For More Fun ~ Join the Palm Beach Pin-Up Party!

Watch this Behind the Scenes Footage of our Pin-Up Shoot at Ragtops Motorcar Museum!!

On May 6th, 2015, most of the ladies who performed in our show at Pinned Miami, came and did a photo shoot to benefit The Palm Beach Photographic Centre.  I have been posting all of the images on a new Facebook page called the Palm Beach Pin-Up Party!  I am posting some of the pictures here too!  Of course it was the most fun I've had in a long time and you can certainly see why.  We were so fortunate to be able to shoot at Ragtops Motorcar Museum in West Palm Beach, Florida - which is a little slice of vintage heaven!  And naturally, our ladies were divine in all their pin-up finery.  

All I can say is that I cannot wait for the next time!  

Enjoy these photos and go give Palm Beach Pin-Up Party a like!

Photo by Shane Srogi starring Ariel Amour

Photo by Andy Spilos starring Melissa Coleman

Photo by Sheryl Kittrell starring Ariel Amour

Photo by Andy Spilos starring Melissa Coleman, Jacquelinda, 

Sam Steich & Lacey Nikkinen

 

Photo by Sheryl Kittrell starring Melissa Coleman

Photo by Sheryl Kittrell starring Melissa Coleman

Photo by Shane Srogi starring Ariel Amour, Melissa Coleman, Jacquelinda, 

Sam Steich & Lacey Nikkinen

Photo by Gail V. Haines starring Ariel Amour, Melissa Coleman, Jacquelinda, 

Sam Steich & Lacey Nikkinen

 

Photo by Seryl Kittrell starring Lacey Nikkinen

Photo by Shane Srogi starring Ariel Amour

Photo by Shane Srogi starring Ariel Amour, Melissa Coleman, Jacquelinda, 

Sam Steich & Lacey Nikkinen

Photo by Sheryl Kittrell starring Ariel Amour, Melissa Coleman, Jacquelinda, 

Sam Steich & Lacey Nikkinen

The South Florida Premier of Art of the Pin-Up Girl at Pinned Miami

Art of the Pin-Up Girl was staged as a live concert on May 24, 2014 at Pinned Miami!

For those of you who have never been to a "Pin-Up Festival", it is a new and different experience.  There are classic cars, lots of photographers and pin-up girls everywhere.  Pinned Miami was an exciting mix of all of the elements of pin-up culture - and until you see it with your own eyes - you cannot imagine how much fun it really is!  

My partner-in-crime - Melissa Coleman (who also discovered her new career as the fabulous Bettie Page) - and I drove down Friday morning with all the trimmings in tow for our stylish booth.  We had all of our Art of the Pin-Up Girl promo materials, posters and sponsor swag, as well as our original merchandise created from Anne Cha's #GirlPower piece.  There were vendors there of all kinds, pin-up hair and make-up, clothes, bands, and even tattoo artists giving tattoos on the spot for anyone who wanted one!

Melissa Coleman (Bettie Page) and Sam Streich (Rosie the Riveter) showcase our fabulous finds 

at the Art of the Pin-Up Girl Booth.  Anne Cha's Girl Power pictured here on right.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday we worked the booth, selling t-shirts and dog tags with the iconic GirlPower image as part of an exclusive arrangement with Artist Anne Cha and sponsored by Tatyana Boutique.  The energy was electric and we made lots of new friends and all bonded heavily over our undying love of all things Pin-Up!  We even got to meet Celeste Guiliano in person!  She is a nationally known pin-up photographer whom we have been smitten with for years!!  She was signing her beautiful new book Keyhole Cuties that is a compilation of so many of her spectacular pin-ups.  She is the best in the business.

Sam, Celeste, Melissa, Lacey and Heather ~ after the show!

Saturday night was the show, so as the cast and band began to arrive, the ladies retired to hair and make-up which was done by Terribly Girly.  That is, all of us except for Melissa's Bettie, who had already worked the show floor, handing out postcards and promoting our show - and otherwise making people stop dead in their tracks with her uncanny resemblance to the real Bettie Page!  She even snapped a pic with a Marilyn Monroe.

