Kung Fu Finale

May 18, 2011





*photo by Nick Doll

Kung Fu Finale

After a long day at the Dragon Boat races in Marathon and the drive back on Saturday evening, Kathy & I, along with my co-worker Kris- headed out Saturday night to catch the final performance of the 2010-11 Key West Burlesque season as the troupe closed the curtain with their performance of the incredible “Kung Fu” show.



* photo by Nick Doll



We had caught one of the opening shows last week, but wanted to return and see the closing night as well. Closing nights are always special to the cast and crew and you never know what might happen. The crowd also seems to feed off the energy that the performers bring to their last show and it generally makes for an electric evening.

* photo by Nick Doll





Key West Burlesque has become in the last few years, one of our favorite things about Key West. The amazing, talented group of performers led by Marky Pierson and Tatah DuJour, have wowed the island with an ever more impressive series of shows and each season they seem to outdo themselves. We especially enjoy the large scale production “theme” shows like last year’s brilliant “Space” show and this “Kung Fu” show.

*photo by Nick Doll





The costumes, sets, choreography and singing all reached new levels of excellence. In fact the continuing development of the talented Dark n Stormy as a singer has been a real pleasure to watch. She has a tremendous voice and presence and her addition to the line-up has really improved the overall show. Music is always a key element in the show and this time the music featured a crowd pleasing array of mostly 80s rock anthems that had the crowd singing along.

*photo by Nick Doll



*photo by Nick Doll

The show was awesome. The music perfect and the performers both new and old were great. It is so funny and entertaining- not to mention sexy and fun. The packed theatre upstairs at Kelly’s was rocking and it was impossible not to have a good time. Though this was the final show of the season – they will be back next year for more madness including the annual holiday show, the burlesque show and their 5th annual big Spring show. If you haven’t had the chance to see them yet- what are you waiting for? Keep an eye out at Keystix.com for next season’s shows- which will most likely continue to sell out.

*photo by Nick Doll

* photo by Nick Doll

*photo by Nick Doll

Thanks so much to Marky, Tatah and all the cast, crew and sponsors of Key West Burlesque. Thanks also to the brilliant photographer Nick Doll who took many of the amazing photos that I show here. Nick is easily one of the finest photographers in the Keys and if you need an event photographer- you should look him up.



Key West Burlesque

Nick Doll Photography

Battle In The Bay Dragon Boat Festival

May 17, 2011







Battle In The Bay Dragon Boat Festival



The third annual Battle In the Bay Dragon Boat Festival was held this past weekend in Marathon and for the third year in a row, Kathy has volunteered to paddle for one of the teams- whichever one needs additional people. Her first year she was a member of the Squally Heroncane team, last year she joined the Twitter Team and this year was perhaps her most interesting and rewarding effort as a member of the Conch Republic Navy/ Eye of the Hurricane Dragon Boat Team.







The Conch Republic Navy team is a local team that was put together in 2009 and this year joined forces with six paddlers from The Eye of The Dragon, a visually impaired from Vancouver. As a show of solidarity, all the sighted members of the team, including Kathy agreed to compete in all their races wearing blindfolds.

Kathy



Kathy had been heading up to Marathon each evening the week prior to the race to practice with whatever team members were available, but the visitors from Vancouver dis not arrive until the day before and thus the complete team had never practiced together as a unit before heading out for their first race.





There were 19 teams from across Florida and around the US who were in Marathon to compete, with preliminary races held that determined times which would be divided into three divisions with the fastest in the A division etc.







Their first race was the Gift of Life challenge- which pitted their team against the Warriors on the Water (WOW) from Orlando made up of Cancer survivors and the Save Our Sisters (SOS) team of breast cancer survivors from Miami. While it would seem that all these participants could be considered winners before they put their first paddle in the water. The Conch Republic Navy team bested their competition by a good margin and moved via their time into the coveted A Division with the 5th fastest time overall.





After the Gift of Life challenge- the annual Survivor Flower Ceremony was held with the boats and teams from the race as well as with the crowd gathered on the shore who all tossed flowers to honor those afflicted with cancer- both those survivors and those who lost their battle to the dread disease. It was a beautiful and moving ceremony as always and it brought the entire Dragon Boat community together in solidarity with the survivor teams.





The races lasted most of the day as boats battled it out in the three divisions. Kathy’s team had a great day, maintaining just about their same speed and position throughout the day finishing in 5th place in the A division and thus in 5th place of all of the 19 teams competing. This is truly a remarkable effort considering that all the teams that beat them were professional teams who race and practice together all the time. The Tampa Tarpons team won the overall first place trophy.



Mad Tea Party


By having one of the top 6 speeds in the A division, the team qualified for the 2000 meter race that was the climax of the days’ activities. Though they gave a valiant effort and finished the race, barely- they only managed a fifth place finish in that race as well.





More interestingly is that just after crossing the finish line- they became the first team in the history of the event to actually sink their boat. So much water had accumulated in the boat that once the paddling stopped, the boat sank leaving all of the paddlers floating and in need of rescue. Thankfully the organizers were able to easily pluck the team members from the water – leaving them all soggy- but very proud of their accomplishments.

Sunk

Rescue



Eye of the Dragon Team website

Willie & Lobo

May 16, 2011







Willie & Lobo

The end of the songwriter’s festival certainly did not mark the end of great music in Key West. While the condensed schedule and numerous shows and performers were an amazing treat, the regularly scheduled entertainment options found in Key West continue throughout the year. In fact there has already been another fantastic show held here at the San Carlos Institute this week with the return of the incredible Willie & Lobo.







The incredible World music duet featuring Willie Royal on violin and Wofgang “Lobo” Fink on guitar was returning once again to Key West as a part of their reunion tour. They had officially disbanded in 2007, but popular demand and an intense desire to return to the stage had them back on tour this year.





The show was organized by Charlie Bauer who also brought us the songwriter fest and was held in the most beautiful music venue in Key West. I was not really familiar with the duo, but had been asked to photograph the show and was able to go while Kathy was up in Marathon practicing for the Dragon Boat Races.





After seeing the immense talent and getting to watch the pair up close and personal, I was thrilled to discover what the crowd assembled at the San Carlos was already well aware of. The place wasn’t full, but the people there seemed to have a cult-like devotion to the incredible music that the pair performed. You should check out their website, which I have linked below to get a taste of their eclectic music.



The other event that I attended that evening was actually before the show.
The weekly happy hour benefit at the Bottlecap Lounge, which this week was held to raise funds for another of our favorite Key West institutions, The Studios of Key West. The event featured two canvases that were painted on the spot by a series of Key West artists and then were raffled off to a lucky pair of winners.







Many of the studios artists contributed to the finished paintings which were created in front a large and enthusiastic crowd. It was a fun evening that hopefully raised a decent chunk of change for the Studios. The tips collected by such “celebrity” bartenders as Mark Hedden also added to the take for the Studios.



Willie & Lobo website