Burlesqued by Jonny Porkpie
from the novella by Charles Dickens
Ebeneza Scrooge:
Scout Durwood
Jacob Marley:
James Tigger! Ferguson
Ghost of Classic Burlesque, Fortuna, Headmistress:
Jo Weldon
Ghost of Neo Burlesque, Penny:
Tiger Bay (12/4, 12/6)
Cheeky Lane (12/13, 12/22)
Peekaboo Pointe (12/20)
Ghost of Burlesque Yet To Come:
MiscAllaneous DomTop
Bob Cratchit, Narrator, Fezziwig, et al:
Jonny Porkpie
Belle, Narrator, Fred, Mrs Crachit, et al:
Fancy Feast
Goldie, Petitioner, Friend of Belle
Cashlee Banks
And featuring the voice of Scott Rayow
Welcome to the Filthy Lucre:
Scout, Jo, Cashlee, ?
(Choreographed by Peekaboo Pointe)
Marley Unbound
Tigger!
The Ghost of Classic Burlesque
Jo Weldon
Belle of the Ball
Fancy Feast
The Ghost of Neo Burlesque
Tiger Bay or Cheeky Lane or Peekaboo Pointe
Tiny Tim’s Lament
(Music by Mike Tarantino, Lyrics by Jonny Porkpie)
Jonny Porkpie
The Ghost of Burlesque Yet To Come
MiscAllaneous DomTop
Scrooge's Twisted Christmas Act
Scout Durwood
Photos:
Tigger, Jonny, Cashlee, Jo, Tiger, Misc by Bob Krasner
Peekaboo by Ben Trivett
Cheeky by Don Spiro
Scout, Fancy by Adrian Buckmaster
Narrators:
Jonny Porkpie,
Fancy Feast
Scrooge:
Scout Durwood
Fortuna:
Jo Weldon
Goldie:
Cashlee Banks
Penny: ?
Bob Cratchit:
Jonny Porkpie
Patron:
Fancy Feast
Nephew Fred:
Fancy Feast
Petitioner:
Cashlee Banks
Ghostly Voice:
Scott Rayow
Jacob Marley:
Tigger!
Ghost of Classic Burlesque:
Jo Weldon
Headmistress:
Jo Weldon
Fan:
Jenny Mincepie
FrizzyWigg:
Jonny Porkpie
Belle:
Fancy Feast
Friend of Belle:
Cashlee Banks
Ghost of Neo Burlesque:
Tiger Bay,
Cheeky Lane,
Peekaboo Pointe
Mrs. Cratchit:
Fancy Feast
XXXMas Announcer:
Scott Rayow
Tiny Tim:
Jonny Porkpie
Ghost of Burlesque Yet To Come:
MiscAllaneous DomTop
Customer #2:
Fancy Feast
Customer #1:
Jonny Porkpie
Joes of Joe’s Pawn Shop:
Fancy Feast,
Jonny Porkpie
Walker of Shame:
Jonny Porkpie
CASHLEE BANKS (Penny, pickup) is a bad-and-bougie, campy queen who made her debut in the New York School of Burlesque student showcase in December 2022. She is an all the way uptown girl from the Bronx and draws her inspiration from the creative, collaborative and competitive hip-hop culture that was born there. As an artist her goal is to celebrate blackness outside of the lens of respectability politics to highlight that “black excellence” is simply black. Cashlee saved the show opening night of Filthy Lucre 2023 when Scrooge lost her voice and she stepped in to speak her lines. She is a lady who is street and a freak in the balance sheets.
CHARLES DICKENS (Rolling in his grave), also known as Boz, has been called the greatest novelist of the Victorian Era. Known for his vivid characters and social commentary, Dickens was the author of over 15 books, including such classics as Nicholas Nickleby, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, and Hard Times. As his popularity grew, with the public waiting breathlessly for the next installment of his latest work, he embarked on a series of public reading tours, appearing extensively across both North America and the UK. His works have been adapted for the screen by such luminaries as Mike Newell, Alfonso Cuarón, and The Muppets.
CHEEKY LANE (Ghost of Neo Burlesque 12/13 & 12/22) A master of transformation with a wicked wit, Cheeky Lane takes the art of strip tease up several notches with her flawless surrealist sculptural costumes and her over the top stage presence that is at once smart and the most delicious naughtiness you ever encountered.
