The VK of LCB shows provide a cast of professional dancers, singers, and actors for an evening of comedy, dancing, and live “vintage nightclub” entertainment that’s unlike anything else in DFW!  We will also be featuring guest performances by both Dallas and Fort Worth Burlesque Body Sculpt™ student dancers.

Join us Sunday, August 21^st at Lola’s (2736 W. Sixth St, Fort Worth, TX) at 7:30 pm and help us raise money for a great cause! Tickets/cover: $5.00

These BBS workshops are held at the Bombshell Dance Studio (1545 N. Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76164).  RSVP at 682-300-9150 or bombshelldancestudio@yahoo.com.  Read below for workshop descriptions:

“Fedora Fever “

Wednesday nights, 7:00 – 8:00 pm

Includes July 6, 13, 20 and 27

Early registration rate:  $50.00 (plus tax)

“Fedora Fever” is all about class and style using the fashionable burlesque prop, the fedora hat. Set to the sultry and steamy blues song “Every Night,” trainer Jana Edele, artistic director and choreographer of the Velvet Kittens of Le Cabaret Burlesque, begins with a 30-minute stretching and toning warm-up followed by signature burlesque dance choreography focused on slow hip and shoulder isolations and sultry burlesque movement. Fedoras are provided, and students are welcome to bring their own.

“If Loving You is Wrong”

Saturdays, 12:00 – 1:00 pm

Includes July 9, 16, 23 and 30

Early registration rate: $50.00 (plus tax)

“If Loving You is Wrong” is from the Velvet Kittens repertoire, and a favorite among students.  Incorporating the dance props of bowler hat, cane, chair, tie and button up shirt, this is one sassy Burlesque Body Sculpt ™ dance you don’t want to miss!  Chairs, hats, and canes provided.

Class size is limited.  Must RSVP in advance!!!