Burlesque Legend Dusty Summers tells you how she feels about full nude

Burlesque Legend Dusty Summers is as nimble with her words as she is with her feet. She’s direct, opinionated, and seasoned with a sass decades in the making.
Interviewing Summers was one of the highlights of our documentary team’s recent trip to Las Vegas and the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend event June 1-4. During the trip, we also visited Lacy’s Lounge, a more traditional strip club, but one that emphasizes performance over transactions.
Documentary “Do the Dance” uses the examination of a precedent-setting 1969 strip club indecency trial to tell a broader story about the limits to Free Expression. The trial over bottomless dancing (full nude) made national news when Judge Earl Warren Jr. ruled the jury needed to see the dancer ‘do the dance.’
Summers worked at the trouble-making club, the Pink Pussy Kat in Orangevale, before embarking on a career as a touring exotic dancer. At age 69, Summers is still working as Las Vegas’ only stripping magician.
Summers left the Pink Pussy Kat before -- at the urging of the club’s owner -- the performers started dancing bottomless. The fully-nude go-go performances starting a multi-year battle between the beer bar and the local authorities. Summers would later share a billing with the performer at the center of the trial Susanne Haines. Haines won Miss Nude Universe in 1972 and was the headliner.
While Haines famously fought to go fully naked, Summer didn’t want to show it all then and doesn’t now.
To find out just what the sharp-tongued Summers said you’ll have to watch the documentary.

She was one of the featured performers at the Burlesque Hall of Fame weekend. Dustin Wax, executive director of the currently expanding hall was another one of our interviews.
Our two-night stay, also took us to Lacy's is located in North Las Vegas. It bills itself as Las Vegas' only Atlanta-style (hip hop) strip club. To pull himself out of a hole, longtime Michael Jackson impersonator and dancer Craig Parks started performing in male review shows then hosting big booty events before taking on his own space connected to the historic Palomino Club. We also talked to dancers Destiny and Dream.

Campaign to fund free expression documentary film hits 30 percent

An online campaign to help fund a documentary about the limits to free expression is under way lead by Sacramento journalist Ed Fletcher.

Using the crowdfunding site Indiegogo, Fletcher and his team are trying to raise $10,000 by March 22. Through March 4, the month-long campaign was at 30 percent of goal.

The feature-length documentary will use the colorful 1969 trial over “bottomless” dancing at Orangevale’s Pink Pussy Kat to help to tell a broader story about the limits of free expression then and now.

The impactful Sacramento trial went national when Judge Earl Warren Jr. decided to take the jury to the club see the dancers “do the dance.” The case helped write the rules for exotic dance in California.

"We are excited to be bringing this forward at a time women's rights and civil liberties are in the public conversation,” said Fletcher, a longtime reporter at The Sacramento Bee. 

Directing the project is DQ Hayes, an emerging filmmaker and former musician from the band Shakedown.  

The team kicked off the project with a fundraising party on Feb. 21 in Sacramento.

More information at: Dothedance.net

GIVE HERE 

Burlesque Legend Angel Walker on the role of GoGo dancers

A lot has changed in taking it off.
Helping keep me on my toes is Burlesque Legend Angel Walker better known as Satans Angel.
Headliners like Walker and Carol Doda were the stars, but GoGo dancers were a key part of the entertainment. They kept the patrons there between acts by featured performers, Walker explains. Some clubs only featured GoGo dancers.
Just what kind of dancing was going on at Orangevale's Pink Pussy Kat a Go-Go? That's what a 1969 Sacramento trial set out to find out.
That trial is the launching point for documentary film "Do the Dance."
In this audio Walker talks Carol Doda, Go-Go dancers and the bar owners' push for more skin.





Here is my earlier interview for more on her amazing backstory.

Portland burlesque star featured at Sacramento documentary film fundraiser

The Sacramento-based team behind the forthcoming documentary film “Do the Dance” is proud to announce that a rising star in burlesque and strip will headline the film project’s Feb. 21 launch fundraiser.

