New Years Gala with Sam Bass Theatre | December 31, 2016
Sam Bass Theatre is hosting it’s annual New Years Eve Fundraiser show on December 31, 2016 from 9:00 pm – midnight. This year the theme is A Night In Storyville and Evening of Burlesque.
7th Annual New Years Eve Gala
The show takes place on New Years Eve with Saffire T. Stone hosting the event ( 2 time best drag performer in the Austin Chronicle). After the show is a fun cocktail party to ring in the new year! The show will consist of several Burlesque performances, sultry jazz singers, and fabulous drag performers all bringing the heat and the sex appeal in a roaring 20’s style.
The area of New Orleans known as Storyville was 12 blocks of legalized prostitution from the late 1800’s through the early 1920’s. This area is known as the birthplace of JAZZ. Some of the notable figures of Storyville you may have heard of others are New Orleans own personal dirty little secrets. Those that you may have heard of are Buddy Bolden, Jelly Roll Morton, and Pops Foster. There are rumors that Louis Armstrong first performed in the infamous brothels of Storyville.
The owners of the brothels, saloons, and cribs would hire musicians to entertain the clients. These audiences tended to not be very critical, giving performers the freedom to experiment with their musical styles. Many different forms and genres of music arose from this experimentation, combining different influences such as African, French, and contemporary. With the closing of Storyville in 1917, the New Orleans musicians who had relied on the district for employment moved elsewhere. Many of these musicians moved to the next major urban center of jazz, Chicago. Musicians, such as Louis Armstrong, flourished here.
