MC: Aurora Kurth as Madame Leila Montansano
Aurora is an award winning singer, actor and theatre maker. She recently returned to Melbourne, after studying singing, acting and movement, in India and Germany, for 8 months, with the assistance of Victoria University’s, Study Abroad Program.
As a singer Aurora has 20 years experience and training. She performs regularly with, Bella Ciao a 50’s style Italian show band and The Charcoal Club, with Aboriginal singer/songwriter Richard Frankland.
‘Aurora Kurth is mesmerising – part Marina Prior angel, part Marlene Dietrich vamp’.
Funny Tonne - Joseph Crichton 2009‘Aurora is one of this world's very few "naturals" – to hear her sing is to hear someone do exactly what they were born to do.’ ARIA Award winner – Clare Bowditch 2006
Live Band: The Velvet Set (10-piece Swing Band)
The Velvet Set feature some of Sydney’s most talented jazz musicians and is truly unique in that they combine male and female vocals to faithfully recreate the classic tunes of the 1930’s, 40’s and 50's.
The Velvet Set performs all the swing & jazz classics by: Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jnr, Glenn Miller and Cole Porter to name but a few. They also play the best neo-swing such as Royal Crown Review, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and the Brian Setzer Orchestra.
Regarded by many as Australia’s most dynamic swing band, the Velvet Set will light up the stage with 3 sets of the best classic and neo-swing to keep the dance floor jumping and jiving all night long!
Vaudeville: Circus Trick Tease
Trick Tease Circus is a raunchy, raucous & entertaining collection of misfits including a maladjusted strongman, his neurotic female compatriot & their international star. Together, they play out their chaotic roles in dazzling displays of acrobatics, precarious balances & gratuitous headstands.
Wash your stale popcorn down with warm soft drink & watch as this tight-knit unit comes undone and backstage antics erupt into recrimination & full blown fisticuffs. The only thing that holds them together is the understanding that the show must always go on.
Watch with glee as back stage becomes front stage allowing you to bare witness to Trick Tease Circus dirty laundry.
Conjuring: Mada V's Vegas - The duelling Magicians
Australia’s most sophisticated, provocative and compelling magicians go head to head in a battle royale of magic!
MADA vs VEGAS set the stage alight with scenes of infernal magic and noir cabaret.
Reveling in magic and illusion, these dueling magicians cheat, deceive, swindle, conjure and confront each other in an attempt to endlessly foil their nemesis.
Richard Vegas and his arch rival Adam Mada, present an array of vivid and compelling
performances. Each performance is unique, self contained and inter-linked, as each act is a continuing episode of MADA vs VEGAS - The Dueling Magicians.
Cabaret: Carni Coconut featuring Mark Winmill & Fez
The Boylesque Boywonders! - Riding the crest of the phenomena that is male Cabaret, Mark & Fez fuse Circus, Dance, Burlesque and gender bending theatrics, giving the 'strongman' a new bent edge.
True showmen, with their pin up good looks and unique style, they have made their mark globally, performing at The Sydney Opera House, Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne Comedy Festival and Sydney Festival. Most recently Mark was a guest Aerialist in 'La Clique' in London’s West End.
Vaudeville: Anna 'Pocket Rocket' Lumb
Anna Lumb (AKA Anna The Pocket Rocket) is a Melbourne based performer specialising in Trapeze, Adagio and Hula Hoops. Influenced by theatre and comedy as much as circus, Anna is renowned for exploding onto the stage with her charismatic, cheeky and original performances. Formerly trained in gymnastics and dance she has over eight years of performance experience. Anna has toured extensively both with aerial theatre company Strange Fruit and independently across Europe, America, Mexico, Canada, UK, Middle East, Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia.
In 2009 alone Anna featured in ‘Absinthe’ at the Spiegeltent in Melbourne and in ‘The Aviator Club’ at the Spiegeltent in the Brighton Fringe UK; as well as numerous events in London and Edinburgh including ‘Ali McGregor’s Late Night Variety Night’ and ‘Frank Skinner’s Variety Show’. She co created and performed in the popular circus cabaret ‘Bittersweet’ at the Meat Market as part of the 2009 Melbourne Fringe; supported Peaches on her recent DJ tour; and makes regular appearances at ‘The Last Tuesday Society’ cult performance night in Melbourne.
Building on this success, 2010 has already seen Anna performing in ‘Space Cowboy’s Wonderland Sideshow’ and ‘Circus vs. Sideshow’ in the Adelaide Fringe; and in several shows for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival including the all female comedy revue ‘Bang Bang Agency presents Bang On!’, which she co-produced with Telia Nevile. She is soon to embark on a UK tour culminating at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival.
Swing Dance & Cabaret: Kelly Ann Doll with Daniel E and Shannon McGurgan
Miss Kelly Ann Doll, Australia's favourite pint sized pocket full of burlesque dynamite…
Almost a decade of entertaining burlesque audiences Australia wide audiences around the world, and 15 years being a rock and roll & swing champion, Kelly Ann Doll has been tearing up the Australian scene with something a little out of the ordinary, its Burlesque.. but not as you know it, and has deservingly taken her place at the Aussie burlesque royale table, wowing audiences with her intensity and energy at almost every major East Coast burlesque revue since 2004 and this year, her 3rd year back at the Gangsters Ball, she is joined with her equally talented lads in crime (the ladies will love them) for a dose of something a little bit different.Enjoy the smooth talented styling’s of Swing and Blues dance champion Daniel E, and his nemesis StrongMan McGurgan from Circus Trick Tease in a love triangle tale that speaks the woes behind the story of money, love and betrayal… Only the way the mob can tell it... With a whole lot of BOOM!