Headlining this hot-ticket event is Ivizia, the reigning Miss Exotic Oregon. The event will also feature performances from Sacramento’s Midtown Moxies burlesque troupe.

The evening, at Midtown Sacramento’s Clara performing arts center, will premiere the film’s preview trailer, feature the presiding Judge Earl Warren Jr, an auction of “free expression” art and small bites from celebrity chef Adam Pachal.

Ivizia is a Portland-based entertainer who has been thrilling audiences around the world since 2001. With over 15 years of specializing in fire performance, she has also become a premiere variety entertainer and is guaranteed to ignite your fantasies. In addition to her hotter talent, Ivizia's repertoire includes roller-skating, cube spinning, comedy and a unique puppetry performance that may just give you a “religious experience”.
Ivizia holds the title for Miss Exotic Oregon 2016 and is crowned "Queen of Roses" for 2016 Oregon Burlesque Festival.

The Midtown Moxies Burlesque troupe were formed in late 2014 and have been packing the house ever since! You can see them every 1st Saturday at Midtown Barfly and every 3rd Friday at The Blue Lamp. The Moxies blend classic moves and elements with modern music,  sultry singing and hilarious comedy, creating diverse performances that please every guest.

“Do the Dance” is a feature documentary the uses Sacramento’s infamous “bottomless” stripper trial to tell a broader story about the limits of free expression.

Veteran Sacramento Bee reporter Ed Fletcher is the project’s creative lead. DQ Hayes, formerly of the band Shakedown, is directing and is a
producer.

Get tickets HERE

Cable show: Where are you at with film project?

I recently sat down with Elisia Gonzales and Rafael Siegel, the hosts of the community cable show Sactown Underground, to talk about the exciting updates on my documentary film project "Do The Dance." Do The Dance explores the 1969 Sacramento's strip club indecency trail that wrote the rules in California for exotic dance. The conversation also hits on how to setup the feature film screenplay "Pink."

Progress, setback in search for crusading stripper

Exotic dancer Susanne Haines (edited)

Yesterday was one of those "good news, bad news" days in my on-again search for Susanne Haines -- the dancer at the center of Sacramento's landmark 1969 strip club indecency case.
The case made national headlines when Judge Earl Warren Jr. decided the jury needed to see the dance to decide whether it violated community standards. It also featured a performance from San Franciso dancer Carol Doda. It remains relevant because the case helped set the rules for exotic dance in California.
The bad news: new clues lead to yet another dead end (for now).
Good news: I found her sister Evangeline Fullmer AND she agreed to be interviewed on camera.
Finding Susanne has been no so simple get.
She was Susanne Haines
But first she was Susanne Tropper
then she was Susanne Register
and now Susanne Medina
Suddenly after months of no progress, I had actionable intelligence (i.e.  a phone number and address).
But alas it appears Susanne sold her central Florida residence and moved again. (Confirmed by a neighbor and realtor.com) If she not running sometimes it appears that way.
In the great news category, I've tracked down both her siblings Carlton Tropper and Evangeline (Tropper) Fullmer.
I spoke with Evangeline for about an hour.
The conversation started awkwardly, as one might suspect. I call out of the blue and her I am asking about things that happened nearly 50 years ago. But once we started talking, I think she enjoyed the trip down memory lane. At 73, she's sharp and thoughtful.
As a teen herself, Evangeline became the de facto mother to her younger sister Susanne and brother Carlton after their mother died and their father slid into alcoholism.
Susanne emerged as a free-thinking firebrand, unafraid to do her own thing.
"Susanne was different. She beat to her own drummer," Fullmer said. "Knowing Susanne I wasn't surprised," she said of her sister's path into stripping.
Susanne's sister won't be much help finding her. She didn't know Susanne had moved and isn't in regular contact with her once newsworthy sister.

