We performed amongst the bistro guests, wanting to make it interactive and inclusive which made it exhilarating and scary all at the same time.
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I was approached to provide the entertainment for a late-night pop-up bistro event who wanted to recreate the licentious sights and sounds of the Weimer Berlin cabaret scene, and hence The KiKi Club was created.
My aim with this production was to keep it fresh, and organic and with that in mind I pulled together a group of friends who I knew would work hard, and not be phased by the unexpected as we wouldn't see the venue until the night of the performance, no dress or tech rehearsal - scary stuff! We had only six rehearsals - I didn't want it to be too polished (very unlike me), and by reducing the rehearsals I hoped to create the rawness from those 'underground' cabaret clubs at that time in history.
Inspiration came from Kander & Ebb's own Berlin based musical Cabaret, a couple of modern 'pop' songs such as Madonna's 'Hanky Panky' performed by a female dominatrix with a horse crop and two male dancers, who lost the 'seat' of their trousers to expose their bare buttocks, throw in a drag queen, and once again the Burlesque fan dance - this was a risque production in all senses of the word.
We performed amongst the bistro guests, wanting to make it interactive and inclusive which made it exhilarating and scary all at the same time. We didn't know what to expect and that was the beauty and fun of it.