Miss Olivia Jean as Marilyn and our own Melissa Coleman as Bettie Page

Popeye was photographed by the Sun Sentinel, who gave us a nice mention:

Pinned Miami pinup convention delivers retro vibe to Miami

And we were also #2 on the Miami News Times list:  

Pinned Miami: Eleven Things to Look Forward to at Miami's First Pin-Up Festival

Our cast was spectacular.  The ladies transformed themselves into the most beautiful Pin-Up Girls from every era of our show and were visually stunning!  I cannot say enough how proud I was of them.  Their energy and enthusiasm for the original material and the focus and positivity that they exuded was so inspiring and contagious.  Their sparkle and our fantastic (kick-ass) band made for a truly magical combination.

Left to right:  Melissa Coleman, Lacey Nikkinen, Ariel Amoure, Zoralys Calle and Sam Streich
Photo by SA Dawkins

Band Members:  Gregory "Popeye" Alexander (keyboards, harmonica, bass, band leader) , Dakota Dawkins (bass), Jerome Degey (guitar, bass), Tim Malbacher (drums), Angel Pagan (percussion), JT Tutino (saxophone, guitar), Johammie Romero (trumpet), David Bayardelle (trombone)

Photos by SA Dawkins

Alex J. Weir performs the finale "Pin-Up Bunnies".

Tallahassee-based burlesque troupe, The Assets, choreographed an original dance 

and performed in the finale, "Pin-Up Bunnies"

When showtime came, everyone looked amazing and we were so ready to share this piece with the audience.  As fate would have it, the band before us ran long and so we began our sound check at the time our show was supposed to start.  So the audience of about 400 people, actually sat and watched our sound check.  It was strange and uncomfortable at first - but it seemed to melt all of our nervousness away and everyone was able to deliver a really great show!  

Melissa Coleman as Bettie Page

Photo by SA Dawkins

There is nothing like the feeling of seeing this original work come to the light and be so well received by the audience.  Numerous people came up to me after the show and the entire next day to say how much they loved it and how everyone was talking about it.  It just makes us all want to do it again!   So buckle up, Bettie, this train has left the station! 

Art of the Pin-Up Girl at Pinned Miami

was generously sponsored by

    

There will be more to tell of this adventure, so stay tuned and follow our Pinterest board for all the media related to our performance at Pinned!

Art of the Pin-Up Girl performs at Pinned Miami 2014

Art of the Pin-Up Girl.  Copyright 2014.  All rights reserved.

Anne Cha's "Girl Power" is also protected under United States Copyright 2014.  All rights reserved.

British Treasure Modern Vintage Magazine Does Cover Story on Art of the Pin-Up Girl

Open publication - Free publishing - More interactive
Click on this gorgeous digital magazine and enjoy the vintage culture and lifestyle stories, especially page 22-23 where they profile the adventure of our show!!

Art of the Pin-Up Girl Casting Notice in The Palm Beach Post!!

Palm Beach Post, TGIF, August 24, 2012

Announcing South Florida Casting for Art of the Pin-Up Girl

For Immediate Release
Media Contact for interviews and further information:

Bill Underwood, Liberty Media Group (561) 267-2632

FOLLOWING SUCCESS IN THE BIG APPLE,

SOUTH FLORIDA PLAYWRIGHT NOW CASTING LOCALLY

FOR STAGED READING OF “ART OF THE PIN-UP GIRL”

West Palm Beach, FL (August 20, 2012) -   For South Florida playwright Heather Storm, the prospect of turning a dream into reality are now closer than ever.

Storm, writer and creator of “Art of the Pin-Up Girl,” a musical romp through the history of the American pin-up, first envisioned the project more than ten years ago.  Following a staged reading in NYC that “went very well,” according to Storm, a second reading is planned locally.  The New York reading was staged at Shetler Studios' Theatre 54. “We had an excellent turn-out,” said Storm, “with about 80% of the house full of audience members who were delighted - and the feedback was tremendous!  We can’t wait to do it again here in South Florida.”

