While dancers today may bristle at the term "stripper," Kata Pierce-Morgan embraced it in the 1970s and fought against the stereotypes with what she calls “stripper energy.”
In this first chapter, meet a trio of dancers who worked at Les Girls Theater across three decades starting in 1968. Surprisingly, the stereotypes and stigmatization they encountered decades ago persist today. They will share what their jobs were really like and how Les Girls was a unique environment that would eventually become entirely run by women.
As a former dancer and the current owner of Les Girls Theater, Kata has been turning chapters from her life and the history of Les Girls into politically charged performance art for San Diego International Fringe Festival. It was at Fringe that I met Kata and began to be exposed to her story. As I interviewed her over the years in my coverage of Fringe, I realized that she had an amazing story about a marginalized community, and I wanted to share it with more people. A consistent theme in her plays has been: never be a silent bystander.
This year she presents “No Regrets,” a music and burlesque show set in 1968 when vice raided the Left Bank Nightclub, which was the precursor to Les Girls Theater. The show premiered last Saturday to a packed house and will have final performances this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
Prepare for sassy strippers, corrupt cops, and a fierce activism launched from the unlikely stage of a strip club.
"Chapter 2: Let it all hang out, or how a Texas Baptist went all-nude to shock San Diego" drops June 5 with additional episodes dropping one per week in the following four weeks.
In this chapter:
- Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater.
- Bobbi Rogers, former dancer at Les Girls Theater and performer in “Let in All Hang Out.”
- Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s.
- Andromeda Breeze Bradley, featured dancer from “No Regrets.”
Credits:
Beth Accomando, Producer/Host
Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer
Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer
Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator
Sanns Dixon, Videographer
Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants
David Washburn, Editor
Explicit content.