* Veronique To Appear @ The First Annual Seattle International Cabaret Festival

Can Can Presents: The First Annual Seattle Cabaret Festival

The First Annual Seattle Cabaret Festival, which at the kicks off on November 6th, with honored UK Dark Cabaret icons, The Tiger Lillies at the Moore.

The Festival then picks up again on November 11th - 15th and features numerous other acclaimed cabaret, drag and physical performance artists and ensembles over the course of its five-day run. Participating venues include The Moore Theatre, ACT Theatre, The Triple Door, The Can Can and Pensione Nichols.

Appearances by:

* Agness Twin * AKAK * An Magi Tarot of the Pomegranate * Armitage Shanks * Arnaldo * Baby Gramps * The Bad Things * The Castaways * Christy Kane * Circus Contraption Band * Crystal Fosnaugh * Danbert Nobacon * Dame Darcy * Darek Mazzone * Diva Le Deviant * DJ Global Ruckus * Dr. Calamari and Acrophelia * Emerald City Soul Club * Funi Daniels * God's Favorite Beefcake * Gypsy Sound System * The Heavenly Spies * Huxley Vertical * I (heart) Shiva * Iva Handfull * Jennybird * jONNI R Synic * Javier Ortega * Lonesome Shack * Luna Nocturna * Maureen O'Donnell * Michele Frances * Miss Oblivious * Miss Mamie Lavona * Orkestar Zirkonium * The Peculiar Pretzelmen * Queen Shmooquan * Robert Rial's Bakelite 78 * Ronald McFondle * Scarlet Foundry * Scarlet Room * Shmootzie the Clod * Seth Bedford * Spirit Board (Gargoyles) * Stella Rose * The Tiger Lillies * Throbosho * Toybox Trio * Vagabond Opera * Veronique Chevalier * Victor Janusz * Vinsantos * Waxie Moon * Zoe Boekbinder

Official Website for dates, times, venues and ticket information: http://cabaretfestival.com



* What: Poe's Peculiar Parlour
* Dates: Wed., Nov. 11th - Sun., Nov. 15th
* Start time: 7pm
* Location- Pensione Nichols
* Street- 1923 First Avenue
* City/Town- Seattle, WA 98101
* Phone: 206.441.7125
* Event Type: all ages, public entertainment, film, literature, music
* Website(s)- http://www.pensionenichols.com & http://www.thecancan.com/cabaretfestival/

Seattle International Cabaret Festival Presents

Join Seattle Art Maven Miss Oblivious who has curated a Series of Fortunate Events at the elegant & cozy landmark Pensione Nichols Bed & Breakfast for five consecutive evenings, each commencing with Tarot and tea- followed by film, literature and live musical performances! Victorian Parlour style... dress-up recommended but not necessary.

Programmes are as follows:

* Wednesday Nov 11th - Hosted by Miss Oblivious

- Huxley Verical Kabarett Nouveau (NYC)
- Schmootzi The Clod (music + murder ballads)
- Plus short films by Miss Oblivious

* Thursday Nov 12th - Hosted by Miss Oblivious

- Veronique Chevalier (Paris + LA) & Seth Bedford (NYC)
- Agness Twin (LA + SF)
- Jonni R Synic
- Short animated film of Huxley Verical Kabarett Nouveau
- Meet the visual artists with work on display in The Parlour:
Sara Devout,AKAK,Javier Ortega,Crystal Fosnaugh

* Friday Nov 13th - Armitage Shanks hosts Kurt Weill Night

- Doppleganger
- Stella Rose Saint Clair (Helen Kanesque)
- Book reading and films by Christy Kane (New Orleans)

* Saturday Nov 14th - Hosted by: Diva Le Deviant

- 7 pm Palm Readings by Dame Darcy
- Vinsantos (SF)
- Dame Darcy Films & Book Signing
- Funi Book reading
- Short film by Miss Oblivious

* Sunday Nov 15th - Hosted by Miss Oblivious

- Lonesome Shack (Seattle)
- Death BY Doll (LA + NY)
- Maureen O'Donnell (Author of "Scar Flowers")
- Short surprise film screenings

Just Added: Veronique Chevalier & Seth Bedford will also be performing at The Can Can on Sunday, November 15th, as part of the concluding festivities of the Cabaret Festival!

