Gemma Smith (00:09.56)
Hello, hello, kitty cats, and welcome back to another episode of Tails and Tassels, the show where you learn about the lives of Burlesque nightlife performers, their craft, their cats, how the two worlds collide. I'm your host, Gemma Smith. By day, I work in animal welfare, and by night, I produce The Catbaret, New York City's cat-themed variety show. If you're listening to this episode today, Thursday, October 30, well, you're in luck.
Weâve got Catbaret Presents Meow-Loween tomorrow night here in New York City and also on Livestream. Livestream tickets are only $10. You can find all the info in the show notes. We'd love to have you join our community of cat lovers. Kitty cats, I'm so excited to kick off our first interview of season two today. Today's guest is Luna Lovely, a Long Beach based burlusk performer, costumer, and producer of Show Me Your Kitty's Cabaret. Yes, you heard that right, a feline-themed variety show.
Gemma Smith (01:22.176)
Yes, you heard that right. It's the Catbaret, on the West Coast. We talk all about Luna's journey into burlesque, her love of costuming, and what it's like producing shows alongside a community of showgirls who, of course, all seem to have cats. Luna also shares the incredible a-meow-zing story of rescuing a kitten trapped inside a car.
And this experience connected her with Little Lion Foundation. So you're going to learn more about that. We chatted all about how she started producing benefit shows that save feline lives. Plus, you get to learn all about her for cats, as well as learn about her experience as a kitten foster. This was so fun to connect with her. And I'm really excited for you to hear our chat. So let's get into the episode.
Gemma Smith (02:19.608)
Thank you so much for being here today, Luna. I'm really excited to chat with you and learn more about you.
Luna Lovelee:
Thank you so much for having me. I have been really, really looking forward to this.
Gemma Smith:
Me too. Ever since we connected on social media a while back and I said, show me your kitty's cabaret. my goodness, the show in California. And I was just drawn in by your social media presence and then getting to meet you at cat con even so briefly was awesome.
And so today I would really love to kick it off by learning more about your background and journey into burlesque. How did you get started?
Luna Lovelee:
Of course. So I moved to California. I want to say in like 2018 ish, which feels like it's not that long ago, but it's almost 10 years ago, which blows my mind. And I'd always been interested in doing burlesque, but never never took a dance class as an adult. Never did any of that.
But the job I got down here in California was right next to this dance studio that's now sadly closed. It did not survive the pandemic, but it was called Dance Line LA. right when I started, they offered a brand new class, which was burlesque. And I was like, you know what? I'm just starting this job. This dance studio is right next to my job. This is the universe saying, just go for it. Just do it. And so I took my first dance class and...
I've been hooked ever since and I started off so casually before the pandemic. didn't even have a performer name. I didn't put anything on social media. I just kept it so low key. You my grandma follows me, my dad follows me, and I was still so, no, what are they going to think? But then, know, 2020 came around and I thought, you know, that glittery part of my life was just done. I really did. I was like, okay, this is it. This was a fun two years.
But then in 2022, I went and saw Deedah on New Year's Eve here in LA. And I was like, you know, she's, you know, what in her 40s, 50s maybe, and just absolutely rocking it. Like this is again, the universe saying, please, please go for it. And that's when I adopted a stage name, really started having a dedicated social media presence, started taking classes again. And I still can't believe that.
Gemma Smith (04:39.488)
I am where I am now. I'm so grateful. I know. I follow you on Instagram and I see you're performing all the time. And so that really shows you didn't have to grow up dancing. You don't have to like already be a dancer. You can start at any time and just like you did. And then it took just a few years and you're performing pretty regularly.
Luna Lovelee:
Yeah. It's an, always say that you could hold a gun to my head and I could not give you a clean jazz pirouette, you know, even.
So I really, and I love technical dancers, I love watching technical performers, but you don't have to, you need to do a perfect chasse, pirouette combo to be a great performer. So that's just kind of my message is you, anyone can do burlesque. You just need to have the drive.
Gemma Smith:
I completely agree with you. What I love about it is that everyone has something special that they bring to the table. Their take on burlesque, whether it's from a technical angle, the concept, the humor, their personality. So I'd love to learn a little more about your burlesque acts, and then we'll dive into the Show Me Your Kitties cabaret. So as a performer, do you have a specific persona or style or perhaps a signature act that really encompasses who you are as an artist?
