Showgirls Life Athena

This episode has been over a year in the making. I have been wanting to have this chat since I found out my friend Christopher Childers was in the movie Showgirls. In case you haven’t seen this movie, please know there are a few “spoilers” in this episode. And I will say that unless you really want to watch a highly misogynistic portrayal of strippers and dancers that is fueled by patriarchal standards, you may not even want to waste your time. The movie is highly offensive and ruined an actr...

Today, I have the honor of sharing an interview with a woman who worked behind the scenes with Showgirls in most of Greg Thompson’s productions in Reno. Elaine Sargent used her degree in theatre to immerse herself in the glamour backstage as a wardrobe technician. I had a lot of fun talking with Elaine about costumes, Showgirls, what they are and are not, and of course, why they went away. If you are a fan of Reno, make sure to listen as Elaine shares lots of insights into the good old days o...

Hey hey! Are you ready to deconstruct the showgirl some more? In these special episodes, we have talked about how there are no more showgirl shows with Alison Kravenko in ep 056, physical requirements and expectations with Brenda Barrett in episode 60, and Art vs. selling out with Andrew Branche in ep 062.Today, we continue the deconstruction of the Showgirl and dive into my favorite subject, costumes! And of course, I couldn’t have found a better guest than the master of Showgirl costume des...

Today I present to you a solo episode that touches on a very important topic in the Showgirl’s Life. Community. Though we have shared some hilarious backstage stories in previous episodes, there was magic happening at a deeper level. I am sharing my views on what it was like in the dressing rooms and the beautiful relationships that developed from those naked times. I am also excited to announce my partnership with The Origin Company. Created by Kate Northrup, the author of Money, A Love...

Hey hey! Are you ready to deconstruct the showgirl some more? Last month, in episode 060, we talked about physical requirements and expectations with Brenda Barrett. And in the first ever Showgirl Deconstructed episode 056 back in July, we talked about how there are no more showgirl shows with Alison Kravenko. In this episode we will be discussing the difference between art versus selling out in the dance world. We went all over the place with this one. Talking about what it means to sel...

Tiffany Johnson was a tall nude in Donn Arden’s Jubilee! in 1999 and left just before I got into the show. She returned for 3 more years almost a decade later. She has had a long career with a variety of opportunities and achievements. One thing to note is that we grew up in the same city and saw each other at all the dance competitions. The last time I saw her before I got into the show in 2000 was in Las Vegas at a Nationals competition in 1994, which was the year that she turned pro by joi...