Get updates by RSS
Update #12: Friends of Berber Society
Dear friends,
I just wanted to thank every one who donated to Berber. Sadly, unless a miracle happens within 7 hours we will not receive your generous donations. Bwaaaaah, bwaaaaaah!
However, you can still make your donation via our Pay Pal account if you are so inclined. It will be so very helpful and we would be most grateful! PLUS we will still honor our Kickstarter premiums!
Our Pay Pal account is ILIKEALLIE@GMAIL.COM.
I thank you very, very much on behalf of the Berber cast and crew!
Truly,
Michelle
Update #11: Gratitude out the ying yang & guest performers revealed!!!
Hello friends!
I would like to thank each and every one of you for your generous donations, really I am very touched! We have quite a ways to go but I remain hopeful. Spread the word!
Please review our special guest line up for our preview performance below.
What a night! And this is just for the preview, imagine what the full scale show will be!
Truly,
Michelle
FINLANDIA PRESENTS DANCES OF DEPRAVITY, HORROR & ECSTASY
BERBER The Life & Times of Anita Berber
PLEASE JOIN US FOR A PREVIEW PERFORMANCE & COCKTAIL RECEPTION TO BENEFIT THE FULL SCALE PRODUCTION OF BERBER SLATED MARCH 2011
CREATED BY Michelle Carr ~ CHOREOGRAPHY BY Ryan Heffington
PRODUCTION DESIGN BY Annie Sperling ~ ART DIRECTION BY Douglas Little
COSTUME DESIGN BY Leila Bazzani ~ ORIGINAL SCORE BY The Millionaire
Hosted By ~
Bryan Rabin & Rose Apodaca
Starring ~
Ryan Heffington as Sebastian Drost & Denna Thomsen as Anita Berber
Special guest performances by ~
Ann Magnuson ~ Kristian Hoffman ~ Jesse Merlin ~ Leila Bazzani
With your Master of Ceremony ~
Rob Zabrecky
Entrance includes one complimentary drink ticket to sample our signature cocktail 'Berber's Sin'
Wednesday, September 29th 2010
The Mezz (The Alexandria Hotel)
501 South Spring Street Downtown Los Angeles
Doors 8 P.M. Show Time 10 P.M.
Genteel attire suggested for the conscientious socialite
$20 in advance | $25 at the door | $10 raffle tickets
PURCHASE TICKETS VIA PAY PAL TO: ilikeallie@gmail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Update #10: Face Book
First of all I would like to thank you all for your donations and support! Warms the cockles of this ol' gal's heart! Please pass it on and spread the word to any and all interested parties.
If you would like to join our FB page and check out our stills, please log on to:
Our Face Book URL is facebook.com/BerberTheShow.
Update #9: Gorgeous stills pulled from Berber promo reel
Annie Sperling and Michelle Carr spent hours pouring over the reel footage frame by frame painstakingly pulling the stills you see here in this album. The 2 1/2 min. promotional reel was created in order to transport, you, our audience & ignite your imagination via a full bodied cinematic visual for the full scale dance production of "Berber". Can't you just see it all now?
The amount of nudity (in our defense, historically accurate) was abundant and it was not an easy task editing & censoring gorgeous photographs in the name of propriety for Face Book. As you can see we made due quite well nonetheless.
I would like to thank and acknowledge our stellar cast & crew for lending us their time and talent in order to make my perverse Weimarian fantasies come true, ha,ha,ha!
Below is a random sampling of stills.