Carol Doda performs during Sacramento stripper trial

So exciting about these images I found of the Pink Pussy Kat trial that I can't want to share what I found at the U.C. Davis Speical Collections. They were taken by the Sacramento Union newspaper on Sept. 22, 1969. 

Sacramento's 1969 "bottomless" stripper trial reached another level of media hype when San Francisco performer Carol Doda arrived to dance for the 10 men, 2 woman jury. The Sept. 22, 1969 court proceedings took place at Chuck Landis' Largo. Pink Pussy Kat performers Susanne Marie Haines and Sheila Brandenson, as well as owner Leonard Glancy were arrested after performing fully nude.

The presiding judge Earl Warren Jr. is surrounded by the media. The fact that Warren is the son of Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren added another story line.

While the trial hinging on "contemporary community standards," in addition to watching the offending dance, the jury received testimony from Doda and watched the film "I Am Curious Yellow."

Carol Doda surrounded by the Sacramento media including radio station KFBK.

Trial judge Earl Warren Jr. outside of Chuck Landis' Largo. All image used on a provisional basis. Images from Sacramento Union archives maintained by the U.C. Davis Special Collections. 

Orangevale's Pink Pussy Kat left legacy

Orangevale's Pink Pussy Kat a Go-Go may have been short-lived and lacking in grandeur, but it left its mark on American culture through its challenge of perceived and later instituted indecency standards. Having found no recorded account of the club or the trial, I wrote one based on news stories obtained through The Sacramento Bee and an autobiography written by former exotic performer Susanne Haines Register. Please help me improve on this article. -- Ed Fletcher

Tavern owner Leonard Glancy
 is flanked by dancers
Susanne Haines (left) and Shiela Brendenson  Sacramento Bee August 27, 1969

Orangevale strip club impact outlasts club

The Pink Pussy Kat was a beer bar and strip club noted for its legal wranglings with county and state authorities over indecency standards in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was located in Orangevale, CA, about 25 miles northeast of Sacramento. 

The bar, which featured beer, food, pool tables and topless (and sometimes bottomless) barmaids is believed to have closed on or around the March 1976 death of owner Leonard Glancy. It was located at 9346 Greenback Lane, in a drab Orangevale shopping plaza.

Sacramento County Sheriff "Big" John Misterly actively sought to reign in the 1960s counterculture movement and tasked detectives with making regular check at the region's adult-themed bars.

On July 27, 1969, dancers Susanne Marie Haines, 22, and Sheila Brandenson,  were arrested after performing fully nude. Owner Leonard Glancy was taken in as well. Topless had been the acceptable practice. Presiding over the trial was Sacramento Superior Court Judge Earl Warren, Jr., who happens to be the son of former California Governor and Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. Warren still resides in the Sacramento area.

The trial made national headlines after Warren agreed to a defense motion to temporarily move the proceeding to the club and allow the jury to see the offending performance. On Sept. 17, Haines attempted to replicate the dance for which was was arrested. She danced to "Suzy Q," and songs by the Byrds and Jimi Hendrix under dim lights with psychedelic art projected on the walls. On Sept. 22, noted San Francisco topless performer Carol Doda also performed for the jury.

The dancers and Glancy were acquitted Oct. 2, 1969, by the 10-man, two-woman jury, but that was far from the end of the legal fight over nude dancing.

On Oct. 21, Sacramento County enacted an ordinance prohibiting topless and bottomless dancing, and topless waitresses.

Glancy and Haines challenged the constitutionality of the ordinance.

During the legal fight, Glancy turned to various other means to keep his business going, including offering patrons a closed-circuit broadcast of on-site strip performances and putting dancers in see-through panties.

The result of the case, which was combined with other challenges from similar laws, is California’s current practice of not allowing alcohol at fully-nude strip clubs based health code rules.

On May 12, 1970, Glancy was arrested in the shooting of a patron in the parking lot. Glancy claimed it was in defense.

