Meet Liquid Gold Burlesque | Production Company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Liquid Gold Burlesque and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Liquid Gold Burlesque, what role has risk played in your life or career?
With the current state of the economy and public health risk assessment, performing artists like ourselves and our peers are taking more risks than ever to launch live shows. Our first show ever was a major gamble, since we chose to produce a New Year’s Eve party at the height of the Omicron spike in a major metropolitan area. To counteract both the risk of spread and our own anxieties about Covid, we required proof of vaccination and a temperature check at the door before letting patrons inside, as well as a mask mandate for those not actively eating or drinking. Risk assessment is a major factor in every endeavor we undertake as producers- what is the best way to keep ourselves, our cast, and our audience safe and entertained?

Aside from physical risk, every time we launch a new show, we are gambling with audience interest. We sort of stumbled into this realm of production and fell in love with creating narrative-driven, musical theatre inspired variety shows, which are not common in a city of single-night jukebox style shows. Every new script is a roll of the dice on whether or not the audience will engage with what we’ve created. However as a remedy to this, we have started surveying our audience about what they want to see from us in future productions.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What sets us apart is we are a narrative-driven, musical theatre inspired variety show. Some of our peers are doing one or two of those things, but we have yet to see a combination of the three.

Our proudest achievement would have to be our full-length scripted musical theater variety show inspired by the film Hocus Pocus, which is our most ambitious project each year. Every summer, we take a look at the previous year’s installment and decide what to keep, what to change, and how to update our script to keep the show fresh for both the audience and ourselves. It’s truly a labor of love, as well as the show we most look forward to each year, which resonates with our fans and keeps them coming back for more.

We’re most excited about our brand new show coming up in May, which will be a love letter to our favorite musical theatre moments, as well as a blowout celebration for Lucy Ziegfield’s 30th birthday. We are two theatre kids who never really grew out of it, so getting to pay tribute to the shows that inspired us to pursue a career on the stage is incredibly exciting.

Carina has a long history in theatre and performance. She’s been entertaining since she was six years old and holds a BFA in Theatre from one of the top programs in California. She has extensive training in vocal performance, studying with instructors from all over the world, and is trained in Classical, Musical Theatre, and Pop/Rock vocal stylings. Since graduating, she’s appeared in numerous shows in Los Angeles, including portraying Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd; The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, and recently as Lord Saurondemort in the original queer musical parody FRODO POTTER AND THE JOURNEY TO WHOREDOR. She’s also been a guest performer with Meyer2Meyers’ HAUNTED SOIREE, and will soon be appearing in Repartee Pictures’ PIRATES OF PARAMOUNT. She found her way to burlesque in 2018 and has carved a spot for herself as Carmila Burana, the Cunning Chameleon of Burlesque. Her iconic transformations into popular characters like Judy Neutron, Winifred Sanderson, and even Elizabeth the First have made her the go-to shapeshifter of the Los Angeles burlesque scene.

Sarah has been a lifelong dancer, beginning when she was four years old, and has been dancing, acting, and occasionally singing since then. She has an extensive background in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical, with a focus on the stylings of Bob Fosse. She’s also grown up in the worlds of special effects and stage magic, having been an assistant to world-famous magicians on the CW’s MASTERS OF ILLUSION. She found her way to burlesque in 2018 and has never looked back. She’s been performing under the name Lucy Ziegfield, aka the Femme Fosse Feline, since 2019. She’s known for her mix of technique, tease and humor. She’s also carved out a space for herself in the immersive theater world, namely JFI Productions’ hit show NIGHT FEVER, and as an original cast member of Meyer2Meyers’ HOUSE OF SPIRITS, A HAUNTED COCKTAIL SOIREE. She’s also found a place in the music scene, dancing onstage with a variety of local punk and rock bands.

The major lesson we’ve learned is quality over quantity when it comes to our productions. At the beginning of our journey as producers, we were convinced that doing a brand new themed show every month was a surefire path to success, but over time, we’ve learned that our audience was craving something more. As we’ve grown as both producers and artists, we’ve realized that audiences want to be part of the show, not just passively observing. So we’d rather take the time to craft our shows with care and diligence, rather than put forward less than our best work.

As producers and creatives, we aspire to continue to be a force for inclusive, diverse, and high-caliber cabaret and variety shows. As two bisexual women, an unintended but welcomed focus has also been on supporting and uplifting our LGBTQIA+ siblings in everything we do. We hope to partner with more drag shows and queer artists in the future, as we believe that community is everything, especially now.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Some of our favorite bars in Los Angeles include:

– The Wolves DTLA; a cozy craft cocktail spot in the middle of Historic Core designed to invoke Art Nouveau architecture.

– The Obscure Distillery; an invitation-only distillery and private cocktail bar located in the LA Arts District.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We’d love to give a shoutout to our in-house stage manager and show designer, who we’ve lovingly nicknamed our Technomancer, Veronica Bowers, who is a key part of our team and makes our shows look and sound absolutely incredible. We are so fortunate to have her in our camp.

Instagram: instagram.com/liquidgoldburlesque

Other: tiktok.com/liquidgoldproductions

Image Credits
Carina solo shot: Slow Hand Photography Sarah solo shot: Jhoto Photo All others: With the Band Photography