Sept 2: A Coney Island Mermaid’s Break Up Blues Burlesque

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Sept 2: A Coney Island Mermaid’s Break Up Blues Burlesque

September 2, 2010 by Tricia

Tonight at 9 pm at Coney Island USA’s Burlesque at the Beach, ten bucks buys admission to a burlesque show curated by writer, artist, art educator and performer Mermaid Hawley. Enjoy live music by The Legendary House Band, torch singing by Bonnie Dunn and blues from Staten Island’s Phyllis Forman of Queen Tipsey, spoken word by Mermaid Hawley and Michael Schwartz, and superlative burlesque by Bambi the Mermaid, Jo Boobs, Clams Casino, Sizzle Dizzle, Jezebel Express, Anita Cookie, and M’Lady Uppercrust.

Limited edition signed hankies will be passed out to dry your tears and cotton candy will be served to ease the pain of the break-up blues. The title “Mermaid Hawley’s Break Up Blues Burlesque” alludes to various types of break ups, including “the continual onslaught of the break up of Coney Island,” Hawley tells ATZ. “Trying to save the spirit of the place is a much more ethereal kind of thing.” MC Michael Schwartz, who will play the role of Joe Sttand, the anti-Sitt and the real estate developer of the people, will read two of his prose poems.

“I consider myself a newbie but a great lover of Coney Island,” says Hawley, who moved to Seagate eight years ago and fit right in. Her bio certainly piqued our interest in the show:

Hawley Hussey (aka Mermaid Hawley) has been a mermaid and a legendary cold water swimmer her entire life. She holds a coveted patch from the Coney Island Polar Bear Club from the years 2008 to 2010. She is a founding member of the notorious Brooklyn Penguins (since 2007), Coney Island’s newest winter bathing club to emerge over the last 100 years between Stillwell, the Boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean. As a resident of Seagate, Coney Island, Hawley has a particularly inspired perch on Norton’s Point right next to the lighthouse. Her “World Famous Coney Island Break-Up Letters” have been performed and recorded and are currently under consideration for wider print publication.

Photo: Bailey Photography. Image: Memorial painting of Master the Whompa! Man at Ruby’s Bar and Grill by Mermaid Hawley, 2010.

Mermaid Hawley Presents Break Up Blue Burlesque,Burlesque at the Beach, Coney Island USA, 1208 Surf Ave, Coney Island, September 2, 9 pm, $10