TO SEE ALL OF THE PHOTOS IN STORY LINE ORDER PLEASE VISIT OUR FACE BOOK PAGE: BERBER ~
CAST
Anita Berber: Denna Thomsen
Sebastian Droste: Ryan Heffington
The Black Madonna: Diamondback Annie
The Bleeding Heart Virgin: Aqua Yost
The Virgin of Death: Hanna Putnam
Party guests:
Ann Magnuson
The Millionaire
Diane Goldner
Austin Young
Diana Contreras
Will Watkins
Nina McNeely
Julien Nitzberg
Allie Paull
Kim serene
Lady Tigra
Jesse Merlin
Steven Synstelin
Chantel Paradis
CREW
Directed by: Annie Sperling
Written by: Michelle Carr
Choreographer: Ryan Heffington
Director of Photography: Dave Collyer
Assistant Camera: Robert Sobul
1st Assistant Director: Shep Stevenson
Lighting Design: Jordi Turner
Assistant Lighting: Alan Boiling
Assistant Lighting: Junggeung Kim
Make Up: Caprice Gray
Hair: Rachel
Costume Stylist: Alexis Scott/Michelle Carr
Floral Design: Paloma Hernandez
Produced by: Candy Butcher & Michelle Carr
Update #8: The Photography of Eliot Lee Hazel ~ Stills from the Berber reel.......
The photos were taken by the brilliant Elliot Lee Hazel on the day we shot the promo reel for Berber.
Please visit www.eliotleehazel.com to see some more of his stunning work.
50
Backers
$2,080
pledged of $10,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on September 20, 2010.
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
You will receive the secret recipe to our signature cocktail 'Berber'. Mysterious hint: It is dressed with a black sugar crystal rim...... *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
3 Sweaty Sundays (or Wet Wednesdays or Fit Fridays or any combination thereof) taught by dance guru & Berber choreographer Ryan Heffington. *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $35 or more Pledge $35 or more
3 Sweaty Sundays (or Wet Wednesdays or Fit Fridays or any combination thereof) taught by dance guru & Berber choreographer Ryan Heffington. AND You will receive the secret recipe to our signature cocktail 'Berber'. Mysterious hint: It is dressed with a black sugar crystal rim...... *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
A CD of the original score of Berber composed by the Millionaire *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $55 or more Pledge $55 or more
A CD of the original score of Berber composed by the Millionaire AND You will receive the secret recipe to our signature cocktail 'Berber'. Mysterious hint: It is dressed with a black sugar crystal rim...... *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $65 or more Pledge $65 or more
You & a guest will be invited to view Berber rehearsal and meet the cast whilst enjoying a fine bottle of wine and cheese plate. *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
Our cast parties are the stuff legends are made of. Writer Pleasant Gehman was once quoted as saying, "Think Weimar Republic meets Caligula's Rome....." You and a guest will be invited to join our private cast party and join in on the revelry! *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $85 or more Pledge $85 or more
A CD of the original score of Berber composed by the Millionaire AND Our cast parties are the stuff legends are made of. Writer Pleasant Gehman was once quoted as saying, "Think Weimar Republic meets Caligula's Rome....." You and a guest will be invited to join our private cast party and join in on the revelry! *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
You will Receive 2 tickets for you and a guest to the Berber benefit preview & cocktail soiree hosted by Bryan Rabin & Rose Apodaca. This will include 2 raffle tickets for a chance to win marvelous prizes and 2 cocktail vouchers. *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site AND on the donors page of our souvinir programme.
Pledge $150 or more Pledge $150 or more
You will Receive 2 tickets for you and a guest to the Berber benefit preview & cocktail soiree hosted by Bryan Rabin & Rose Apodaca. This will include 2 raffle tickets for a chance to win marvelous prizes and 2 cocktail vouchers. AND Sweat out all that booze from the preview by attending 3 Sweaty Sundays (or Wet Wednesdays or Fit Fridays or any combination thereof) taught by dance guru & Berber choreographer Ryan Heffington. *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site AND on the donors page of our souvinir programme.
Pledge $350 or more Pledge $350 or more
You will Receive 2 tickets for you and a guest to the Berber benefit preview & cocktail soiree hosted by Bryan Rabin & Rose Apodaca. This will include 2 raffle tickets for a chance to win marvelous prizes and 2 cocktail vouchers. AND Our cast parties are the stuff legends are made of. Writer Pleasant Gehman was once quoted as saying, "Think Weimar Republic meets Caligula's Rome....." You and a guest will be invited to join our private cast party and join in on the revelry! AND A CD of the original score of Berber composed by the Millionaire *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site AND on the donors page of our souvinir programme.
