26 | March 19, 2015 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

You’re going toneed a glue gunand feathers – alot of feathers.ELLA WALKERdelves into thefantastical worldof cabaret andburlesque as theCambridge Unionprepares to betransformed intoa gilded birdcageball, for one nightonly

Editor:Ella Walkeremail:ella.walker@cambridge-news.co.uk

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THE HEADLINER: CABARET

the critical listThis week’s entertainment highlights

“We had a tortoise with over a thousand Swarovski jewels on it!”

The Neon Moon Club

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Neon Moon Burlesque and CabaretClub Spring Ball: The Gilded Birdcage,Cambridge Union Society, Saturday,

March 28 at 8pm. Tickets £28.50 (£35 onthe door) from theneonmoonclub.com.

Cambridge News | cambridge-news.co.uk | March 19, 2015 | 27

THE HEADLINER: CABARET

NIPPLE tassels aren’t foreveryone. Then again, how doyou know they’re not for you

unless you give them a try?Of course, there aren’t many

opportunities for nipple tassels inCambridge. The Regal isn’t classyenough for them, at Lola Lo’s they’dget tangled up with your flowergarland, and Ballare just wouldn’tappreciate the effort you’d gone to.

What you need is a safe place, acreative immersive experience whereno-one cares whether you’re headto toe in feathers and glitz, or flirtingwith your sexier alter ego who, it turnsout, does like nipple tassels.

The answer? The Neon MoonBurlesque and Cabaret Club,purveyors of curious vaudevillianparties bedecked with dramaand colour and spectacle, whereinhibitions are firmly left at home.

Neon Moon’s director CatherineWatling, who I meet over tea (nota fishnet or tassel in sight), knowsexactly what she’s doing. She joinedthe cabaret scene as one half ofburlesque duo Cherry & Ruby,resident performers at CambridgeJunction’s now retired Salon Rougenight.

“I was part of the original creativeteam,” she explains. “I’d never reallybeen involved in burlesque andcabaret before but I’ve always hada big interest in vintage styling andretro clothing. It all came togetherreally quickly at Salon Rouge. Myselfand Cherry exploded onto theburlesque and cabaret scene andwent international in about six to 12months, which was really fast.”

As Salon Rouge wound down,finally getting axed, Catherine realised

she wanted to “revisit my roots indigital art and production and createmy own show, which wasn’t just acabaret show, but was an overallexperience”.

She decided to blend togethercabaret and burlesque with the workof photographers, artists, traders ofalternative curios and vintage wear,and so, in 2011 she launched NeonMoon.

“You’re not just inviting peopleto a black box space for a show. Iwanted to find a really unique space,change it into a wonderland and thenopen the doors into a world wherepeople might not have gone before,in an amazing building that’s beentransformed,” Catherine buzzes.

Hosting five major balls a year(Hallowe’en is particularly popular),and having previously worked hermagic on Anstey Hall, the Guildhall,Hidden Rooms, Cambridge andThe Willow Tree, Bourn, for theupcoming spring ball it’s the esteemedCambridge Union Society that’s goingto be doused in feathers and tongue-in-cheek fun.

“The Cambridge Union Society isspectacular and has this atmospherethat is very much a hidden gem inCambridge I think,” Catherine muses.“The rooms are steeped in 200years of debating history; you’ve hadpeople here from Russell Brand to theDalai Lama and Robert Downey Jr.!”

Each ball has a theme – of course –and this time around it’s birds, hencethe title: The Gilded Birdcage.

“Think lavish plumage, show girls,Victorian aviary keepers!” Catherineenthuses. “We encourage our gueststo take the theme and then run withit. And they do! It’s amazing. This

time it’s a chance to be fluffy, feathery,frou-frou, or you could be a very strictpenguin in your tuxedo, or steam-punk-esque Victorian gentlemen.Dressing up is greatly encouraged,so we say anything goes and let yourimagination fly, but at the same time,if you want to just wear something abit vintage retro, that’s totally fine.”

So, you won’t turn people away at

the door for not being fully trussed upas a peacock?