 

CASTING CALL: ARE YOU “PIN-UP MATERIAL?”

Casting will soon begin for a staging and future live performances of “Art of the Pin-Up,” with filming for multi-media presentation also in the plans. Dates, times and venues will soon be announced.

“We are looking for six to eight female performers who can sing, dance and act for stage and for filming, and who also can style themselves in a vintage/retro/”pin-up” look,” said Storm, who offered a look at the characters currently being cast:

Ruth Etting: 1920s radio and Ziegfeld star, alto, slim, beautiful;  Anna Mae Clift: Greenwich Follies showgirl of the 1920s, alto, blonde, Southern belle; Lena Horne: African-American movie star of the 40s and 50s, beautiful, soprano;Bettie Page:  Queen of the pin-ups, black hair with bangs, beautiful, alto, bluesy voice; Alberto Vargas:  Tall, slim, Hispanic male, handsome, gentile, can be a non-singing role;  Baron von Lind: Narrator, male, suave, conversational, dynamic, baritone.

ADDITIONAL CASTING FOR VARIOUS MALE AND FEMALE ROLES

“We are also casting additional roles, both male and female, for speaking roles and chorus,” added Storm, “and we also need excellent dancers (jazz/swing/ballroom) for full company numbers and musicians, including horns, guitar, piano, and other instruments.”

Submissions should be made via email to:  palmbeachbystorm@gmail.com. Please include links to all digital profiles, including pictures and sound and video files (if available). The roles being cast for the reading are unpaid at this time. Copy, credit and meals will be provided for the filmed portions. Non-Union.

ABOUT ‘ART OF THE PIN-UP GIRL’ 

This original musical takes a fond look at the history of Pin-up girls − those iconic, perfectly proportioned beauties who have adorned magazine pages, posters, calendars and bedroom walls for more than a century,

Originally inspired by a coffee table book, The Great American Pin-Up, Storm set out to create a story that weaves tales of actual people and events into the tapestry of a glorious musical trip through the time and space of Pin-Up Art in America.  “Those women were real women, live models for the artists.  They lived fascinating and often scandalous lives,” Storm says.  “Their stories are firmly rooted in the lore of our American theatrical and entertainment culture - from the richness of the burlesque to the Greenwich and Ziegfeld Follies, to the Golden Age of Hollywood and yes, even Playboy.”

The 15 original songs in the musical were composed by Gregory “Popeye” Alexander, Storm’s husband and a well-known South Florida composer, producer, singer and radio personality.  Alexander is lead singer for the International Players and Memory Lane and also plays bass and keyboards for PoKoLoko based in West Palm Beach. The music was co-produced by Alex J. Weir of PokoLoko at Dreamhouse Studios in West Palm Beach.

Familiar characters who leap off the pages in Art of the Pin-Up Girl include pin-up legends Bettie Page, Anna Mae Clift, Lena Horne and Rosie the Riveter, as well as acclaimed artists Alberto Vargas and Baron von Lind – who has created an original pin-up girl poster to promote the new musical. “Lind’s lifelong obsession with pin-up inspired the narrative for the play,” Storm notes.

To listen to musical excerpts from Art of the Pin-Up Girl and learn more about its origins and the pin-up icons who inspired it, visitwww.artofthepin-upgirl.

com/.

Writer / Creator: Heather Storm. Composed and produced by Gregory “Popeye” Alexander with musical contributions and production by Alex J. Weir of Dreamhouse Studios, West Palm Beach, Florida.  Multi-media by Timothy Malbacher of Creati.com. 

Questions? Contact palmbeachbystorm@gmail.com.

Art of the Pin-Up Girl Makes the Cover of Modern Vintage Magazine!