Luna Lovelee:
So I personally, I love, love, love, love watching just the the uber ultra glam sultry, gorgeous, you know, femme energy. But when I do that on stage, that doesn't feel authentic. You know what I mean? I, I feel very happy in sort of the cute campy niche. And so that's
Once I stopped trying to be someone that didn't feel authentic on stage, I started feeling so much more comfortable. And I know that sounds weird, like being silly and goofy on stage would be more fun, or not more fun, but more comfortable than Slytherin.
Gemma Smith (06:54.498)
I get that. I think that's a really wise piece of information for people because, yeah, sometimes I watch certain acts and I really love what they do, but that's just not authentic. To me, I'm a little as well. We have our own what we take to it. And I love a campy, silly, goofy act. So I bet there's lots of people watching you being like, that style really resonates.
Luna Lovelee:
It's one of my favorite acts. has nothing to do with kitties, but it's kind of like a 1960s space bimbo with like a little laser gun and like the 1960s sci-fi music. It's just so fun and just so silly.
But it's still, you know, I don't, I still try to be, you know, sensual and all of that, but it's just kind of more of a cheeky take on it than a, you know, in your face. Watch me be the sexiest sexer who's ever sexed.
Gemma Smith:
I love a little mod number. I'm going to have to stalk you to find a of that one. And speaking to your cat theme docs, because, and you can get into it however you want you, you've been producing Show Me Your Kitties Cabaret to support the Little Lions Foundation. So I'd love to hear about the origin story about that, about your mission and the types of acts in the show.
Luna Lovelee:
Yes. So I'm going to try and condense this very long story into something that is interesting to listen to. But when I moved from LA to Long Beach, I didn't have any connections with any sort of animal rescues out here. I just had moved. You we'd just gotten this house and things were chaotic.
And within a couple of weeks of moving, there was a kitten stuck in a car outside of my house, like literally outside of my window. Like I could hear it from my living room. That's how I found this kitten. And the fire department wouldn't help me. Little did I know that firefighters don't actually rescue kittens. That is a myth. my gosh. first thing I did was call the fire department. They were like, no.
I called them too if I didn't know. So I called Animal Services. They also were like, well, is it in danger? Is it hurt? And I'm like, no, but it's stuck and someone's going to start this car. But again, they were like, well, not our problem. And I was on next door just doing all these things. it was so unhelpful. But Little Lion Foundation, I reached out to them in kind of a last ditch effort.
Please, I just want to know how to get this cat out of this car engine. It's been almost 48 hours at this point. Like, let me... I need to save this kitten! And they helped me, they guided me, they told me exactly what to do. Apparently, if a cat is stuck in a car engine, you do not want to feed it. You want it to get as hungry as possible. So don't leave food out. That's how you end up getting it out, is you starve it and then it comes out because it's hungry. And so, since that helps me, I've just been their biggest champion ever since. I started going to all of their fundraisers.
They do a bunch of, you know, very family friendly, typical, you know, animal rescue type fundraisers, but they also do a drag bingo. And so the first time I went, it was sold out and it was very 21 plus, like humor and everything. And so I was like, okay, if the cat rescue community is into this, you know, kind of raunchy drag bingo fundraiser, I wonder.
they'd feel about like a little showgirl action. And so I pitched the idea to their event manager, Michelle, I work with all the time now. And she was like, let's do it. That's how Show Me Your Kitties was born. And when was that? I want to say we started planning this early 2025...
Gemma Smith (interjecting through this section as in original):
[Gemmaâs follow-ups about venue, space, etc.]
Luna Lovelee:
...So we have a beautiful space in downtown Long Beach at a venue called At the Top. It's part of Shannon's on Pine... [continues venue description and show flow]
Gemma Smith (11:41.314)
Daylight and showgirl makeup does not go well together. It sounds beautiful... [continues question about performers]
Luna Lovelee:
That's also like when I was kind of planning this and pitching this to the Lion Foundation, I noticed that, you know, as showgirls, we all follow each other... [continues about performers, cat names, submissions]
Gemma Smith (14:00.802)
You know, it's not burlesque, it's more of just a classic... [asks about her act and favorites]
Luna Lovelee:
...my act for this one was a cat that's a little like out on the town... cone, ear-tipped, PSA about spay/neuter... [continues]
Gemma Smith (16:19.926)
...child free cat lady... resonates...
