The Gurlies
The DC Gurly Show is a troupe that is dedicated to the Art of the Tease, Community, Glitz and Glam. We have been titillating audiences every month since February 16, 2005 at Chaos, which was located at 17th St NW and Q St NW in Dupont Circle, Washington, DC. Our Founder and original Producer was Miss Kitty Victorian.
Kitty brought the Burlesque Revival to the Nation’s Capital. Producing monthly shows at Chaos, bi-monthly shows at the Palace of Wonders, The Crucible, or The Warehouse Theatre, she definitely got the ball rolling. She also has a school of burlesque, which is now known as Burlesque University (www.burlesqueuniversity.com) which meets weekly, culminating in a student show. This school started in DC and now, I believe, lives in Chicago.
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Here’s the Bio included on her website: (www.kittyvictorian.com)
Miss Kitty Victorian
~ Purrrfect Ecdysiast
When searching for the quintessence of burlesque and character performance, one need look no further than Kitty Victorian. As Washington, DC’s most recognized name in Burlesque, Kitty is a master of the art of the classic strip tease in addition to her growing reputation as a character performer and impersonator. Kitty’s influence has expanded well beyond the DC metro area through her performances in cities across the US and Canada. Her tantalizing, titillating and often comedic performances leave audiences in awe and aching for more.
Kitty Victorian has been teaching burlesque since 2003 and opened the proverbial doors of Burlesque University in Washington, DC September of 2006. Since then, Burlesque University has been a huge success and has opened its doors in Baltimore, Richmond, Chicago, Phoenix, Tucson, Fresno and Reno.
A master of the art of the tease, Kitty is a very versatile performer. Her performance ability extends beyond burlesque to a plethora of other creative talents. A skilled impersonator, Kitty has many characters in her repertoire including but not limited to Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and flapper girls. Additionally, she is a skilled singer and go-go dancer.
A highly skilled performer, Kitty stands out in any situation not only from her beauty and skill, but also for her professionalism. Her life and work experiences outside of performance art allow her to bring to the table excellent business management, interpersonal skills, and charm, as is apparent through feedback from both from other producers as well as private clients. For the best in burlesque, character performance, and professionalism, the best candidate, whatever the occasion, is Kitty Victorian.
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Following Kitty’s outstanding performance came Miss Coco Monroe. Coco started out as the bookings manager with Kitty at the helm at the DC Gurly Show’s inception, and took charge a little over 2 years later. Coco maintained the monthly shows at Chaos, the random shows at The Crucible, and the bi monthly shows at The Palace of Wonders. We also started performing with the DC Kings at Apex during her reign.
Coco has a history in dance, including ballet and tap, which often comes out on stage in her tantalizing performances. Coco has mastered the art of the tease, which you can hope to see when she returns after her upcoming nuptials!
With what seemed like no trouble at all, Coco showed us all that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and gender. She also helped us by educating us on breast health and pap awareness (our past two Capital Pride Parade themes) and helped US to educate others.
Miss Coco had the tough job of navigating us through the closing of Chaos, the switch to Be Bar, which then was bought out by EFN Lounge (which has SINCE been bought out by Mood Lounge), and into our new home–Phase 1 DC. She also maneuvered the troupe successfully through the change of the Palace of Wonders to the Red Palace.
I look forward to what comes next!
Finally, our third Producer is Miss Private Tails AKA Lady RoRo. She has been a member of the DC Gurly Show since August 2006, and made the jump from member to Producer. This change has only been in place Officially, since January 26, 2011, but actually February 23, 2011. Private Tails has a history in Dance and Theatre, and uses that experience to create elements of the show that the crowd is not expecting.
Kitty Victorian’s influences are present in these shows, as she opted to bring back the show opener music of Chaos–The Stripper. When you hear The Stripper or Welcome to Burlesque, you KNOW the show is ready to begin! Now and then, the opening music will shift gears to better suit the theme. She used a clever tactic started by the DC Kings of handing out candy 
while the crowd gets a “Pre-Veal” which is a heads up of costumes and Gurlies that will be performing–all this takes place in the 90 seconds before the show starts.
Coco’s influences are seen specifically in her performances, as she took a page or two out of Coco’s book on the Tease. She’s changed it to make it her own, but bottom line, she knows where some of the ideas came from. Private Tails is a performer who is focused on entertainment and a producer who is focused on progress and group unity. She believes that these three things will help the group to gain notoriety, which, in turn, will help them make money.
Private Tails, as the producer, attributes a lot of her success to the Executive Board with whom she works: Velvet Kensington, Myster E, Lexie Starre, and Sugar Cane.
Velvet Kensington is the Bookings Manager. Lexie Starre is the Marketing Manager. Myster E is the Treasurer and Assistant Producer. Sugar Cane is the Media Manager.
The active Gurlies include:
Sindalicious (2005)
Private Tails (2005)
Victoria Vixen (2005)
Velvet Kensington (2006)
Zoe Tahari (2007)
Anna Steasya (2009)
Grena Dean (2010)
Lexie Starre (2011)
Sugar Cane (2011)
Justice YouLikeIt (2011)
Jessabelle (2011)
Glam Gamz (2011)
Dainty Daindridge (2011)
L. Bow Kitty (2011)
Roma Mafia (2011)
Sin D Strange (2011)
Deeply (2011)
Myster E (2011)
Dawn McSmiley (2012)
We hope to see you at our upcoming shows which are listed HERE.