The Stars

Our May 26th show features Charlotte Treuse, Miss Stormy Gayle, Athena, Foxy Flambeaux, singer Debbbie Davis, and Dante!
PERLE NOIRE, the Black Pearl jump-started her burlesque career with Bustout Burlesque in 2005. Her tribute to Josephine Baker is so electrifying, she was labeled “Feminine Phenomenon” by the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Since then, she has gone on to win the “Queen of Burlesque” competition at the 2009 New Orleans Burlesque Festival, as well as titles at the Burlesque Hall of Fame Weekend in Las Vegas. Perle Noire has appeared on television in the Travel Channel’s Extreme Competitions, and on film in the feature documentary Burlesque Undressed. In July 2010, she performed on the bill with Dita Von Teese in “Cointreau presents An Evening with Dita Von Teese and Special Guests, in association with Bustout Burlesque.” Since then, she has performed in two other Dita Von Teese shows at the Roxy Theater in Hollywood. This year, Perle headlined the Show-Me Burlesque Festival in St. Louis, and performed in Madrid, Spain over the summer.
STORMY GAYLE – is a trained and experienced model, actress, and dancer whose love for burlesque is undeniable. She is a New Orleans native, and an original member of Bustout Burlesque. She started her burlesque career on Bourbon Street in the Crazy Horse-inspired show, La Revue. She recently performed at the 2011 Ink & Iron Festival on the Queen Mary. She portrayed Marilyn Monroe for the Marilyn and Joe DiMaggio exhibit, also on board the Queen Mary.  In film, Stormy portrayed Jason Priestley’s mistress in the film Snow Wonder, a striptease dancer in Faith of My Fathers, a Hooters girl in Meet the Spartans, and “Adrianna” in Love, Wedding, Marriage.
ATHENA – Labeled “Goddess of the Bodice” by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, this headliner has been with Bustout Burlesque since early 2006. Athena is a New Orleans native, but gets her exotic good looks from her Greek heritage. This well-rounded entertainer sings and dances in the show, making her a favorite among audiences. In 2007, she appeared in an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet Sixteen. In 2010, she performed in the 2nd Annual New Orleans Burlesque Festival.
MINA MECHANTE is both “delicious and malicious.”  She has performed in many major events including the Toronto Burlesque Festival, The New Orleans Burlesque Festival, The St. Louis Burlesque Showcase: A Modern Vaudeville Extravaganza, and at The Burlesque Hall of Fame.  Mina is originally from Chicago where she performed with The Chicago Starlets and in many acclaimed shows such as, Michelle L’amour’s Big Sexy Show, Lipshtick, Belles and Whistles, and Lady Jack’s ElectriciTease.  She was also one of the founding members of Naked Girls Reading.
PRALINE DUPREE is a creole southern beauty who captivated audiences with her “Girl and the Gorilla” act. Since losing her gorilla, Praline performs her innocent 1950’s school girl routine that has tongues wagging! She has performed at Harrah’s New Orleans at both the 2009 and 2010 New Orleans Burlesque Festival, as well as the 2011 Dallas Burlesque Festival and Colorado Burlesque Festival.


DEBBIE DAVIS has been Bustout’s resident songbird for nearly five years. She also sings with the New Orleans-based Pfister Sisters. Gambit Weekly says, “Debbie Davis is old school!” Offbeat Magazine wrote, “Of all the New Orleans vocalists pursuing the retro torch singer route, Ms. Davis is the most convincing because shes got the powerful pipes and the voluptuous body.”
DANTE is Bustout Burlesque’s Master of Ceremonies. Over the past decade Dante has presented his various magic shows professionally more than two thousand times. These consummate performances have delighted and amazed audiences all over the United States and in more than a dozen countries around the world. Dante has been emceeing Bustout Burlesque for over three years. When not performing magic, Dante plays trumpet and baritone with a variety of bands.
WILD CHERRY was raised in a circus family, and began dancing in the girlie shows on the carnival circuit. In the late 1950s, Cherry worked as an exotic dancer in the nightclubs on Bourbon Street. She incorporated “oriental” and Afro-Cuban dance in her striptease acts. She performs a comedic monologue in Bustout Burlesque, but occasionally performs as a dancer in burlesque festivals. You can meet Wild Cherry as she signs her old publicity photos after the show!
SPECIAL GUEST HEADLINERS!