Luna Lovelee:
Absolutely. Yeah, same here. I love my fur children and we're gonna keep it at fur children.
...Iâm also a big history nerd... I got into sewing... [costuming background]
Gemma Smith (18:38.482)
And I have to say your costumes are beautiful... headpieces...
Luna Lovelee:
Thank you! ...If I didn't have bills to pay, Iâd be a hat maker...
...I do not host. We hire that out... over 50 submissions... [producing notes]
Gemma Smith (21:00.718)
...Cheshire Cat submissions, flow, jungle cats block...
Luna Lovelee:
...Itâs so fun putting it together, but... sending decline emails hurts my soul...
Gemma Smith (23:22.221)
...run of show, tech cues, puzzle...
Luna Lovelee:
...Little Lion Foundation built their own spay/neuter clinic inside the rescue... first show raised money for surgery equipment... fix all the cats in Long Beach...
Gemma Smith (25:37.422)
...at least $15,000... free for community cats... TNR benefits...
Luna Lovelee:
...We also do kitten yoga, a pinup pageant... people like to get something in return for donations...
Gemma Smith (27:54.39)
...spacing burlesque, variety... returning audience?
Luna Lovelee:
Absolutely. I hear from folks at other fundraisers... theyâre excited to come to the next one...
I'm Miss Luna Lovely on Instagram... spring fundraiser; possibly bigger venue since shows sold out...
Gemma Smith:
...now the cat sectionâtell us about your cats...
Luna Lovelee:
So I have four cats... first two are black siblings from Black Cat Holistic Rescue... pandemic kitties...
Then Guillermo from CatConâcow cat for a cowgirl shirt momentâsweet derpy boy...
Fourth is Lucy, white, rescued from the car engineâferal at first, named after Bram Stokerâs Lucy... about 4.5â5 weeks when rescued...
Gemma Smith (32:35.05 to 37:13.806 sections)
...CatCon gong adoptions... What We Do in the Shadows âvampersâ... slow intro vs opening the door with Lucy... Jackson Galaxy method explanation...
Luna Lovelee:
...Guillermo was obsessed; I opened the door on day 4â5 and it was love at first sight...
...I fosterâprefer post-weaning kittens on wet food; younger = smoother intros... Have fostered six total, in pairs...
Gemma Smith (39:31.404)
...model kittens vs messy ones... adoption... impact of fostering...
Luna Lovelee:
...Fostering literally saves lives; if you already have pets itâs not that much more work...
Gemma Smith (41:55.668)
...rituals?
Luna Lovelee:
...Lickable treats chaosâkittens pushing adults aside. Itâs a show every time!
Gemma Smith:
...tip for listeners?
Luna Lovelee:
If you have a passion, take the first stepâthere are people in your community who feel the same. Ask for help; you donât have to have it all figured out.
Weâre on separate coasts doing cat charity cabaretsâproof the communityâs out there.
Gemma Smith:
Do you have a date for your next show?
Luna Lovelee:
Not yetâaiming before peak kitten season (spring). Looking at a bigger venue since shows sell out; tickets go to the rescueâbasically a donation with a show as a thank you. Weâll be shaking and shimmying and saving kitties again.
Gemma Smith (46:36.302)
Can't wait. Okay, well, thank you so much, Luna. Lovely for joining me today. It was positively delightful to learn about your journey and I'm excited to stay connected.
Luna Lovelee:
Thank you. Well, it's been a meowsing being here. I love following what you guys do. I'm so excited to see footage from melloween. I mean, that is genius.
Gemma Smith (47:07.564)
And that's a wrap for this episode of Tails and Tassels. So if you have any questions, comments, or just want to say meow, feel free to send us an email at tailsandtasselspod at gmail.com. Thank you for listening. And don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review our podcast. Also join our community on Instagram at Tails and Tassels Pod for more updates and behind the scenes fun. See you next time, kitty cats.