“No, not unless they haven’t madeany effort at all. It’s not the kind ofevent where you turn up in trainers.”

Point taken: in fact, it’s not the kindof event that allows for casualness ornonchalance of any kind. Catherinetakes passion and creativity toextremes in her quest for the perfect

atmosphere and look.“I’m pretty dogged,”she admits. “OnceI come up withan idea I can’t letit go, it has to bedone regardless of

how much red tapethere is. For the last

Hallowe’en show wedid I had a stack of paper

that was this high and I justploughed through it.”

And the madder the idea, the morekeen she is to realise it. “I like to think– ‘outside the box’ is such a cliché –but I do like to think in really weirdways.

“I say: ‘I’d really like to put aVictorian menagerie in that bridalsuite. Would you like to help me?’And [my team] say ‘Yup’, and thenthey come back and they havesuitcases full of bunnies that you canstroke. At our Wonderland Ball wehad a tortoise with over a thousandSwarovski jewels on it! We had littlebirds you could touch and giantland snails. I actually squealed withexcitement when I saw that!”

Considering contortionists inthe library and hula hoops inthe bedroom are a fairly normaloccurrence, pinning down the mosteccentric and surprising thing they’vepulled off proves tricky.

“There’s just so many, it’s sodifficult. It could possibly be DrBendini’s Splendiferous MedicineShow: we had him as our medicineman and he was ‘curing’ himselfby knocking nails into his face andswallowing spoons in a lavish statelyhome bedroom. That was quitecrazy. We’ve had a peepshow, we’ve

“Once I come up with an idea I can’tlet it go, it has to be done regardless

of how much red tape there is.”

28 | March 19, 2015 | cambridge-news.co.uk | Cambridge News

THE HEADLINER: CABARET

had mermaids in the bath – butthey weren’t crazy, they were justbeautiful – one of my favourite actswas at Carousel, our charity show lastyear at Anstey Hall, Abigail Collins.She’s a West End singer and compere,and does this act where she gets twomembers of the audience on stage,climbs onto their shoulders and thendoes the splits on their shoulders andthen she drinks a cocktail and thenclimbs down – fabulous!”

At the spring ball you can expectAfro Cuban jazz from resident DJJazzlord and electro swingfrom local DJ, Smiley J,classically trained burlesqueperformer Talulah Blue (youmight have spotted her onBritain’s Got Talent), worldrecord holding hula hooper ChiChi Revolver and Mr B, who, withhelp from a banjolele, fuses hip hopand the Queen’s English into ‘chaphop’.

I almost completely forgetCatherine’s a performeruntil she goes and splutters:“Feathers that drop from boasare just awful! That’s one ofmy biggest bug bears!” Onthe night she’ll be debuting anew vintage showgirl kick linecalled Les Filles de la Lune.

The driving force behindit all she explains is the fact “there’snowhere for grown-ups to havefun” any more. Neon Moon aimsto change that. “We’ve actually hadthree generations of the same familyat one show which is amazing andwe’re really proud of that.

“I think the thing that joins peopletogether is you feel secure in theenvironment because it’s creative andembracing and you can dress howyou want and it’s got that atmosphereof security. So if you want to dresswearing hardly anything at all, youcan, or if you want to wear a verystrict suit you can.”

Which means yes, prepare to seequite a bit of flesh on show.

“We have quite a lot of nudity.Racy, but all in good taste,” confirmsCatherine.

“It’s all very tongue in cheek,good ol’ knees up entertainment– it’s nothing like a strip club,” shesays firmly. “You might see maleand female nudity, but it’s an over18 show so you expect that. Youmay even see pole dancing, but wewouldn’t ever class it as in the samebracket as a strip club.”

So it’s not seedy?“No”It’s art?“Exactly. That’s a massive

distinction. It’s about thetease, not the strip.”

Nipple tassels at the ready.

“It’s all verytongue in cheek,good ol’ knees upentertainment”

OUTSIDE THEBOX: Neon Moondirector CatherineWatling in action