Read our first ever cover story in the British digital magazine, Modern Vintage!  Today our story goes international!
The Art of the Pin-Up Girl:  Heather Storm has dedicated the best part of a decade to creating her life's work - a brand new musical about the all-American pin-up!

A Fresh Look at Pin-Up Girls

Read A Fresh Look at Pin-Up Girls by Rod Hagwood of The Sun Sentinel - the latest article about the great adventure of Art of the Pin-Up Girl, a musical romp through the history of American pin-up!

Original Pin-Up by Baron von Lind

Exclusively created for Art of the Pin-Up Girl

Some Press for The Pin-Up!

First it was my alma mater, The University of Florida College of Fine Arts, who graciously published my submission to "the loop" - the Tumblr blog for all the fabulous news that's fit to print in the world of Gator Nation Fine Arts!

New musical by UF Alum Heather Storm prepares for NYC staged reading in July

Then our publicist, the brilliant Leon Rubin, drafted our first press release and I am proud to announce that the response was pretty swift and thrilling!!  Truly within 10 minutes of the release, we had an inquiry from an important South Florida fashion and entertainment columnist - who will do an interview at the end of the month.  And before the day was over, The Miami New Times asked for an interview and the lovely Ilana Shulevitz set up a telephone inquiry for a piece which ran just a few days later:

Art of the Pin-Up Girl Brings Florida-Born Sex Appeal to the Big Apple

Then, lucky day!  Just last night, our friend, Tim Byrd, "the Byrdman", publisher of Palm Beach - Live, Work, Play, wrote a delightful article on our show and posted it to his beautiful website!  

Jupiter Girl Pens Pin-Up Play

We are completely excited by the progress of our show and by the great adventure that lies ahead!  Thank you for all your support and for "staying tuned" to all the news!  Viva la Pin-Up!!

Art of the Pin-Up Girl South Florida Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Heather Storm                                                                                  Leon Rubin

561-222-5546                                                                                   561-251-8075

palmbeachbystorm@gmail.com                                               lmrubin@windstream.net

New Art of the Pin-Up Girl Musical Created by Jupiter Playwright

Set to Debut with Summer Staged Reading in New York

            JUPITER, Fla. (June 4, 2012) − Pin-up girls − those iconic, perfectly proportioned beauties who have adorned magazine pages, posters, calendars and bedroom walls for more than a century – will come to life in a new musical set to debut with a New York staged reading this July.

            The new show – Art of the Pin-Up Girl − is the culmination of a decade-long dream for Heather Storm, the Jupiter, Fla., based playwright, lyricist and singer/songwriter who has lovingly crafted the book and lyrics. 

            Originally inspired by a coffee table book, The Great American Pin-Up, Storm set out to create a story that weaves tales of actual people and events into the tapestry of a glorious musical trip through the time and space of Pin-Up Art in America.  “Those women were real women, live models for the artists.  They lived fascinating and often scandalous lives,” Storm says.  “Their stories are firmly rooted in the lore of our American theatrical and entertainment culture - from the richness of the burlesque to the Greenwich and Ziegfeld Follies, to the Golden Age of Hollywood and yes, even Playboy.”

            The 15 original songs in the musical were composed by Gregory “Popeye” Alexander, Storm’s husband and a well-known South Florida composer, producer, singer and radio personality.  Alexander is lead singer for the International Players and Memory Lane and also plays bass and keyboards for PoKoLoko based in West Palm Beach. The music was co-produced by Alex J. Weir of PokoLoko at Dreamhouse Studios in West Palm Beach.

            Familiar characters who leap off the pages in Art of the Pin-Up Girl include pin-up legends Bettie Page, Anna Mae Clift, Lena Horne and Rosie the Riveter, as well as acclaimed artists Alberto Vargas and Baron von Lind – who has created an original pin-up girl poster to promote the new musical. Lind’s lifelong obsession with pin-up inspired the narrative for the play, Storm notes.