Shortly after her indecency acquittal, Haines left the Pink Pussy Kat. To further her career as striptease performer and capitalize on her notoriety, she began touring gentlemen's clubs across the country as a featured performer. In 1971, she won the title of Miss Nude Cosmos, often known by its more legally dubious name, Miss Nude Universe. During her time on the road, doing a week or more stints at strip clubs, she was arrested more than a dozen times for performing bottomless. By her account, these dances -- and her arrests -- were part publicity stunt, part legitimate act of free expression.

Death records indicate Glancy died in March of 1976.

It’s unclear when the club closed.  

In 1978, Haines, under her married name Susanne Haines Register wrote, “Take It All Off,” an autobiography that followed her path from Mormon schoolgirl to “dope-smoking” dancer and on to her eventual self-described “salvation.”

Historic pussy kat photos hard to find

"Bottomless trial" defendants (tavern owner Leonard Glancy with Susanne Haines (left) and Shiela Brendenson) await the day's court appearance before Municipal Judge Earl Warren Jr.. Sacramento Bee August 27, 1969

Mini-documentary to proceed film, educate public, build audience 

Finding pictures of Orangevale's long-closed Pink Pussy Kat a Go-Go has turned out to be much more of a project than I expected. That's one thing documentaries don't come out and tell you: how hard it was to find the historic photos and interview subjects.
When I first started my screenplay "Pink," I was quick to dismiss any thought of doing it as a documentary. But as the project moved along, it became increasingly clear that telling this story as it really happened is also part of my mission.
For those new to this blog, in 1969 two dancers and the owner of the Pink Pussy Kat were arrested and went on trial for indecent exposure after the dancer performed without panties.
The trial became a nation story with Judge Earl Warren Jr. moved the trial to a strip club to allow the jury to see the exotic "bottomless" dance.
This photo, featuring the tavern owner Leonard Glancy and dancers Susanne Haines (left) and Shiela Brendenson, was obtained through the Center for Sacramento History.
The Sacramento Bee photo dated Aug. 27, 1969 shows the three awaiting  the day's court appearance before Municipal Judge Earl Warren Jr.
I've made some effort to find photographs of the club, the dancers, the scene, but in the coming weeks it will be time to take those efforts to a new level, hopefully with news coverage, advertising and an organized effort to hit up the places old men frequent. I'll update the post as more details become available.
The plan is for the mini-documentary to increase interest in the film. Have ideas on ways to find photos and live stories? Better yet want to help track down some of these people?

May busy, exciting time on film front

By Ed Fletcher
Early May looks like it's going to be an incredibly busy and exciting time for me. In a matter of days, I'm throwing a party in Old Sacramento, staging a photo shoot and my film short "Goldie" is screening in Seattle.
May 1: Party for "Pink"
May 3: Pink photoshoot
May 4: "Goldie" screening

Party for "Pink" is a chance to generate excitement around my feature film project "Pink" among Sacramento International Film Festival attendees and general Sacramento public.
The free event at Vega's Underground in Old Sacramento will feature 70s rock from cover band Lane 5, burlesque performances and comedy. The fun starts at 9 p.m.

On May 3, I'm turning Sacramento's Blue Lamp back into a strip club for a photo shoot. Behind the camera will be Sacramento photographer and visual artist Melissa Uroff.

Then on Monday, May 4 I fly to Seattle to be on hand as "Goldie," the short film I wrote and produced, screens as part of the Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival. It's part of a night of LGBTQ-friendly films and live drag show.

Whew!

Producer appearance as guest to burlesque show

Call it the lifecycle of the writer/producer.
For the better part of a year, I spent nights and weekends turning down invitations so I could spend more time sequestered to my keyboard.
Now with the pendulum swung toward producer, I'm in the streets trying to network my script into existence.
Last night, plunked in the front row a burlesque show with two lovely legends of the craft on either side of me made up for several of those sunny Saturdays I gave up to write my screenplay "Pink."