* Miss Oblivious Presents An Evening of Cabaresque in Seattle

Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Location: Can Can
Street: 94 Pike Street
City/Town: Seattle, WA
Website: http://www.myspace.com/cancanseattle

Description:
Join in the spirit of Weimar era Berlin at Seattle's Can Can cabaret.
All Ages Welcome!

* Veronique Chevalier & Seth Bedford, Musical Vaudevillians
* Stella Rose, Burlesque
* Esmerelda Strange, Lady Squeezeboxer
* Short films by Miss Oblivious!

Do not miss this extraordinary night for an alarmingly affordable admittance fee of only $5!

Can Can Reservations: 206-652-0832


Flier Designed by Seth Bedford

* Captain's bLog: Club Chrononaut, 9/18/09

Ah, another wonderful night at the Chrononaut. This time around we had Eli August and Veronique Chevalier with Mr. Seth Bedford of Huxley Vertical performing. And what a wonderful show it was! Got to snap a couple of real nice photos and a capture a few videos of the performances. (Scroll down the page for photos & videos of Veronique & Seth's performance).

- Captain Wong Wei -

Read the Captain's entire bLog here: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=484502923&blogId=511783237





























Photo by: Jerry


Photo by: Jerry


Photo by: Jerry

* Polka Haunt Us Mentioned In Suburban Vampire!

Below is the full post from Suburban Vampire

Music Monday: Polka Haunt Us

I was alerted to a highly unique take on Halloween music: the songs of Veronique Chevalier. According to her website, WeirdVal.com, "Veronique is known as The "Weird Val" of Dark Cabaret, for her hilarious parodies and side-splitting covers. (Imagine if Jim Morrison and Elvira had a twisted, Edith Piaf-like love child.)"

Below is the video for her song "Vampire Surprise" from her Halloween compilation album, Polka Haunt Us.

Journey below the video, and you can preview other Polka Haunt Us songs on an MP3 sampler.





iTunes:


Posted by Catherine Karp at
http://suburbanvampire.blogspot.com/2009/10/music-monday-polka-haunt-us.html
Labels:
music

* Polka Haunt Us Featured in SCARS Magazine!

Two words: Gothic. Polka.

Gothic, spooky-old, polka. You might not have known it even existed. Today, I am ashamed I didn’t know. Polka occasionally makes its way to our consciences around this time of year, mostly diluted by distractions at Oktoberfests, but Veronique Chevalier…aka the “Weird Val” of Dark Cabaret…is changing how we think of the accordion with her compilation, “Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation.”

POLKA HAUNT US!!! The name alone is enough to kill me, and from the moment I listened to the first track – “The Beer Hall In Hell” – I couldn’t stop smiling. Honestly. Polka Haunt Us. Weird Val may have been gonged off the first season of America’s Got Talent, but all I know is, this is the stuff for me. And I’m not alone. “Polka Haunt Us” was an official selection for Best Polka in the 51st Grammy’s Ballot.

Veronique acted as Executive Producer and lyricist on the compilation, bringing together talent from the polka (and greater) sphere to perform on each track. Really, “Polka Haunt Us” is a concept album, filled with stories from mythology and folklore from across the globe. While it’s definitely the season for gothic polka, these creepy narratives transcend Halloween. There’s an obvious labor of mad love behind Veronique’s research, lyrics, and song titles.

There’s no way to argue this isn’t without its hokiness. (Polka-hokey-ness.) But it’s rooted in cabaret! If we can’t be campy here, where can we? Plus, there’s talent behind the strange. Check out the video for my personal favorite, “Fisher Bird Girl,” based on a Norwegian folktale.