Pledge $500 or more Pledge $500 or more
THE BERBER BONANZA! You will Receive 2 tickets for you and a guest to the Berber benefit preview & cocktail soiree hosted by Bryan Rabin & Rose Apodaca. This will include 2 raffle tickets for a chance to win marvelous prizes and 2 cocktail vouchers. AND VIP tickets ( 2) To the Berber world premier AND Our cast parties are the stuff legends are made of. Writer Pleasant Gehman was once quoted as saying, "Think Weimar Republic meets Caligula's Rome....." You and a guest will be invited to join our private cast party and join in on the revelry! AND A CD of the original score of Berber composed by the Millionaire AND You will receive the secret recipe to our signature cocktail 'Berber'. Mysterious hint: It is dressed with a black sugar crystal rim...... *Your name will also appear in the special thanks of our donors page on our web site AND on the donors page of our souvinir programme.
Project By
Has not connected their Facebook account.
Michelle Carr's fertile imagination has garnered a career in the arts and entertainment industry for 20 years. At the very young age of 20, Michelle Carr along with her partner Gary Dent created Jabberjaw, the main location for underground music in Los Angeles between1989-1997.
For many new bands and fans, Jabberjaw would become a kind of headquarters for the young open-minded and experimentally inclined. Carr's studied attention to rare "high" kitsch and eccentric style in decor (which would eventually land her on the cover of the L.A. Weekly's Design Issue) provided a cozy home away from home favored by many traveling bands.
Jabberjaw was a launching pad for revolutionary underground bands as well as a place already famous acts would play out of appreciation for the venue, such as Nirvana, Beck, Sonic Youth, The Beastie Boys, and Elliott Smith.
Currently Michelle Carr is compiling an anthology about Jabberjaw, " Los Angeles is Like Nowhere and Every One is Lost" published by Kill Your Idols featuring stories and essays by Jabberjaw regulars and enthusiasts including Drew Barrymore, Rick Ruben and Iggy Pop. Slated for release Spring 2011.
In 1995 during the height of Jabberjaw’s success, Carr brought her personal obsession for Burlesque culture to life, creating multi-media extravaganza; "The Velvet Hammer Burlesque. Thus, arguably sparking what is now acknowledged as the "Neo-burlesque movement".
Carr's profound loving attention to detail and aesthetics grabbed the attention of savy promoters across the country. The Velvet Hammer Burlesque enjoyed a regular engagement at the historical El Rey Theater in Los Angeles and naturally went on to perform sold out theaters in San Francisco , Las Vegas , New Orleans and New York City .
Three documentaries were made about the Velvet Hammer Burlesque, "Welcome Sinners”, "The Velvet Hammer Story" and "Striptease", which was produced by the Franco/German cultural television channel, Arte. Gaining the attention of an enthusiastic European audience, Carr moved to Berlin in 2005 where she performed, lectured and taught workshops on the art and history of Burlesque in Madrid , Paris , Zurich and Istanbul .
Over the last forteen years The Velvet Hammer Burlesque has attracted guest appearances by entertainer extraordinaire Ann Magnuson, "Will and Grace" producer and comedian Laura Kightlinger, comedian/actress Mary Lynn Rajskob, cult super stars Tura Satana, Kitten Natavidad, Mamie Van Doren and chanteuse Rebecca Del Rio of 'Mulholland Drive' fame.
Released in January 2008 by Berlin 's Die Gestalten Verlag, is a book of photography covering a glittering decade of the Velvet Hammer Burlesque by Michelle Carr. Die Gestalten Verlag specializes in developing content for aficionados of cutting-edge visual culture worldwide.
If that is not enough, Carr co-created, produced, wrestled in and directed the wildly popular Mexican wrestling and striptease hybrid "Lucha Vavoom”.
Michelle Carr possesses the uncanny ability to develope projects & productions that attract and meld together an unlikely ensemble of characters into one audience that ranges from the most cutting edge underground artists like Bruce La Bruce and Joe Coleman to pop culture icons like Peter Falk, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Elton John; even Sarah Ferguson, the Dutchess of York.
Link to VHB Promo video directed by John Gulager:
http://www.youtube.com/v/3X7ECWfT3v8&rel=1&border=1
Carr is also a certified Master Hypnotist but that is another story…