To my right was Miss Cherry Malone, a world champion burlesque performer. To my left Miss Petty (O'Ferrell) Russell, who performed across America from the 1950s to 1970s.
The Golden Poppy Revue is a production of Miss Vivienne Fuego.

Performers included:
Legend Isis Starr, "The Goddess of Burlesque" (SF)
Sugar Cheeks-Burlesque
Jenna Jezebel
Violet Ruthless
Dahlia D'Vine
Casaba Meloune
Bella Blue-Eyes
PLUS!!!:
Torch Song Singer Roxy Vox
Swing dance performance by Felicia & Ramses
Sideshow performer Ryan Dile
Comedy by "Sacramento's Sweetheart", Steph Garcia,

#Sacramento #burlesque comes alive at Colonial #theater #sexy #dance #arts #edm #music

A video posted by Ed Fletcher (@perpetualf) on Mar 1, 2015 at 1:45pm PST

Burlesque legend Angel Walker talks taking it off

Burlesque Legend Angel Walker, better known as Satan's Angel, has lived such an incredible life that hours into a conversation she still finds new ways to shock you.
From San Francisco's North Beach to the world's stage, her story is the subject of the documentary "Satan's Angel: The Queen of Fire Tassels."
In hopes of better understanding my screenplay "Pink" and Orangevale's "Pink Pussy Kat," I reached out to Ms. Walker.
The result was a delightful conversation about burlesque, go-go, striptease and exotic dancing in the late 60s and early 70s.
She could not tell me much about the Pink Pussy Kat or the dancer at the center of the trial Susanne Haines, but that's not to say there wasn't much to learn from that unguarded spark plug of a woman. Here's a piece of our conversation:

Film research trip ends exotic avoidance

I wonder sometimes what people think about a guy who would devote years of his life writing a screenplay and producing a movie about a strip club.
 "Some big perv."
Fact is, until last night, I hadn't been to a strip club for at least five years -- including the entire time writing "Pink."
For those new to the blog, "Pink" is my sexy dramatic comedy about Sacramento's 1969 "bottomless" stripper trial. The indecency trial became a national story when the judge decided in order for the jury to determine whether the dance violated community standards they'd have to see it. The girls won the trial but the government changed the law making it a health code violation to consume alcoholic beverages in establishments that allow full nudity.
So what's a guy who doesn't care for spending money on exotic dancers doing writing a screenplay about exotic dancers? The short answer is because it a local story that needed to be told. When you strip everything else away its a story about free expression dressed up in late 60s attire.
Think "American Hustle" meets "People vs. Larry Flynt."
Most of my research came from old fraying newspaper clips. I didn’t set out to write a strip club screenplay. It started as a short term project and has steadily grown.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a prude (though "Blue Lagon" was too much for me went I saw it as a boy). I’ve been to strip clubs and enjoy seeing women naked as much as the next guy, probably a little more. The bulk of my strip club experience came from Bourbon Street excursions during college and the rush of bachelor parties one endures in their early 30s.
But I could never justify expending money on the experience.
More than the money, the transactional relationship bothers me.
While I firmly believe performers should have the right to dance naked in exchange for money, I much prefer nudity without compensation.
Pink can be a beautiful movie that makes audiences laugh, causes a modest arousal, says something about art, freedom and culture -- and makes money.
So for the sake of research I, joined by a female friend, went to Gold Club Centerfolds. After an absence of half a decade, the adult establishment seemed remarkably the same in all its soft skin and curvaceous glory.
I'll spare you the details (good and bad) other than to note I drank hot tea, a legacy of the "Pink Pussy Kat" decision.

Film about exotic dance trial needs an image

Which of these three are best represent "Pink?"

Having never been a screenwriter before maybe I don’t know any better, but when I finish something I burn to see it made. That’s the point, right.

With that in mind I’m going to American Film Market in Santa Monica Nov. 5-12 to sell or develop my feature screenplay “Pink.”

