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Carousel of Burlesques take audiences 'behind the curtain' at this year's Fringe Fort Myers

Carousel of Burlesque co-creator Pixel Winters. The Carousel of Burlesque returns to this year's Fort Myers Fringe festival with a show that takes audiences behind the curtain in the tradition of comedies like Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong.
Tom Hall/WGCU
Carousel of Burlesque co-creator Pixel Winters. The Carousel of Burlesque returns to this year's Fort Myers Fringe festival with a show that takes audiences behind the curtain in the tradition of comedies like Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong.

Fringe Fort Myers 2024 opens Thursday, May 30, and runs through Sunday, June 2. The Carousel of Burlesque is one of nine shows included in this year’s festival. It’s also one of three performances that are returning from last year’s inaugural fringe.

Last year’s Carousel focused on the history of burlesque in the United States from the late 1800s to the present. This year’s show draws heavily on co-creator Pixel Winters’ background in theater.

“It’s a little bit Noises Off,” Winter teases. “It’s a little bit Gypsy. It’s a little bit The Play That Goes Wrong. [Laughing] Yes.”

Winters actually got the idea for this year’s slant at last year’s show.

“We had a lot of crazy things that happened on our opening night...,” Winters explains.

“As I was retelling the stories to people after last year, they were like ‘Oh, that would have been really interesting to see on stage.’ I had a concept of it would be really cool if the audience could actually see the process that we go through personally, because you just get to see this glamorous person, but burlesque is also everything that happens backstage.”

So this year, Winters and co-creator Freckles Galore take audiences behind the curtain.

“You are going to be seeing not only the burlesque show that is going on stage, but you are also going to see what’s happening behind the scenes. So we are loosely basing this more as a play with a burlesque show in it.”

In the play, the evening begins to go awry when one of the performers fails to show up, but there will also be equipment and costume malfunctions that will amp up the frenetic action taking place backstage.

“There’s going to be comedy. There’s going to definitely be some really great burlesque acts. We have, like last year, a great variety of different styles. We have Boylesque. We have more of the Dita Von Teese sensual stuff. We have bigger acts as well."

"Freckles [Galore] is going to be doing a couple of really amazing acts that she didn’t do last year. Everything is completely different from last year, act-wise. But it will have the same type of feeling of we’re still continuing with the history also of burlesque.”

Among the many advantages that audiences derive from fringe festivals worldwide is the opportunity to see groundbreaking shows and emerging artists before they become a thing. Six: The Musical got its start in 2017 at Edinburgh Fringe. Drowsy Chaperone premiered at the Toronto Fringe Festival in 1999.

Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie, Robin Williams, Mike Myers, Rachel Weisz and former Daily Show host Trevor Noah all got their start at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Carousel of Burlesque co-creator Freckles Galore. Freckles Galore has been performing burlesque for eight years. “I have strutted my stuff all across the Sunshine State – anywhere from South Miami to Orlando, Jacksonville. I’ve performed in New York. I’ve performed in Minnesota. Ohio. So I’ve gotten the opportunity with burlesque to travel outside of Florida and to different cities in Florida, but I’d love to do more of it locally. “
Tom Hall/WGCU
Carousel of Burlesque co-creator Freckles Galore. Freckles Galore has been performing burlesque for eight years. “I have strutted my stuff all across the Sunshine State – anywhere from South Miami to Orlando, Jacksonville. I’ve performed in New York. I’ve performed in Minnesota. Ohio. So I’ve gotten the opportunity with burlesque to travel outside of Florida and to different cities in Florida, but I’d love to do more of it locally. “

Fringe festivals are also the perfect place to experiment with genres you might not otherwise explore.

“If you’ve ever been interested in burlesque, and you didn’t go last year, I would highly recommend going this year because it has that gap, that bridge that gaps burlesque and theater together so it makes it a little more comfortable if you feel like you’re going to be uncomfortable in that situation. It has comedy in it, so you will laugh.”

Re-uniting with Pixel Winters and Freckles Galore in this year’s Carousel of Burlesque is last year’s emcee, Cabana Macabre and kitten Gale Bright.

Behind the Curtain performs on the Foulds Theatre stage at the Alliance for the Arts at 8:30 p.m. on Friday, May 31, 8:45 p.m. on Saturday, June 1 and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 2.

If you think you want to go, lock up your tickets now because both the Saturday and Sunday shows sold out last year, and a lot more people now know about Fringe Fort Myers and the Carousel of Burlesque.

To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.

WGCU is your trusted source for news and information in Southwest Florida. We are a nonprofit public service, and your support is more critical than ever. Keep public media strong and donate now. Thank you.

Script edited and audio produced by WGCU's Tara Calligan.

MORE INFORMATION:

  • Pixel Winters has been performing burlesque for more than ten years. While she started out singing cabaret style for a local burlesque performer before performing in drag shows at TBL, it wasn’t until she moved to New Zealand several years ago that she fully embraced burlesque. “The community down there was so generous and collaborative and gave me that fire that when I came back, I really started pushing myself full force into going for it. So I’ve worked up in Orlando and Tampa, and I went to Denver last summer to perform for a show. I’ve been doing more traveling and going out of state to expand my horizons. I really love getting to know the people in this community and other performers that I wouldn’t get to meet by just staying here.”
  • Freckles Galore has been performing burlesque for eight years. “I have strutted my stuff all across the Sunshine State – anywhere from South Miami to Orlando, Jacksonville. I’ve performed in New York. I’ve performed in Minnesota. Ohio. So I’ve gotten the opportunity with burlesque to travel outside of Florida and to different cities in Florida, but I’d love to do more of it locally. “
  • The use of the word “carousel” is a homage not only to the wheel of time and progress, but to the fact that the circuit or town to which burlesque performers traveled was known as “the wheel.”
  • During its golden age, burlesque was bigger than Broadway, employing thousands of people. Performers were even accompanied by huge orchestras on occasion.
  • While this year’s Carousel of Burlesque will have a set, it will be “very minor, very minimalistic because we only have 15 minutes to set up [before the performance] and 15 minutes to tear down [after the show],” Winters explains. Nonetheless, the set will include curtains that separate the performers front of stage from the hound (stage hand), kitten and other performers milling about backstage.
  • “The audience will find it interesting because they’ll actually see how our bearing and presence change when we cross through those curtains, whether to come on stage to perform or return backstage, where we’re back to being, you know, walking around normally.”
  • In traditional burlesque, audience members are encouraged to hoot and holler – loudly – when they see something they particularly like. “It’s encouraging,” Pixel adds with a Cheshire Cat smile.
  • Tips are also encouraged. “We’ll have buckets on the side of the stage where [audience] members can put tips after the show. We’ll also have little envelopes on the chairs and QR codes for those who don’t bring cash but would still like to show their appreciation in a monetary sort of way. The tips always get split among everyone who’s performing that day.”
  • Pixel also wants people to know that the performers are excited to pose for picture following each show. So bring your camera or smart phone if you want a selfie or picture with Pixel, Freckles, Cabana or Gale following the performance.
  • Besides Six: The Musical and Drowsy Chaperone, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (New York International Fringe Festival, 2011), Da Kink in My Hair (2001 Toronto Fringe Festival) and My Mother’s Lesbian Jewish Wiccan Wedding (Toronto Fringe Festival, 2009) all originated in fringe.
  • So whether you’re a theater lover who’s always on the look-out for interesting shows, a producer on the hunt for the next big thing or a playwright or creative team who’d like to explore an idea in front of an eager, live audience, make plans to attend Fringe Fort Myers 2024.

To read more stories about the arts in Southwest Florida visit Tom Hall's website: SWFL Art in the News.