Krewe of Boo 2018

Though it sprinkled off and on, the warm New Orleans weather brought out huge crowds for the Krewe of Boo parade. “Chief Spookster” Brian Kern’s “greener” take on throws includes locally-made throws and food items like Pralinettes from Aunt Sally’s, Chee Wees from Elmer’s Fine Foods and PJ’s Coffee packs. Spooktacular floats were separated by marching bands and marching groups including Tap Dat, Big Easy Rollergirls, Krewe des Fleurs, Organ Grinders, Muff-A-Lottas, Roux La La, Amelia EarHawts, Krewe of Rolling Elvi, 610 Stompers and the Pussyfooters!

This was my fifth year dancing with the Pussyfooters in the Halloween parade. For many dance and walking groups, it’s the first parade for their new members.

Krewe of Freret Parade 2017

The Krewe of Freret paraded for 40 years until the 1990’s then was rebirthed on the parade route 4 years ago. Many members of the new Krewe are the children of the previous membership. I loved that they opened with traditional Baby Dolls, the inspiration for the adult dance troupes you see in parades today. In Saturday’s parade, those troupes included The Chorus Girl Project, Nyxettes and my vote so far for best new dance krewe of the year – Alter Egos. Between their purple afros and their fun, funky moves, they were an instant crowd favorite. The Dames de Perlage put on a great show with their intricately beaded corsets honoring local “saints” like the fictitious Ignatius Reilly, the very real culinary legend Leah Chase and the surreal Big Freedia. Bearded Oysters’s diaphanous wing-capes and Lucha Krewe’s fight-dance moves filled out the entertainment. 

Pussyfooting in Krewe of Thoth

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, by now you know that I proudly dance with the Pussyfooters in parades throughout the year. Krewe of Thoth may be the longest route, but between the usually fabulous weather and the many delightful children that attend, it’s one of my favorite to parade in. I gave some behind-the-scenes information in my post on Pussyfooting in Krewe of Muses but here’s some answers to some frequently asked questions about parading.

Parading with the Pussyfooters in Muses

This is my third Mardi Gras parading in Krewe of Muses as a Pussyfooter and it’s still my favorite way to tour the city. There are stately homes, gorgeous bead-covered live oaks, beautiful buildings and plenty of things to see but it’s the people that move me. Muses is one of the parades that inspires people to costume up, make posters and party like it’s 1999 – instead of a school night. The all-female Krewe is famous for the hand-crafted, elaborately glittered and fancifully decorated shoes they throw to the lucky few. This time around – a little about what it was like behind the scenes.

#KnowMonologues Challenge

Earlier this year, I did an interview with Nick Savides for his Baton Rouge-based nsavides Podcast exploring collaboration and local filmmaking. He approached me with an idea of how to reenergize actors disheartened by recent changes to our state’s tax incentive program. We called it the #KnowMonologues Challenge and hoped to get 30 or so submissions. We ended up with about 90 submissions! This morning, I was proud to announce our incredibly talented winners on WWLTV with the help of Eric Paulsen. 

Gleason Gras, Krewe of Boo Parade, Pelicans and more!

As I wrote in my last post, I have no time to blog but it’s been a very eventful couple of weeks and I at least wanted to share some of the photos. I attended a bunch of movies at the 25th annual New Orleans Film Festival, including the premiere of Black and White starring Kevin Costner and Octavia Spencer. It was great as were Imperial Dreams, Cast the First Stone, Imitation Game and the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prizewinner of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Whiplash, to name a few. I also modeled in a fashion show for the St. Elizabeth’s Guild annual celebrity fashion show and “Volunteer Activists Awards” fundraiser. Saint Steve Gleason was one of the many honored and I was excited just to be in the room with him.

Our New Orleans Wedding and Second Line

If you’ve read this blog’s ABOUT page, then you know that one reason I moved to New Orleans after 18 years in Los Angeles was to find my mate. “I followed my heart here. My gut told me that everything I was looking for, denying myself while I furthered my career, was right here where I always wanted to be.” I met Andy at the Lost Love Lounge (yes, really) 8 months after moving here and we’ve been slowly walking toward the altar ever since. A few weeks ago, we finally tied the knot – New Orleans-style with everything from DancingMan504 and The Roots of Music to the Pussyfooters and “The Dude” (okay, he’s not New Orleans, but he abides everywhere).

Krewe of Barkus

Though it means missing the Carrolton and King Arthur parades, the Krewe of Barkus parade is one of my annual favorites. Founded in 1992 at a Margaret Orr fan club meeting at Good Friends Bar, the parade seems to get bigger every year. Despite the cats-and-dogs rain, crowds were thick with both locals and 1st-timers. This year’s theme was  “Dogzilla: Barkus Licks the Crescent City.” WDSU’s Margaret Orr and local personality Angela Hill (WWL – retired) introduced the king and queen (Dirk and Barbie) who were both rescue dogs this year.

Halloween Concert/Parade and Willie Mae’s Chicken

Working on the theory of “better late than never,” here’s how we spent Halloween last week. New Orleans has too many festivities to choose from but I didn’t want to miss the last Jazz in the Park concert from People United for Armstrong Park. Bonerama played early but I got the the park in time to see Da Truth Brass Band preparing the way for Kermit Ruffins to take the stage. Ruffins played beautiful ballads like What a Wonderful World as well as an upbeat medley of songs including Do Whatcha Wanna and The Treme Song. When he busted out the Stevie Wonder, the crowd created a Soul Train dance line and boogied down the center, many in costumes. (video below)