The Buzz Intro Interview | Speakeasy Sirens

Respondent: Cherry Bonbon
Position in Company: Producer/Owner
Company: Speakeasy Sirens
Show Title: IT’S ALIVE! A Monster Burlesque Comedy

“I wanted to take my craving for the camp and comedy and find theater lovers just as enthusiastic as I was to bring this story to life.”

Why should people see your show?

I think if anyone here is a horror fan to any degree and is in the mood for some campy comedy and burlesque than this is the show for you! We’re taking Grade-A actors and mixing them into this beautifully campy monster mash. There’s some deep cuts in these stories too, from Jonathan Harker and Mina to teen wolf references and more. We’re here to keep a smile on your face and bring you a light tale with alot of heart all the way from the cursed lands of Florida!

What about festivals intrigues you? And why the Atlanta Fringe?

My first festival was Orlando Fringe 2023 and I’ve never felt like I’ve belonged somewhere before as much as I did there. From the community to everyone’s amazingly creative marketing, sharing stage spaces and resources and more. It was so amazing. Atlanta has become my second home thanks to being at The Pigalle so often so being able to bring my performers up to this amazing city made it all the more enticing!

What inspired you to create this?

I’ve always been a monster fan. From my entire existence being thanks to my parents meeting at opening day of a certain ‘universally’ known theme park, to my career somehow leading me through acting in B horrors and theme park Halloween events, becoming a makeup artist for Halloween Horror Nights, a tour guide for Halloween specific events and bringing my own prosthetic and makeup work to the judges of Face Off at local horror events! I wanted to take my craving for the camp and comedy and find theater lovers just as enthusiastic as I was to bring this story to life.

Life has been weird the last few years, to say the least. How has the “real world” affected the art you’re creating?

There’s never a shortage of drama in the drama community. But I’ve been extremely fortunate to find people who support me and allow me to have my ideas be heard. My team for this show is all I could ask for and more. From cast parties to blackmailing my team by telling them they only get to have kitten time with my foster kittens by rehearsing, we try and keep the process as fun for the cast as it’ll be for the audience.

What have you learned from working on your show so far?

I have to stop gluing rhinestones to my fingers versus the fabrics.

A mysterious stranger asks to meet you and your cast and crew after loving your show. In your WILDEST DREAMS, who is it? (Bonus points if your mysterious stranger is an Atlanta celeb.)

HE’S THERE! THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA! Surprise though; our male lead is now missing, theres 2 masked men in this production saying the other is a fake, and one of them is pretending to be someones dearly departed father.

Fringes are the place to really push the boundaries so we gotta ask: are you inviting your family to this show are “Hey, maybe sit this one out you guys…”

Honestly I’d invite my family to this one in a heartbeat! THEY’RE the ones who find it weird.

Will your show change the world?

I think anything has the power to change the world to some capacity. Ours will just make classic monsters a little more queer. 🙂

AI: the death of our art form or just a new tool to create?

It won’t be the death of our art form if we keep fighting. AI can never replicate real humans or art, but it can make cheap duplicates. Live theater will continue to hold strong through this. We just have to fight.