You don’t forget watching a bombshell like Fuchsia perform on stage. From the magenta-hued locks that crown her centerfold smile to tha flawless figure dripping in sparkles, feathers and sequins; it’s undeniable that Fuchsia Foxxx is one of Seattle’s most beloved burlesque starlets. This holiday season you can check out her titillating skills starting Dec. 10th in DeLaRue’s production of “Homo for the Holidays”.
Led by the insuperable Ben Delecareme, the show plans to trade in the variety show-themed festivities this year for a more scripted, storyline-driven production. From it’s inception in 2008 Ms. Foxxx has been a pillar to the show’s identity and The Social is grateful she had the time chat about her life as a burlesque star and reflect on her work in “Homo for the Holidays.”
Hey Fuschia, thanks for taking the time to chat with me. How are ya?
Super excited about life!
The show’s just around the corner, hows it all lookin?
So magical, it’s such a hodgepodge of total freaks and weirdos, all with super distinctive and phenomenal talents…
Can you give us a rundown of your career in burlesque? You have quite the body of work (pun intended)
Ha! I began bellydancing and performing about 13 years ago, but it wasn’t until I moved to Seattle and met Miss Indigo Blue after the Dyke March in 2006 that I was welcomed into the Burlesque world. The Seattle burlesque scene was the type of community I had been hoping to fall into for years. Largely queer, diverse and complex artists from many disciplines and backgrounds.
I studied painting in art school and had a minor in gender studies. In my thesis work in college I started to move into performance art, video, installation, dealing with ritual and fantasy. In Baltimore I danced in nightclubs and was actually fired from one job because I presented like a drag queen and refused to shave my arm pits!! I was still doing bellydance movements but performing in ways that didn’t make the most sense in relationship to the venue and audience. Joining this thriving community of physical performers, actors, singers, musicians, writers, filmmakers, costumers, drag queens, comics, circus, vaudeville and showgirls is seriously a dream come true.
“Homo For The Holidays” is on it’s 4th production and you’ve been apart of the show since day 1. How did that all come together?
Honeysuckle Hype and I produced the very first “Homo for the Holidays” at The Wildrose Bar. It was a baby snowball compared to the avalanche of magic it is today! Honeysuckle and Ben Delacreme co-produced it until she moved to go to grad school, then BDLC took over fully, and this year its DeLaRue Presents, with Ben DLC, Kitten LaRue & Lou Henry Hoover producing.
It looks like you’ve got a Jew in the cast! Was that your idea?
Honeysuckle Hype was our Jewish cast member, we lost her pussy latkes among other treasures she brought to the show. There is no filling those britches, but Jesus is in our show now and he’s Jewish.
Jesus is total Jewsville- good point. So how’s it been to work with Ben for so many years?
Amazing. Ben Delacreme is the most interesting, thoughtful, feminist and genius artists I have ever worked with. I feel very connected to his values and the lens in which he deconstructs and views culture, art and the responsibility we have as “makers” in the world. I relate to his visual arts background and hold a similar space for archetypes in my own work. I could literally listen to him ramble on about vintage kitchenware or race, class and gender in relation to Toontown and the Magic Kingdom.
What are a couple moments that stick out when you reflect on H4TH?
It is seriously the highlight of my performance year. Working with a whole queer cast of incredible performers, presenting a show for our community, the whole holiday season has become my favorite due to working in this career. Last year I got frosted and sprinkled, it was the naked-est and messiest I had ever been on stage, and then having to take a “shower” off stage in a big tin bucket before my next act. Naked, standing in a bucket, in stripper heels, rainbow Nerds bleeding into the white frosting, a thin muslin curtain between my bathing situation and audience members seated 2 feet away.
Any artists or songs you listen to that get you pumped up for your shows? You know- like the theme song from Rocky.
I mainly listen to my music for the acts I am doing, or Sleeter Kinney, Erase Errata or certain PJ Harvey songs on repeat, something to keep my energy up, and I drink lots of coffee!
Your body is BANGIN lady- how do you keep in such great shape for performances?
I teach 3 times a week and honestly I kick my own but teaching. We do a 30 minute yoga/Ab workout in a few of the classes and a full hour long conditioning class, geared toward training muscle required for bellydance moves, glutes, quads, abs mostly, but bellydance is an all over workout, and many of the acts I perform on stage are very cardiovascular. I teach bellydance at The Academy of Burlesque and at Skin Deep Dance Studio.
What’s on your schedule for New Years?
I’ll be doing a lots of gigs on NYE! Come down to Highway 99 Blues Club and check out myself and the other ladies in the Blue Velvet Burlesque Revue.
Is it true your name was crafted as an homage to the original Naughty Girl Samantha Fox? Please say yes.
No…Fuchsia came out of my body of work in art school dealing with “pink” and gender studies. Foxxx with 3 ‘x’s is my straight edge power animal.
QUCK- 5 words or less that sum up this year’s “Homo For The Holidays”:
Hilarious, heartwarming, inspiring, magical, F.U.N.!!!!!
Thanks for the interview Foxxx! Don’t miss Fuchsia along with Ben Delacreme, Jinkx Monsoon,Randy Labieniec, James Mchendry and more in “Homo for the Holidays.” With a limited 8-show run I’d suggest getting your tickets NOW through Brown Paper Tickets before it sells out (and it will.) Seriously folks it’s probably the gayest way anyone could celebrate baby Jesus this year- so just do it.
