PERFORMER BIOS
STELLA CHEEKS
Making Men Scream Her Name In The Streets
Stella Cheeks aka Alexis Meuche was born tantalizingly naked, yet uncoordinated and screaming into a family of intellectuals and indulgence. As an only child, Stella grew up dancing around her bedroom and performing original plays for her parents on the fireplace. Naturally, she found the theatre at a young age and has since replaced her parents with strangers and the fireplace with a stage.
Stella is the producer and artistic director of Plan 9 Burlesque as well as a performer. A classically trained actress turned burlesque dancer, her numbers range from the classic "Bump N' Grind" to numbers inspired by her fervent love of Geek Culture. When not performing, Stella can often be found pretentiously drinking tea and preaching the gospel of Good Omens. Stella is a hardcore Trekkie, a pro-wrestling addict, a steampunk apologist, and is always on the lookout for blue Police Boxes. Just in case. In addition to burlesque, she is the co-host and producer of two pop culture podcasts, Not Your Demographic and X-Treks - available wherever podcasts are found. Check out Patreon.com/NYDProductions for more information!
Intrigued? Follow Stella on Twitter for more inane yet highly relevant prattle and on Instagram for pictures of her butt and her cats (it's mostly her cats).
HOT TAWDRY
She'll Blow You Away With Her Windy Titties
Hot Tawdry is a Chicago based burlesque performer, emcee, and producer.
She produces House of Burlesque at House of Blues, is an active troupe member of both Plan 9 Burlesque and Geekhaus, and Danielle Colby's Stripping History team. Check her out on Instagram for upcoming shows, projects, and photography!
KALI CANDYKISS
The Science of Burlesque!
Kali rose out of a creative and chaotic mind in the frigid winter of 2011, swept up by the glorious stages of nerdlesque. She performed all around the Chicagoland area until being adopted by the founders of Plan 9 Burlesque, becoming an Asstronaut. Kali seeks to weave her wit and flair for the overdramatic into performance. She's inspired by the expanse of space, black cats, obscure video games, and science...always, always science. Hey, that Ph.D. in chemistry has to be used for something. She feels so honored to have performed for and alongside deliciously devastating individuals in venues across the country. At the next one, she'll be looking for you.
ROSEMARY MAYBE
She's Got The Devil Inside Her
Rosemary Maybe has been defiling stages from Chicago to London for over ten years. She began her performance career tap dancing and lying about her age in the Rocky Horror Picture Show shadowcast at the Music Box Theatre. After learning about burlesque, Rosie dove in head first, performing in an adaptation of Pink Floyd's "The Wall." She spent many of the following years performing at DIY art spaces like the 1901 Gallery, where she was able to experiment with different performance styles. Always having felt odd keeping her mouth closed onstage, Rosemary began performing as a drag queen after learning that drag was not exclusive to cisgender men. Her performance style ranges from the sensual to the grotesque to the deeply nerdy.
Beyond performance, Rosemary holds a Masters in Library Information Sciences, and has spent the past year working at the Leather Archives & Museum. There she helmed a sex worker interview project, where she was able to speak with workers from across the country in all different fields of sex work. She incorporates her love of fetish into her nightlife persona, co-founding and performing at kink events in the Chicago nightlife scene and participating in fetish performances and demonstrations.
Rosemary Maybe is a current acting member of Geekhaus and Plan 9 Burlesque. In her spare time she can be found combing the internet for quality Spock/Bones fanfic, screaming about what a down bitch Riker is, and finding other ways to make her wife shake her head and let out those heavy sighs. You know the ones.
CRUEL VALENTINE
Chicago's Own Community Chest
Known as “Chicago’s Own Community Chest”, Cruel Valentine is an award-winning international burlesque entertainer, adult film performer, Dominatrix, actor, dancer, writer, and artist, Valentine began performing the art of burlesque in 2007. Since then, they have spent the past several years performing their way across the nation and abroad, racking up multiple awards and honors. Valentine is an independent performer, producer, and teacher of burlesque, as well as an adult performer with The Lust Garden, featured on Pink Label.
CruelValentine.com is your go-to for all things Valentine, including a line of professional-grade pasties, vintage pin-up couture, and other titillating burlesque accessories. In addition to touring and teaching privately, Valentine has worked as a board member with several Chicago performance art organizations, as well as offering business consulting services to alternative, creative, and adult companies.
Their teaching credits include various educational and speaking engagements both domestically and abroad, including workshops at the collegiate level at several of Chicago’s major universities, covering a wide range of topics including dance instruction, higher education, business, sexual health, sex worker rights, and more. With extensive experience in theatre, music, and dance, Cruel Valentine is a triple threat and then some, fusing multiple styles in their performances. A dedicated storyteller, they are never afraid to go there, or to make a mess with their art.
For booking, press, or other inquiries, please contact info@CruelValentine.com.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & THANK YOUS
Thank you to Eva La Feva, Greg Inda, and The Newport Theater for their invaluable assistance gathering the media used in this project and to Jeff Millies of Pez Photography and Plan 9 Burlesque for the additional photos.
A special thank you to Dr. Paul Booth, LeAnne Wagner, and the professors I have had the privilege of learning from in the DCMA program at DePaul University.