I could feel sweat dripping down every crevice. For my burlesque show, Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad, I was cloaked in a Hasidic costume, a man’s full itchy wool suit, fake payot, and a fur hat — all soon to be ripped off, minus the Star of David pasties. As I stepped on onto the…
Sometimes they hold hands; other times they dance by themselves. But make no mistake: The Schlep Sisters— Minnie Tonka and Darlinda Just Darlinda — are emotionally committed to each other as they peel off their clothes in a burlesque parody of sibling love gone demented. To the tune of The Barry Sisters warbling in Yiddish,…
The Wonder Wheel is revolving, the air is awash in overly sweet smells and tinny music is everywhere. Soon the curtain will once again rise on the iconic Sideshows by the Seashore. The last time I visited, it was a windless, midwinter day. Brooklyn’s Coney Island was eerily desolate, and the only sound was that…
The Schlep Sisters showcase their bagel and cream cheese headdresses. Photo by Norman Blake. Bacon tassels were a-twirling on June 24, just in time for Shabbat. In a jaw-dropping production at the non-profit Sideshows by the Seashore theater, mere steps from the Coney Island boardwalk, the fabulous Schlep Sisters celebrated bad Jewish girls and their…
According to the recent obituaries of Alice Schiller, co-owner of Los Angeles’ legendary burlesque nightclub the Pink Pussycat, was a prudish Midwestern gal who cried when her husband told her he was turning his Hollywood club into a strip club. The Orthodox Jewish-reared Schiller, the daughter of a deli manager, eventually came to terms with…