FANCY FEAST (Belle, Mrs. Cretchit, et al) is a Brooklyn-based burlesque performer, writer, and sex educator. She holds the title of Miss Coney Island 2016, and is the recipient of the Revolutionary Award at the 2017 New York Burlesque Festival. She has performed at venues including The Whitney, the Brooklyn Museum, St. Ann's Warehouse, the Metropolitan Opera, and Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. She is the subject of Leon Chase's documentary, Character NYC. Her burlesque work has been profiled on NPR, Refinery29, and The Huffington Post. Her debut book, Naked: On Sex, Work, and Other Burlesques was published in October 2023 by Algonquin Books to great acclaim. She appeared in Flapdoodle! and guest starred in Dead Sexy in October. website
JAMES TIGGER! FERGUSON (Jacob Marley) "The Godfather of Neo-Boylesque" has performed in NYC since 1988 & around the world since 1993. A pioneer in the 1990s burlesque renaissance who won the 1st-ever "King of Boylesque/Mr. Exotic World" title at the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Las Vegas in 2006. He has headlined festivals all around Europe, Australia, North & South America. His act was banned in Rome. Tigger! has performed in original works with Taylor Mac, Julie Atlas Muz, Penny Arcade, Talking Band & Target Margin Theater, and both A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow and Dead Sexy in 2024. Called "a fantastically watchable naughty satyr" by The Scotsman & "delightful... simultaneously hilarious and titillating" by TheaterMania. @tiggerlesque
JONNY PORKPIE (Playwright, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim et al) returned to producing and writing scripted theatrical burlesques in 2023 and hasn't looked back. Marx Brothers homage A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow was such a success that it will return to open the Coney Island summer season in 2024, and Dead Sexy was called "a sexy, spooky, and downright hilarious night of entertainment" by Opening Night Reviews. These shows— which included Off-Broadway productions of “PRETENÇIÓN: un cirque de burlesque, un burlesque de cirque”, “The Pinch Brothers in The Bawdy House” —have been lauded as the “Best Burlesque” in NYC by New York Magazine and the Village Voice. His burlesque game show toured to over 30 cities in 5 countries on 3 continents, he recently released two collections of burlesque scripts, The Future of Burlesque and The Crime of Burlesque, and has, ludicrously, an MFA in Creative Writing for Children. website
JO WELDON (The Ghost of Classic Burlesque, Headmistress, Fortuna) has performed some version of striptease and burlesque since 1978, taking it off everywhere from dive bars to national museums -- including onstage with Spinal Tap and representing Gypsy Rose Lee for her 100th Birthday celebration at NYPL Live. The founder and Headmistress of the NY School of Burlesque and author of “The Burlesque Handbook” and “Fierce: The History of Leopard Print”, she received the 2023 Tour Guides of NYC Lifetime Achievement Award. Jo has traveled the world as a performer, speaker, sex worker's rights activist, and instructor; she appeared in both A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow and Dead Sexy in 2024, and after a successful NYC run, her one-woman show What I Wore to Work will visit other citites in 2025.
MISCALLANEOUS DOMTOP (The Ghost of Burlesque Yet To Come) The ultimate kink fantasy, MiscAllaneous DomTop is an NYC based burlesque performer, fetish model, producer and pro dom. They are known as the wild card of burlesque, from their outside-the-box fetish looks to their strong snake-like dance movement, which joins neo-classical dance technique to music with a modern approach. They guest-starred in Dead Sexy. MiscAllaneous is an international performer and is also the producer of HardCore Burlesque, a fetish variety show.
PEEKABOO POINTE (The Ghost of Neo Burlesque 12/20, Choreographer) is a performance artist, burlesque performer, and choreographer. MFA in Performance and Interactive Media Art, Brooklyn College 2019; BFA in Dance, George Mason University 2002. In 2003 she began performing burlesque in the nightclubs of NY,and has toured Australia, Canada, across the US, Europe and South Africa. She has had the honor of choreographing and performing for Taylor Mac’s 24 decades of popular music. In addition to burlesque, she is currently creating interdisciplinary multimedia dance theater in NYC, and has presented work at HERE Arts, Dixon Place and Wild Project. She appeared in both A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow and Dead Sexy in 2024.
SCOUT DURWOOD (Ebeneza Scrooge) is a cabaret comedian turned writer director known for her high octane music and visual narratives. Scout’s debut studio album, TAKE ONE THING OFF, was released with Blue Élan Records along with a twenty-two episode digital series of the same name, written and directed by Scout. She wrote and directed a feature-length narrative visual album, YOUTOPIA, premiered at Outfest 2022 and was the honorable mention for the Grand Jury Prize for North American Narrative Feature. Scout was a main character on MTV’s 2016 breakout MARY + JANE, and stared on the unscripted series, FUNNY GIRLS on Oxygen. Her thirty minute musical comedy special is available on the Epix series, UNPROTECTED SETS. She appeared as the Chico-based character in A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow, and currently stars as the mistress of ceremonies of Spiegelworld’s cabaret circus show, THE HOOK. website
TIGER BAY (The Ghost of Neo Burlesque 12/4 & 12/6) Tiger Bay is the international sensation (she performed in Canada once) known as The Whoopee Cushion of Burlesque. They are based in New York City where they were crowned Miss Coney Island 2017. Their other awards include the 2016 AlternaTEASE “WTF” Award and the 2015 New York Burlesque Festival “Huh?” Golden Pastie Award. Tiger Bay brings their unique brand of weirdness throughout the cosmos…and beyond! They appeared in Flapdoodle!
