Leslie Kerrigan: Flaming Dames’ Bloody Wonder. By Brian Kirst
One wonderful thing about the horror community is the fluidity it can have – from comics to movies to the stage. Among their many other projects (including some rumors of upcoming film work, discussed below), Chicago’s New Millennium Theater Company has transposed horror comic Hack/Slash to the stage and Leslie Kerrigan, the creator of its wonderful burlesque troupe The Flaming Dames, has often used horror themes in her work with them. The Flaming Dames are a presence at many Midwest horror festivals – and I thought it was time that the lovely Kerrigan got her chance in the spotlight, too. Kerrigan was kind enough to answer some questions below. It’s absolutely guaranteed that she will shimmy and shake her way into your bloody hearts and souls.
Brian: Who were your first performing influences – The clobbering grace of Audrey Hepburn in Wait Until Dark – The racy antics of horror host Elvira- The support of a local ballet mom- Others?
Leslie: Ha! Well, I was born and raised in Detroit; so I’ve got a pretty intense need for rock and roll in my blood. I grew up sneaking out of my house, to go to Ozzy Osbourne & Motley Crue concerts and the like and had a huge propensity for the enormous rock-show spectacles from the 80’s. I loved glam rock and hair bands and thought that the blatant sexuality they all painted across the stage was truly alluring. What’s sort of funny is that the other side of live performance influence for me is that I’m a classically trained dancer and have twenty plus years of professional dance and performance training behind me. I was obsessed with Chita Rivera when I was a kid; and desperately wished I could have known and been choreographed by Bob Fosse. Other specific influences: of course there’s the queen of all things modern day burlesque, Miss Dita Von Teese; Lily St. Cyr, and one of the most bad-ass bitches in the world Mae West.
Brian: What was it like playing Miss Wells in one of your favorite shows, Dracula?
Leslie: I’ve never liked playing the lead ingénue character. I love the quirky neighbor or the crazy best friend or any other kind of psycho of some sort; and being that comedy is my strength when I’m performing – in a show like Dracula; Miss Wells is very much the comic relief in the middle of an intensely dark show; so she’s right up my alley. I’m drawn to taking something that’s “supposed” to be one thing and turning it on its ear and shocking the audience.
Brian: What was your inspiration for creating The Flaming Dames?
Leslie: After coming off of doing many straight, very serious very intense dramatic plays, I was exhausted and was thirsty for a show that I could just have some fun with. I was tired of trying to change the lives of everyone in the audience and just really wanted to simply entertain for entertainment’s sake.
I loved the idea of a sexually intense show that was written and created by a female for both men and women. So many of the Burlesque acts from years ago were written and created by men for men:I think there’s a completely different facet of the strength of sensuality in burlesque that is achieved when a woman is the one in charge of producing it. So, when I was finally in charge of my own shows; I tried to come up with some way to combine both my love for dance and my love for shock value, sexuality and rock and roll and there was just something about Burlesque that just drew me like a moth to a flame. I started teaching a burlesque class back in 2002; and after a year of teaching, my gals in the class really wanted to show off what they’d learned and accomplished; so I did everything I could to produce a live performance for them. Our first show only had two weekends, but we were turning people away both weekends. It was a good feeling; and I knew I had stumbled onto something.
Brian: How did you come upon the idea for incorporating horror themes with burlesque in many of The Flaming Dames productions?
Leslie: Well, our two productions prior to Vamp which was our first horror based show; were a lot more lighthearted and silly, so with each new show I try my best to take a really sharp turn and surprise our audiences. There’s something inherently sexy about the macabre and the unknown so it seemed really logical to me to move in the direction of the horror genre. Plus, I’m a huge fan of horror movies and the supernatural and so again, it was another way for me to combine my training with another one of my interests. Plus it seemed pretty twisted to create sexy vampire characters and hot zombie chicks and have them strip down to pasties and g-strings and have an audience totally along for the ride:so of course I had to do it.
Brian: New Millennium has incorporated many filmic elements into their stage productions. Has there been any thought to actually venturing into the world of film by any of the company members?
Leslie: Yes actually; we have some very close partnerships with people in the film industry that different members of NMTC are currently involved in now. Stay tuned:
Brian: What has been the most exciting element about creating The Flaming Dames productions for you?
Leslie: Actually seeing something that was just in my brain come to life onstage and at times have it be better than I imagined or surprised by the outcome. It’s a tie between that and seeing what happens within my girls when they completely embrace their stage persona; and understand just how powerful it is to be performing as a burlesque dancer today:when that confidence comes raging out of them on stage, get ready:it’s also really fantastic to see the audience feed off of it as well:it’s extremely gratifying.
Brian: Lastly, any words of advice (IE: Don’t anger a whip ready Burlesque Queen?) or future projects that you’d like to tell us about? And – thanks! It’s been a thrill!
Leslie: The absolute BEST way to predict the future:is to get off your ass and create it yourself.
:and thank YOU as well! You have been an absolute pleasure!