 LOLA VAN ELLA is an international burlesque singer and dancer based in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2008, Alive Magazine named her one St. Louis’ most influential people. In 2009, Lola won the 2nd runner up title in the Queen of Burlesque Competition at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, and was voted number 9 in 21th Century Pin-up’s Top 50 Burlesque Performers worldwide. Lola produces Show-Me Burlesque, an annual burlesque festival in St. Louis. With a sultry voice, devastating shimmy, and flirtatious smile; this adventurous ecdysiast has garnered a lot of attention and the tagline “The Derriere Beyond Compare”.
GINGER LEE VALENTINE (Queen of Burlesque 2011) is the shining star of Dallas’s burgeoning burlesque scene. She is the co-producer of both the Ruby Revue at House of Blues Dallas, as well the Dallas Burlesque Festival. In 2009, Miss Valentine was awarded “One to Watch” at the annual Hot Rods and Heels. She won “Best Tease” at the 2010 Texas Burlesque Festival. In 2011, she competed against the world’s top burlesque dancers and won the title of “Queen of Burlesque” at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival.
THE BUSTOUT BURLESQUE JAZZ BAND
MATT BELL (bandleader/guitar) Following an ever-growing thirst for music, deep rooted and real, Matt Bell has found his place in New Orleans. A musician for 17 years, he harbors a fondness for collaborating with artists of different disciplines. Bell has participated musically in groups ranging from tribal belly dance to circus, to theater and cabaret. It is no surprise to find Matt now filling the musical chair of bandleader, guitarist, and arranger of the Bustout Burlesque jazz band.
MIKE JENNER (sax/clarinet) Saxophonist Michael Jenner was raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has spent the last fourteen years in New Orleans. The hard bop of Pittsburgh and the street beats of New Orleans have been crucial to the development of his music. Jenner released his debut album “The Michael Jenner Group” in 2002 and holds degrees from Loyola University New Orleans and Middle Tennessee State University. Recent credits include Kermit Ruffin’s “Happy Talk,” on Basin Street Records and appearances with Frankie Valli, Eric Lindell, Renard Poche, and Leif Pedersen’s 1944 Big Band.
JIM THORNTON (trumpet) Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Jim Thornton is a self-taught trumpet player. Having accepted the philosophical challenge that “good music should make a woman take off her clothes,” it is no wonder that his playing comprises a balance of sweet, disarming melodies and growls, grunts, flutter tongueing, and general plunger mute nastiness. Jim is owner of JGT Group, LLC which provides specialized legal support services to some of the nation’s best attorneys. As his parents often remind him, while Jim plays Burlesque, his brother sings in a church choir.
GREG SCHATZ (bass) is a multi instrumentalist who plays piano and accordion as well as electric & upright bass.  In addition to performing with a wide variety of New Orleans ensembles as a sideman he also writes and performs original music with his own band Schatzy. He has been playing with the Bustout Burleque Jazz Band since 2007.
DOC RICHARDS (drums) Doc Richards is a third generation New Orleanian, who has worked as a drummer since the 1960s. He’s played with Frankie Brent, Bobby Stevens, Freddy Palmisano, Rosario Purpura, Red Schroeder, Ronnie Cole, Bobby Cure, Bobby Lanero, and three Elvis impersonators!  Doc has been a favorite with the Jerry Christopher’s Big Easy Jazz Band for over 6 years. He has frequently been called upon to play with “Dr. Jazz” aka Russell Steele since 2006. Doc has been laying down the booms and crashes for Bustout Burlesque since the show was revived after Hurricane Katrina in early 2006. The Times-Picayune’s David Cuthbert proclaimed Doc Richards “beats those skins with a Gene Krupa-like intensity.”