SCOTT RAYOW (Ghostly Voice, XXXMas Pageant Announcer) per wikipedia: Scott Rayow, often credited as Scottie Ray, is an American voice actor who has worked for NYAV Post, DuArt Film and Video, 4Kids Entertainment and Central Park Media. He is best known for voicing The Shredder in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. He has been working with Porkpie since 2006.
BOB KRASNER (Press photos) has been a professional photographer for over 25 years. He has survived photo sessions with heavy metal hair bands, reluctant politicians, nervous brides and camera shy children (and adults).His pictures have been published by Rolling Stone, People, Vanity Fair, Town & Country, Penguin Books, Random House and The Villager, for whom he also writes. The New York Press Association has awarded him first prize for best art photograph for the last three years. He can frequently be found, camera in hand, on the streets of New York City (where he lives), looking for the next great shot.
Welcome to the Filthy Lucre, where the cover charge is exorbitant, the drinks are watered down, and management steals the performers' tips. What money-grubbing miser would would own a "Gentleman's Club" like this? Who else but SCROOGE?
When the undressed spirit of her former business partner returns from the grave, the "nudest Scrooge in history" goes on a tassel-twirling journey through her own scantily-clad history with the Ghosts of Burlesque Past, Present, and Future. Will this haunting bump-and-grind-through-time help bitter Ebeneza see the error of her exploitative ways?
Of course! You know the story, but you've never seen it quite like FILTHY LUCRE: A Burlesque Christmas Carol, Jonny Porkpie's stripteasing twist on Dickens' classic holiday tale, which returns after last year’s lauded run with a sparkly new venue and a cantankerous new Scrooge. This year, Filthy Lucre takes over legendary drag club LIPS (“exactly the sort of glam, camp, gloriously over-the-top venue Scrooge would have stolen,” according to the playwright) for five redemptive yet raucous nights.
New to the cast for 2024 are multi-talented actor/singer/director/burlesquer Scout Durwood (currently starring in Speigelworld’s The Hook in Atlantic City, last seen on NY stages as Chico in Porkpie’s Marx Brothers homage A Day on the Boardwalk, A Night at the Stripshow) as Scrooge and Fancy Feast (former Miss Coney Island and author of Naked: On Sex Work and Other Burlesques) as Scrooge’s past paramour Belle and Mrs. Cratchit, and as The Ghost of Neo Burlesque, Tiger Bay (12/4 & 12/6), Cheeky Lane (12/13 & 12/22), Peekaboo Pointe (12/20). They join returning cast members “Godfather of Boylesque” Tigger! as Jacob Marley, Cashlee Banks as Goldie, Jonny Porkpie as Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, fetish icon Miscallaneous DomTop as The Ghost of Burlesque Yet to Come, and Headmistress of the NY School of Burlesque and author of The Burlesque Handbook Jo Weldon as The Ghost of Classic Burlesque.
FILTHY LUCRE: A Burlesque Christmas Carol "dismember[s] Dickens" (NY Times) at Lips, 227 East 56th Street, on Wed 12/4 at 7:00pm (preview), Fridays 12/6, 13, & 20 at 9:30pm, and Sun 12/22 at 7:00pm. Tickets at http://www.jonnyporkpie.com/filthylucre. Presented by Spin Cycle and Porkpie Productions. 18+, as the New York Times said, "Perhaps this Christmas Carol isn't the best choice for the kiddies."
Press Clippings
"Heartwarming, scantily clad rendering of the old standby... a costume drama that frequently sheds its costumes... a lively evening of entertainment... an enduring tale and this (slightly twisted) version keeps its message intact." -Bob Krasner, The Villager
“If you like your spiritual redemption stories perked up with pasties and tassels, this is the Carol for you.” -Time Out NY
“Even Mr. Durang doesn’t dismember Dickens as much as the clothing-optional folks... do in Filthy Lucre: A Burlesque Christmas Carol. [The] nudest Scrooge in history... aided by the ghosts of burlesque past, present and future... considers whether she has a higher calling than running a mere strip club. Perhaps this Christmas Carol isn’t the best choice for the kiddies.” -The New York Times
Praise for other Porkpie Productions
New York Magazine BEST OF NY 2007: BEST BURLESQUE
"Sexy, campy fun... hardly the same old song and fan dance... an uproarious evening"
"It’s a rare talent to make audiences laugh, gasp, and blush in the same breath, but Porkpie easily pulls it off." -OpeningNight.online
Time Out NY CITY PICK: "Your perverted genre fantasies have come shimmying to life"
"Daring, funny, imaginative and titillating to all tastes." - Sunday Telegraph UK