The Tea Bar is a little vintage style tea room in good ole Basingstoke. It has beautiful decor and serves cocktails in tea pots, what could be more delightful, I hear you ask?!
Well......every few months the Tea Bar is transformed into the cheeky Tease Bar by the wonderful Appleton Productions.
Well......every few months the Tea Bar is transformed into the cheeky Tease Bar by the wonderful Appleton Productions.
The lights are dimmed, the food is served and the audience is in for a night of cheeky burlesque and fantabulous cabaret.
My first experience of this is a little fuzzy on account of the many glasses of prosecco I consumed, but what I do remember is being blown away by wonderful performances and thinking 'oh my gosh!!!! I have to do this'.
It just looked so fun and liberating. You could become anyone you wanted to be and create your own charismatic character to thrill and entertain audiences everywhere.
After the show I introduced myself, in a rather inelegant manner, to the stunning performers and the fabulous creator of the show, Leanna Bruce. They were all more than accommodating and willing to give advice and guidance on entering their magnificent, sparkling, sweaty world and it was encouraging for me and other members of the audience to have that opportunity to interact with the artists.
Leanna is an absolutely stunning young lady who clearly worked really hard to bring the intimacy and atmosphere of a London burlesque show to quiet old Basingstoke and she absolutely nailed it! Basingstoke has never quite had anything like it before and it was so refreshing to see the place packed out (on a school night, no less) with people of all ages (well 18+), tastes and styles. She really did put on an amazing show and her passion and knowledge was evident in the quality of it. As with any first productions, there were a few hiccups but they were quickly forgotten as the crowd roared and cheered with laughter.
I met the absolutely stunning Bonnie Fleur who, with her dark, gothic, sophisticated style, absolutely blew me away with a performance that she did on point (ballet) where she proceeded to hang herself in nothing but pasties and panties. The drama and emotion of her piece really hit me and was truly mind blowing. I have followed her since then (no not in a stalkery way) and her acts have just gotten better and her costumes.........wow! Absolutely stunning!
Since the first show, Leanna has taken it from strength to strength and the shows have included some big names on the scene including:
Rubyyy Jones, Violet Blaze, Bettsie Bon Bon and Chris Coloumbine.
Rubyyy Jones, Violet Blaze, Bettsie Bon Bon and Chris Coloumbine.
Rubyyy Jones has featured in quite a few of Leannas shows and she goes down a storm! That lady is firey, fiesty and amazingly capitivating. With her womanly, voluptuous ways she owns that stage and commands the attention of the entire audience and always leaves you wanting more of her.... and if you ask nicely she will give you ALL of her!
Since my first experience of these thrilling shows, I thought to myself "damn I want to be up there" and I have had the absolute pleasure of helping out as a stage kitten and generally helping to run the shows. More recently (after much choreography, rehearsals and sewing) I have started performing as Kristyl-Rose. Experiencing the show from the other perspective was such an incredible experience and working and performing alongside some of the most amazing people I have ever met has been one of my highlights of the year! A lot of work goes into creating these wonderful performances and the performers themselves just blow me away with their dedication and talent. For a few of these lucky people this is their day job!!! Amazing! But incredibly hard work.
So if you are in Basingstoke and the opportunity arises, I would strongly recommend you to pop along to an Appleton Pin Up production and see one of these fabulous performances yourself! Alternatively look in your local areas for shows, they are great fun and give you something different to enjoy.
Also check out Leanna's blog for all things fabulous! She is an extraordinary young lady that just oozes extravagance, elegance and class, all of which is evident in her work and I am so proud to have had the honour of working alongside her.
Also check out Leanna's blog for all things fabulous! She is an extraordinary young lady that just oozes extravagance, elegance and class, all of which is evident in her work and I am so proud to have had the honour of working alongside her.
For more info, check out:
FacebookAppleton Productions
Appleton Pin Up Girl
