Dita Von Teese Talks Burlesque History, Vegas Residency, Taylor Swift Collab
By Allison Kugel
The following quotes are excerpts from the latest episode of the Allison Interviews podcast with host and entertainment journalist, Allison Kugel interviewing Queen of Burlesque, Dita Von Teese.
This interview delves into Playboy Christening her “Dita Von Teese,” teaching Bethenny Frankel and Taylor Swift her Martini glass routine, Bette Midler’s Halloween party, her ongoing issues with the Catholic church and her opulent and outrageous Las Vegas Residency.
On teaching Taylor Swift her Martini Glass routine for the Bejeweled video:
“With the Taylor Swift Bejeweled music video, that started with a phone call and me teaching her my martini glass [routine] and us doing it side by side in her video. My best [celebrity] experience was Taylor. She is really a kind girl, she knew everything about what I do, and she wanted to not just have me be behind-the scenes-teaching her to be in my glass. She wanted to showcase what I do. Connecting with a younger generation who are Taylor Swift fans, it was pretty fun and interesting.”
On teaching Bethenny Frankel her Martini Glass routine for now defunct show, Bethenny:
“There was a talk show with Bethenny Frankel (Bethenny, 2012 – 2014). I was asked to go on her show and teach her how to do my glass routine, and guess what? She didn’t show up for rehearsal! They were like, ‘You have to come to rehearsal and teach her how to do this routine,’ and then she never showed up. And I was like, ‘Why am I at rehearsal? I don’t need to rehearse. I can do this blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back.’ Then we did it live on camera, and I was like (to Bethenny), ‘You’re on your own.’”
On Playboy giving her the stage name “Dita Von Teese”:
“I literally picked out the name when I was flipping through the phone book, back when there used to be a phone book. I don’t know how people do it now. Maybe now they have burlesque name generators (laughs). I picked out the name Dita Von Treese, with an “R” in in. Playboy then printed it as “Dita Von Teese.” I called Playboy up and said, ‘You guys got my name wrong. It was Von Treese,’ and they were like, ‘Yeah, yeah, we’ll get it right in the next issue.’ And then they never did, and I was like, whatever, I guess I’m Dita Von Teese. I didn’t even think about the strip tease association. That was completely an accident.”
On the outrageous price tag of her Las Vegas residency wardrobe:
“This show (Dita Las Vegas: a Jubilant Revue) is unparalleled even for Las Vegas. When I went into this epic theatre where they had the great Showgirl Jubilee in the late ‘70s, I asked them what happened to all the costumes from Jubilee In the seventies, when they did this big showgirl review and the costume budget alone was $3.5 Million. I asked if I could use those costumes in my show and they said yes. I’m using a combination of all these vintage Bob Mackie in addition to new costumes.”
“All of my footwear is Christian Louboutin. We are good friends and we created all this fantasy footwear for my show that sometimes winds up in his line. Jenny Packham is another designer; she dresses the royals a lot. She’s made several looks for my show. Everything is custom made. These aren’t things you can buy off the rack. And then I have a copious amount of Swarovski crystals and massive amounts of vintage feathers. There is an incredible amount of bling in this show that you have never seen before. That’s guaranteed. And if you are counting the existing vintage Bob Mackie showgirl costumes from the archives with everything else, [the wardrobe] is literally, like, $12 Million.”
On Bette Midler’s Halloween Party and getting banned by the Bishop:
“No disrespect to organized religion. It’s just never been a part of my life. I do love their costumes and their drama, and their show business (referring to the church). One time I got banned by the Biship in New York. I was set to perform at Bette Midler’s Halloween party. I flew out solely for that, and it was in a church that was an inclusive church. They put me in the dressing room where the priests get ready, with all their robes and their props. All their gold things were all there. I was like, ‘Whoa, this is intense! I’m in their dressing room. This is all show business. Then, of course, promptly the Bishop found out who I was and they banned me from the entire thing. I ended up just watching the show. Bette Midler said, ‘Well, because she is on the bill, do you think she could just stand in full costume by her [Martini] glass, but with no performance?’ and the Bishop was like, ‘Absolutely Not! You’re lucky this woman gets to stand here.’ Meanwhile, it was a Halloween party and there were all these people dressed up like Satan.”
On never wanting to be a movie star:
“I was never like, ‘I’m going to be a movie star.’ I remember, at one point, I had a new manager and she was like, ‘Okay, now we’ve got to get you in films. We’ve got to get you to be an actress,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t want to be an actress. I want to be the world’s greatest Burlesque star. That’s all I want.’ I didn’t do [Burlesque] to get somewhere else. I did this because I believed in it.”
About Journalist and Podcast Host Allison Kugel
Allison Kugel is a veteran entertainment journalist and host of the Allison Interviews podcast. Watch and embed the entire interview video with Dita Von Teese @YouTube. Listen to the audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Follow Allison Kugel on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonInterviews.com.
