May 16, 2017

Meet Red Hot Annie of Vaudezilla in Avondale

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Red Hot Annie .

Vaudezilla was born in 2008 when solo Chicago burlesque performer Red Hot Annie teamed up with Keith Emroll (aka Dick Dijon) to put their more than 20 years of combined theatrical production experience to work producing burlesque shows. Since then, they have injected a consistent display of vitality and originality that plays a key role in Chicago’s visibility on the national burlesque map.

With well over 500 shows produced since their inception, Vaudezilla’s creative output is unparalleled and has become synonymous with top-quality live entertainment. In the early years, they set the standard for burlesque bar shows, which provided unprecedented performance opportunities for the entire Chicago burlesque community. Simultaneously, they produced several larger-scale theatrical burlesque shows which left an indelible impression on the Chicago burlesque scene, including the critically-acclaimed, nationally-recognized, box office smash hit “Rollin’ Outta Here Naked: A Big Lebowski Burlesque.”

Today, Vaudezilla focuses on curated theatrical offerings with its cabaret-style burlesque variety show that plays in residence at Stage 773. New casts every week and new themes every month ensure a unique entertainment experience for its loyal audience.

Vaudezilla has also become the go-to source for burlesque instruction and custom-made shows. Vaudezilla Studios offers numerous classes and workshops in the art of performance and body-positive disciplines, and they can build a show of any size for any audience or occasion. Thanks to the contributions of the entire team, Vaudezilla remains the premiere source for Chicago-based live entertainment production.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
The road has been fairly smooth, since we were the ones to do a significant amount of its paving! The struggles we faced were the ones that I think most businesses face: building an audience for the shows and building a clientele for the studio classes. But patience and persistence pay off – and a little bit of luck never hurts, either!

Please tell us about Vaudezilla.
Vaudezilla specializes in curated burlesque shows and burlesque instruction. We are known for our curated weekly burlesque show in residence at Stage 773 and our robust dance class offerings at our studio in Avondale.

Our consistency, longevity, and quality are the things we’re most proud of. Vaudezilla is approaching its ninth year of existence, and we have been running the weekly show at Stage 773 for four straight years. It takes huge commitment and dedication to sustain that kind of performance schedule, and you can’t maintain an audience if the quality isn’t there, so we are very proud of having been able to achieve these things.

Vaudezilla has a fierce commitment to inclusivity that I think sets us apart. Our studio classes and our shows are welcoming to all body types, ethnicities, sexual identities, and gender expressions. We take great pride in being able to put such a diverse cross-section of humanity in front of our audiences.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
It’s hard to say, because a lot of it is learning by doing. Making mistakes and learning from them is part of the path to success. We’re still learning – even after nine years – and making adjustments to how we do our business so that we can keep everything sustainable.

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