Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Interview: Frankie Faux ~ Gallery Burlesque


Meet Frankie Faux. She's fierce, fiery, and a little bit ferocious. Not only a burlesque performer with Gallery Burlesque, but also a model, and a designer, creating models for theatre sets and costumes, and she's only 18. I'm wondering, is there anything this girl can't do?

With The Gallery Burlesque show about to open this week for The Sydney Fringe Festival, I thought I would share an interview with Frankie Faux so you could get to know her a little better. If you missed the first 3 interviews with Memphis Mae, Cherry Lush, & Evie Va Voom, you can read them herehere & here.

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What's your act in Gallery Burlesque for The Sydney Fringe Festival all about?
The act I am going to perform at GB for The Sydney Fringe is inspired by my journey through my teenage life. From being a self-conscious teen with big dreams to the pelvis thrusting, velcro seam ripping, burlesque baby I am today.

How and when did you come into the Gallery Burlesque family?
A month or so after my first performance, I went to GB to be a part of the audience and had a chat to a few friendly people. Later that week I got asked to be a part of the GB family with warm welcoming arms.

How long have you been interested in Burlesque and when/where did you begin?
All throughout high school I always had dreams to be on stage. When I discovered burlesque at around 16, I fell in love and thought it was a great outlet for an aspiring performance artist and was eager to explore its boundaries. I just hoped that by the time I was 18 years old I could find the balls to get up on stage. When my 18th birthday rolled around this year in May, a friend told me about a Burlesque Competition. I definitely didn’t think I had what it takes yet to get up and strip on stage but I applied, hoping to God they wouldn’t accept me. But they did and I pushed myself up on stage, thinking “Go hard or go home”. From that moment I knew burlesque was something I had to pursue.

Where/how did you come up with your stage name, Frankie Faux?
‘Frankie’ comes from my long time obsession with Frankenstein. ‘Faux’ means false. So I made ‘Frankie Faux’ my stage name as it's a false identity that I use to project different characters.

Which Burlesque performers do you most admire & why?
The most influential performers to me are the traditional 1940's American burlesque queens like Noel Toy, Gypsy Rose Lee, Lili St. Cyr. I’m very inspired by artists like Betty Grumble, Lillian Star etc who push boundaries and set the standard for burlesque.

Have you ever had any mishaps or interesting out-of-the-ordinary things happen during one of your performances?
My friend offered to help me out and do the lighting for one of my shows, which required her to sit just off the stage to my left. Unfortunately for her, I have a habit of throwing all my clothes to the left and she was right in the firing line for all my props. She didn’t mind the shirts and pants, but when I accidentally pegged metal suspenders at her head, she wasn’t exactly impressed.

What do you hope The Sydney Fringe audiences get out of your act in GB?
A crotch full of glitter, a face full of confetti, and a good time.

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Check out Frankie's website here.

For Sydney Fringe Festival details for Gallery Burlesque click here.

Tomorrow I'll be introducing you to the last of the Gallery Burlesque performers, Betty Grumble. She is currently taking the Sydney burlesque scene by storm, so be sure to stop by & meet her!

~ Clare x

Image courtesy of Model Mayhem

3 comments:

  1. Holy smokes - 18??!!!! Bloody over achievers...hehe. I agree, she's totally bad ass!! :)
    ~ Katie

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  2. Hi lovely Clare! This interview's sooooo gorgeous!! I love the word "fierce", you know! And this girl's actually fierce,oh yes she is!!!!
    Laura@RicevereconStile

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Thanks for sharing on Soulful Mama ~ Clare x