Logline: A free-speech-loving exotic dancer battles a small-town sheriff and bares it all to convince a jury that her "bottomless" dance is art worthy of protection in this sexy courtroom comedy based on an actual 1969 case.

Here’s where you come in. The super talented graphic artist Val Mina has offered up three great ideas for an illustration. The illustration will be used on the web, but most importantly right now will be the image on our “leave behind” materials given to distributors, agents, producers, money men, casting directors and the like.

1. In one the judge's robes become the theater curtains, as a girl dances on stage.
2. Instead of lady justice we have a judge peeking under the blindfold to get peek at the lady dancing on one of the scales.
3. Classic. On possible variation would be to have sheriff between the legs rather than the judge.

Give us your thoughts.

I had previously begun laying the groundwork for a photo shoot and video tease also be used to market the film, but in the interest of time that will wait until after November. Thanks again for your support in this endeavor.

I'm going to make a film

I’m taking a break from my sink full of dirty dishes to declare that I intend on making a movie.
Readers of this blog -- all 15 of you -- should know that I’ve recently completed writing my first feature-length screenplay.
I heartily accept your congratulations on how far I’ve come -- it’s already represents my longest sustained effort in any single endeavor -- but there is a big difference between a completed screenplay and a script that’s turned into a movie.
I shall complete the latter.
It consumes me. Six thoughts out of 10 are about next steps towards making it happens. I read. I plot. I youtube knowledge. And I try attempt to resist letting it dominate every conversation with friends.
Just this week, I’ve been corralling actors for a “table read” of the script, started planning a marketing photo shoot, talked to two potential investors, and convinced the companion video game.
I’m as serious as a heart attack.
For those new to the blog, I’ll end the suspense. The title is “Pink” or maybe “Pink Pussy Kat.” (Offer your thoughts in the comment field)
Here what the back of the box reads: A free-speech-loving exotic dancer battles a small-town sheriff and bares it all to convince a jury that her "bottomless" dance is art worthy of protection in this sexy courtroom comedy based on an actual 1969 case.
I heard about the case from a newsroom old timer and dove into the newspaper clips. I’m surprised to see this there is no Wikipedia entry on this as the case or the bar. My surprise is heightened by the fact that the government’s loss is was the impetus for the revision in California law governing adult entertainment that still stands today.
There are two possible paths towards realizing this vision of getting the movie made. One is Hollywood. The other is as an Independent Film.
I will exhaust all reasonable efforts to see it made as a Hollywood film.
This is a premise that has sizzle. There is a reason it was a national story back in ‘69. Judges don’t take jury’s to strip clubs every day. As Earl Warren Jr. put it the jury would have a better look at the evidence by actually watching the dance.
This is American Hustle meets People Vs. Larry Flint meets Flashdance.
I intend on submitting it to a cross section of screenwriting competitions to help it gain visibility. I’ll cold call, stock and harass agents in an attempt to get representation. I’ll exploit personal connection to make this happen.
But knowing what little I know about Hollywood, I know that may not be enough.
That’s why I almost hope I’ll be presented with the challenge fully-realizing Perpetual F Entertainment and producing Pink as an Independent Film.
Between crowdfunding, live event fundraisers, angel investors and pre-funding distribution deals, I think it possible to finance the film at the level to warrant broad distribution.
All that to say, with the right network this is within reach.
I’ve been a newspaper man the last 14 years, but I have a track record as a doer.
Two quick stories before I go back to the dishes.
During my waning days as student body president of my high school an opportunity presented itself to open a student store. So during my spare time between school work sports, theater, and other student leadership duties I got the space allocated, got a contractor to make building modifications, and ordered product. The store still stands.
In college, as editor-in-chief we decided to pick up our newsroom and move it to New Orleans to produce three extra daily editions during my school’s big football game the Bayou Classic.
This new challenge will be the maximum test of my skills and I’m ready for it.