Great Gatsby!
"The idea of The Gatsby Club came about when myself and two friends started talking about the 1920's over a few glasses of wine one night," says Miss Hell's Belle. "We share a love and fascination for the era and started discussing the idea of hosting our own night. We realised there was a niche for this kind of night and wanted to create something a little bit different to the average Burlesque evening."
The connection between burlesque and vintage fashion has always been strong: many contemporary performers take their inspiration from the past, and the importance of costume has seen a natural alliance between retro clothes and neo-burlesque. At the same time, the past year has seen a real shift in the Scottish burlesque scene, as the original nights either develop into multi-platform extravaganzas or disappear from view.
The Gatsby Club aims to re-establish burlesque within the context of an event: with many nights offering similar bills, and little to surround the actual acts, Miss Hell's Belle is curating something far more immersive. "We're definitely encouraging people to dress as over the top as possible!" she continues, I think everyone likes an excuse to dress up for an occasion and with the whole vintage revival happening at the moment it's a fantastic opportunity to scour through vintage shops and pick up that perfect flapper dress or fitting fedora!" And despite burlesque's strong female fan-base, this night isn't just for the ladies. "I've found that men enjoy dressing up in vintage clothes just as much the ladies!"
What acts have you booked, and why did you select them? Any special events happening?
The Burlesque is a small part of what The Gatsby Club is. The emphasis of the night is more towards variety with acts specifically selected to represent the era and hopefully transport the audience back to that time.
We have The Creative Martyrs performing and compering the evening. Their show was a huge success at the Edinburgh Fringe this year and I think they're satirical songs and comedy will work really well with our night. We have 1920's inspired burlesque acts from myself and Cherry Loco. There will be music provided by a three-piece band Swing Sensation, a jazz singer, musical comedy performed along to a piano, and swing dancers giving a lesson on the Charleston! We also have our very own Jeeves on hand who will be greeting guests and assisting with cocktails. To finish off the evening we have a 1920's inspired DJ set which will go on into the wee small hours!
Our aim is to make The Gatsby Club as diverse as possible. The key is variety and we're actively seeking out acts that have never been seen before on the Burlesque circuit. We're even considering holding auditions for bands, performers, comedians etc for future shows. I put out an advert looking for 1920's acts and was pleasantly surprised to receive a number of replies from performers and acts out there who have been desperate for an opportunity like this to arise. We're looking forward to having some of these acts perform with us at future shows. After our preview night we hope to have an official launch night which we will be announcing in due course! We're hoping The Gatsby Club will turn into something really quite big in Glasgow.
Is The Gatsby Club an attempt to get away from the predictability of many burlesque nights?
Yes, we wanted to create something that was a little bit different to your standard Burlesque night. Burlesque has been very popular in Glasgow for a good few years now and as a performer I’m constantly looking for new ideas and nights to perform at. I'm lucky enough to know a very diverse group of performers in Scotland who support the art form by hosting their own nights. We now have a good variety of events going on which cater for everyone's tastes. We saw The Gatsby Club as something a little bit different and hadn't been done in Glasgow before. We wanted to create a night that incorporates all elements of entertainment, bringing together acts that have never necessarily performed at a regular Burlesque night before, such as our live jazz band which is very exciting!
Where do you think burlesque is heading? After this year's Fringe, cabaret seemed to be disconnecting a little from burlesque, and expanding the acts it included, while burlesque appeared to be creating its own nights - would you agree?
I think there's just so much burlesque around at the moment and the emphasis in the media is very much that anyone can take up burlesque if they want to. The Edinburgh Fringe was particularly saturated with burlesque this year and unfortunately not getting the best reviews. I think that cabaret artists felt like they weren’t being taken seriously enough so decided to remove themselves from burlesque and concentrate on their own shows. Burlesque is so diverse though and incorporates many different elements so I don't think it will die out any time soon, it will just keep evolving.
Saturday 6th November, 8pm. Dancing 'til 2am.
GUU (Glasgow University Union)