And if that was more seriously surreal than you expected, check out more light-hearted polka fare with “Vampire Surprise,” which tells the tale of an enterprising cook “turning the tables” on bothersome vamps.

Like any concept album, “Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation” is best heard in full. Experienced is probably the better word than “heard,” because even after a total listen, my brain still can’t quite process the awesome oddity of this album. Stream it at Reverbnation or buy it at PolkaHaunt.Us.

Tags: Polka Haunt Us, Veronique Chevalier

This entry was originally posted by fallon on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 9:20 am and is filed under News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Original URL: http://scarsmagazine.com/blog/2009/09/29/two-words-gothic-polka/

* LA Weekly Article: An Evening of Steampunkery

Journalist Liz Ohanesian wrote a lovely follow-up article in the LA Weekly Blog, about our Evening of Steampunkery on Sunday, September 20th @ Echo Curio:

http://blogs.laweekly.com/westcoastsound/synthful/scenes-from-an-evening-of-stea/
Scenes from An Evening of Steampunkery
By Liz Ohanesian in Last Night, Synthful

Photo by Liz Ohanesian
Veronique Chevalier and Seth Bedford

Several years ago, LA-based performer Veronique Chevalier launched Red Velvet Vaudeville Variety Show. During its existence, the performances won acclaim for bringing together an eclectic cross-section of performers linked together through the singer's witty MC stylings. Last night's event A Red Velvet & Sepiachord Evening of Steampunkery, held at Echo Curio, relied primarily on music, but still conveyed traces of vaudevillian presentation.

The evening was divided into halves, with each artist playing two short sets. Mixing together sentimental pop (Eli August), performance art (April Hava Shenkman), accordion-based comedy (Seth Bedford) and Victorian synthpop (Unextraordinary Gentlemen) is tricky, but the night moved quickly and cohesively. Chevalier performed one number with accordionist Seth Bedford in between each set.

Chevalier's character is the rumored "long lost granddaughter" of Maurice Chevalier, a French ballerina whose career was cut short when a crazed cowboy shot out the lights in a theater, causing her to fall into the orchestra pit. She has turned to cabaret as a creative outlet and, like all good cabaret artists, mixes randy tunes with dramatic cover songs sung in a very thick accent. The clip below is a cover of "People Are Strange" that has become a staple of her sets.

Veronique Chevalier "People Are Strange"

Photo by Liz Ohanesian
Malcom Schreek of UXG

Unextraordinary Gentlemen were one of the evening's guests. Their sets reminded us alternately of Nick Cave, Virgin Prunes and Monty Python, the latter of which the band discussed in our interview from last Friday. Below is a clip of the trio performing "Black Iron Road."

* An Evening Of Steampunkery @ Echo Curio, 9/20/09

* Time: September 20, 2009 from 8pm to 11pm
* Location- Echo Curio
* Street- 1519 Sunset Blvd.
* City/Town- Echo Park, Ca 90026
* Website- http://EchoCurio.com
* Cost- 8 Bux ($8)
* Event Type: all ages, public entertainment & music
* Organized By: Veronique Chevalier

Sepiachord.com & Veronique's Red Velvet Present!

Join MADcap Mistress of Ceremonies MADemoiselle Veronique http://WeirdVal.com as she presents another evening of guerrilla vaudeville at Echo Curio.

Guests artists include:

* Seth Bedford (of New York City) - Composer/Accordionist/Vocalist & Veronique's Official Accompanist http://MySpace.com/SethBedford

* Unextraordinary Gentlement (UXG) - Los Angeles-based Purveyors of Otherworldly Sonic Excellence- http://UnextraordinaryGentlemen.com

* Eli August (of Madison, WI) - Droll Outsider Folk Trio featuring Uke, Standup Bass & Percussion http://MySpace.com/EliAugust

* April Hava Shenkan - Presenting the World Premiere of her new performance piece set to "Blank Face Goblins" (a track from Veronique's Polka Haunt Us: A Spook-tacular Compilation CD)- http://AprilHavaShenkman.com