By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The audience at this year’s Ramshackle Cabaret “Lust in Space” will find themselves passengers on a future-themed, erotic cruise ship through space.
“You don’t know what you’ll see out the window,” teased emcee and “cruise director” Erin Fulton.
This year’s adults-only Ramshackle Cabaret will take place Friday and Saturday nights, Feb. 15 and 16, at Harrigan Centennial Hall. Doors open at 8 and the show starts at 9 p.m.
The event, presented by Artchange Inc., is a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands.
General admission tickets went on sale Tuesday, and are expected to go fast, organizers said. The VIP tickets – for “First Class” seating – for both nights sold out in nine minutes at a special sales event.
The Lust in Space theme was inspired in part by the film “The Fifth Element,” which takes place in the future. The cruise ship theme of the Sitka show evolved in the brainstorming meetings the event planners held.
“It’s one of the ideas that have been floating around a couple of years,” Fulton said.
Heather Bauscher and Josh Joseph rehearsed for the 2018 Ramshackle Cabaret in the Unitarian Universalist Hall. This year’s event takes place Feb. 15 and 16 at Centennial Hall. (Sentinel file photo)
The original idea started as a David Bowie-space theme, but evolved into the cruise ship in space theme as planning progressed.
“It morphs as people come together with different acts and ideas, and the final product is definitely a reflection of the different people that come together, and their ideas,” Fulton said.
Black light, glow sticks, lights and glitter will be strongly in evidence as well as other staples of the show from past years: music, singing, dancing, comedy and burlesque, which includes strip tease acts.
The Ramshackle Cabaret is one of the only R-rated shows in Sitka presented to a live audience. Sponsors of the show emphasize “body positive” messages, a theme embraced by performers, organizers and the audience.
“Star projections, campy space stuff and per usual lots of glitter,” Fulton said.
Organizers never want to give too much away about the show, preferring for the audience to be surprised. One of the organizers, and a member of the leadership committee, Serena Wild, said she will appear in three numbers. She will have a solo strip tease act within a group dance, and be a backup dancer in two other pieces.
She and Fulton said they enjoy the teamwork involved in the show, and the support the performers and tech crew give each other in rehearsals and in the show.
The show, for those ages 21 and up, raised about $14,000 last year for the nonprofit organization dedicated to providing sexual and reproductive health care, sex education, and serving as advocate for the rights of those the organization serves in Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, and western Washington.
The Ramshackle Cabaret started as a Planned Parenthood fundraiser when Sitka still had a local office, and needed help “keeping the lights on,” Fulton said.
The office eventually closed, but proceeds of fundraisers since then have supported Planned Parenthood services for men and women in this region, Fulton said.
“We want to continue that support,” she said.
Wild said Sitkans can access Planned Parenthood services at any time.
Rachael McPherson, Planned Parenthood major gifts officer, said services available include a smartphone app, Planned Parenthood Direct, that provides access to birth control pills, and videoconference information on women’s health.
Wild and Fulton said they are longtime fans of the organization, as well as the Ramshackle Cabaret and its messages.
“I support them; I used them when I was younger,” Wild said, of Planned Parenthood.
She said she appreciates that the cabaret embraces the message of “body positivity” she has struggled with. “This has helped me learn to live with my body more.”
Fulton described the rehearsals and shows themselves as a “love fest.” “People say things like, ‘you’re the most beautiful gift.’”
“It’s the support you receive,” Wild agreed.
McPherson will be here from Anchorage for the two nights of Ramshackle to talk about Planned Parenthood services; printed information also will be available.
Tickets are $25, available at Old Harbor Books.
