Meanwhile, at the burlesque...

...it's just another Friday. Business as usual.

I can think of nothing more kinky than a prince chasing a swan around all night

"[He is] talented, enthusiastic, extremely intelligent... witty, cute as a monkey, quick as a squirrel, has a sense of theatre and his own possible achievements therein... academically technically weak, lacking in concentration, too fond of a good time and too busy having it." - Dame Ninette De Valois







"Aren't all ballets sexy? I think they should be. I can think of nothing more kinky than a prince chasing a swan around all night."

"Theatre remains the only thing I understand. It is in the community of the theatre that I have my being. In spite of jealousies and fear, emotional conflicts and human tensions; in spite of the penalty; in spite of tears and feverish gaiety - this is the only life I know. It is the life I love."

"The trouble with nude dancing is that not everything stops when the music does."

Sir Robert Helpmann CBE (9th April 1909 – 28th September 1986)

And here, for your delectation is his masterclass Steps of the Ballet:



Our previous entry for the great man.

On the Jukebox at Dolores Delargo Towers

I Do Not Wish To Be Told What To Do!

From a classic interview with the icon by Jim Emerson:

Bette Davis must have a cigarette.

For without a smoke, she cannot entirely be Bette Davis. The iconographic image is incomplete, like a bareheaded Gloria Swanson, an unarmed John Wayne, or a clean-shaven Bogart.

In her elegant fourth-floor apartment, just off Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, Miss Davis (she prefers the courtesy title) chain-smokes Vantage filters and, with stubborn ferocity, grinds her butts into the ashtray. Once snuffed by Miss Davis, those crooked stubs would not dare to continue smoldering.

She lights into the current nationwide anti-smoking movement with a mixture of glee and withering disdain, almost as if defending her legend against unruly hordes of nosy tobacco-haters.

"I Resent It More Than I Can Tell You!" she says at a rapid clip, delivering every word distinctly and discretely, as though each one were capitalized. "I Do Not Wish To Be Told What To Do!

"I wish to have my own life. All this whole thing has to do with people who gave up smoking and can't stand it! I think it's a big farce myself. And I think it's our own business what we do. Who has the right to say 'You can't smoke'? Makes me smoke MORE! Ha-HA-ha. No. I don't like it."

Shove that in your pipe and smoke it, Jane Ellison.

Miss Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (5th April 1908 – 6th October 1989)

"My Leetle Chums!"

With his avant-garde fashion creations and cutting-edge designs, [Jean-Paul] Gaultier has shaped the look of fashion over the last 40 years. His reputation for witty and daring designs and a ceaseless interest in society, identity and a beauty borne of difference has earned him a place in fashion history.

Gaultier is fascinated by world cultures and countercultures, conceiving a new kind of fashion in both the way it is made and worn. Through twists, transformations, transgressions and reinterpretations, he not only erases the boundaries between cultures but also the sexes, redefining the idea of androgyny or subverting fashion codes.

This theatrically-staged exhibition brings together more than 165 cutting-edge couture and ready-to-wear garments including iconic costumes for film and performance from the early 1970s to the present day. The infamous conical bra and corsets Madonna wore during her 1990 Blonde Ambition World Tour are showcased alongside stage costumes designed for Kylie Minogue as well as pieces created for the films of Pedro Almodóvar, among others.

Gaultier’s rich collaborations with renowned artists and photographers such as Miles Aldridge, David LaChapelle, Pierre et Gilles, Peter Lindbergh, Herb Ritts, Stéphane Sednaoui, Cindy Sherman and Andy Warhol are also shown together with footage of catwalk presentations, concerts, music videos, films and dance performances.

The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk is in London from 9th April 2014 to 25th August 2014 at the gallery in the Barbican Centre.

I like being happy. I want to make others happy!

"I like joy. I want to be joyous. I want to have fun on the set; I want to wear beautiful clothes and look pretty. I want to smile, and I want to make people laugh. And that's all I want. I like it. I like being happy. I want to make others happy."

"I've never met an animal I didn't like, and I can't say the same thing about people."

"Wrinkles are hereditary. Parents get them from their children."

"The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it."

“Any girl can look glamorous... just stand there and look stupid”

She's 90 today. Celebrate!

Doris Day (born Doris Mary Ann Kappelhoff, 3rd April 1924)

Upstaged, even on her birthday

Debbie Reynolds upstaged by fellow birthday girl Jane Powell, star of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.


Debbie Reynolds and Shirley Jones upstaged by Ruta Lee, star of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.

Miss Reynolds probably hates that musical.

Happy birthday(s), girls!

Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce, 1st April 1929)

Debbie Reynolds (born Mary Francis Reynolds, 1st April 1932)

Shirley Mae Jones (born 31st March 1934)