Cabaret: Jamilla Deville
Jamilla is Australia’s leading professional pole dancer, striptease artist and pole dance instructor, currently working from iPole Studio in Sydney, Australia. She is the National Champion in pole dancing and founder of the International Pole Federation, an organisation created by dancers for dancers.
From the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics to the stages of the UK, US, Europe and South East Asia, Jamilla has taught and performed for audiences the world over. Her internationally-renowned instructional DVD Series, The Art of Pole, has been hailed as "the bible of pole dancing" and continues to grow as she releases new volumes every year. Most recently featuring in the Australian Burlesque Festival, Jamilla stands out as multi-disciplinary and versatile performer who never fails to amaze and inspire her audiences.
Cabaret: Imogen Kelly
Imogen is Australia’s first lady of strip tease and is an internationally renowned performance artist. After completing a BFA in performance, Imogen started touring at age nineteen and has since hoochy cooched in Japan, China, Mongolia, Nepal, India, Thailand, Germany, France, Spain, Mexico and the good old USA. She trained in a circus in the UK in 1997 with Romanian Gypsies to whom she owes her aerial prowess.
She has graced the stages of The Opera House, La Clique, The Assembly Rooms Edinburgh, New York Burlesque Festival and Tease-o-rama and is currently touring Australia with her hit show Tarnished. Her new show The Undressing Room received sold out houses and rave reviews in both Sydney and Adelaide. Imogen was a regular guest on ABC TV’s ‘Sideshow where she became known for her satirical characters and comedic grind.
Imogen continues to provide provocative whoopee, deconstructed burlesque- turning archetypal portrayals of women into over the top comical parodies.
Vaudeville: Lou Lou & the Lucky Charms featuring Lou Harwood
After a sneak preview at last years Gangsters Ball, luscious Lou Harwood returns with her full length corde lisse piece, a sensual aerial dance, that will pull at your heart strings and leave you wanting oh so much more.
Lou performed extensively in Europe as a dancer and aerialist in cabaret, circus, festivals and nightclubs throughout Europe, known for her high skill, wit and charm in the air and on the ground. Since relocating to Australia 12 years ago Lou has established herself as a unique performer and teacher, having performed at Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass, Australia's Circus Festival, The Global Carnival to name a few.
This year Lou brings with her to the Gangsters Ball, The Lucky Charms, Zahra Smith and Claire Rasa, two stunning dancers and aerialists, who together with Lou perform an aerial hoop number which will knock your socks off.
Magic & Illusion: Julia Madotti
Julia is one of the few female illusionists in Australia. She has performed solo shows in Berlin, Japan and Hong Kong as well as prestigious venues throughout Australia such as The Sydney Opera House, Crown Casino and Star City Casino.
Maintaining a unique approach to magic as theatre and cabaret, performances include original work with parasols, levitations, fire, masks and creative costuming such as ball gowns with pyrotechnics and exploding umbrellas that rain down showers of confetti.
Julia has brought her unique style and vision to fashion parades and gala's for labels such as Lisa Ho and Howard Showers. A regular headliner in Sydney venues such as The Metro, The Vanguard and The Basement, Julia also appears as a guest performer for Cabaret bands and Burlesque nights.
Cabaret: Lena Marlene
Lena Marlene has a long and excitingly chequered past. Now firmly entrenched in Australia's Burlesque Society she has performed at 'The Big Day Out' and Sugartime's 'Absinthe Club', amongst others, nationally.
As well as a featured performer she is now the Artistic Director of The RaGTaG Revue – an exciting fusion of live music, Cabaret and Burlesque, and is one half of Lascivite – an Opera/Cirque collaboration that has shows at The Abbey Museum Medieval Banquet and 'Bar Burlesque' under its belt. She can burlesque and belly dance, perform Russian Silks and stiltwalk, set herself on fire and charm the serpents – she comes alive within the firm clinch of a steel boned corset and relishes the silken embrace of a pair of stockings.
With a former incarnation as an Exotic Dancer that includes such titles as 'Miss Nude Australia's Most Unique Show', 'Hustler International Showgirl of the Year ' and 'Ms Exotica's Most Wicked' to name but a few, she is a treasure trove of pole dancing and performance experience at your disposal and is ready to lead you off the beaten track..Themed Vintage Photo Booth – By Boogie Bop Dames
With over 25 year’s experience, Boogie Bop Dames specialize in exclusive Themed Glamour Pinup Portraits and offer a themed photo booth like no other! Come along & have your fantastic outfit immortalized on film. You will have a choice of backdrops & props to be photographed in & then we will have a photo printed for you on the spot ready for you to take home with you at the end of the evening.
All photos taken can be provided on CD ROM as an alternative. Boogie Bop Dames use professional lighting and equipment to ensure you get nothing but the best quality photos.
The Gamblin' Den – Poker, Black Jack & Roulette
Dancing Competitions - Swing & Rockabilly