            “I am a believer in the idea that truth is way more interesting than fiction,” Storm says.  “And since we can trace the origins of Alberto Vargas' humble beginnings directly to his work painting the Ziegfeld Follies girls for the posters in the New Amsterdam Theater lobby, the need for this story to be a musical was carved in stone.”

            The staged reading, directed by Susan D. Rubin, is scheduled for Saturday, July 21, at 7:30 p.m. in Theatre 54 at Shetler Studios & Theatres, 244 W. 54^th St. between Broadway and Eighth Avenue in New York. 

            Casting for Art of the Pin-Up Girl, which was funded through Kickstarter, will be announced in the near future.  To reserve a seat for the reading, call 561-222-5546 or e-mail palmbeachbystorm@gmail.com. 

            To listen to musical excerpts from Art of the Pin-Up Girl and learn more about its origins and the pin-up icons who inspired it, visitwww.artofthepin-upgirl.com/.

###

Art of the Pin-Up Girl on social media:

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/artofthepinupgirl

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/artofpinup

Website: http://www.artofthepin-upgirl.com/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/artofpinup

Tumblr: http://artofthepin-upgirl.tumblr.com/archive

Blog: http://artofthepin-upgirl.blogspot.com/

Smartphone App:  http://artofpinup.app.gp/

Musical excerpts on Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/heather-storm

Welcome to the Jungle (The Fabulous Bettie Page)

When I wrote the song, Welcome to the Jungle (The Fabulous Bettie Page) it was late at night after copious amounts of wine.  My husband (and writing partner) began playing a blues intro and I started to improvise with the singing – very badly at first – since I had never sung a blues song, let alone written one.  But a few things started to gel and we kept going – entertaining only ourselves.  I got the digital voice recorder and tried to preserve what I knew could ever so easily be forgotten the next morning.

When I played it back the next day, I hardly recognized my own voice.  I knew logically that it was me, but it reminded me of someone from another time – almost like my grandmother.  And for some reason, the song kept coming.  Songwriters may tell you that there are a million melodies in the brain, but only some of them persist into becoming full songs.   Those songs can only be seen as a gift.  And this gift became a realization of my desire to be a fly on the wall during the famous jungle photo shoot when Bettie was shot by Bunny Yeager (pin-up turned photog) right here in South Florida.

About this time, I discovered the movie trailer for the film about Bettie Page’s life:  Bettie Page Reveals All.  I had never heard the sound of Bettie’s voice before, and when I played the trailer for this new film, which she essentially narrates, I had this haunting feeling – as though the voice coming out of me was hers.

I should qualify this by saying that when I began writing the script for Art of the Pin-Up Girl, I really was not interested in writing about Bettie.  I felt that her story had been told and what more could I say that would still be engaging to a pin-up savvy audience?  And also, my premise was to see the fantasy of a piece of art coming to life – not a girl that we knew as “real” already.  That was solved by the fact that Bettie had been painted plenty – and most extensively by one of my favorite artists, Olivia DeBerardinis.

And you may say, “How can you even think about writing a play about pin-up without paying homage to The Queen?”  Perhaps that is why the messages started coming through loud and clear.  If you wonder where my inspiration came from, well, I would tell you from Bettie herself.  She came in dreams on a nightly basis for quite a while.  The song kept playing in my head every single time I took a shower and I felt this sense of urgency to finish the song, to write the lyrics line by line and finally to record it.  Believe me when I say, Bettie was very specific about what she wanted.  This song should be a show stopper!

As we continued recording the other thirteen original songs, I kept procrastinating Bettie’s song.  I knew that I must do it justice and in many ways it was a monumental undertaking.  As a result it was the last song we recorded for Art of the Pin-Up Girl, and many of my dear friends who are familiar with this work have said that it is their absolute favorite.

On October 14, I was honored to be one of the first to see the sold-out work-in-progress screening of Bettie Page Reveals All at The Jacksonville Film Festival.  To say that it was an emotional experience for me would be an understatement.  So much of her life resonated with me.  The people who knew her had wonderful things to say about her, that she was a lovely person with a zest for life and a wicked sense of humor – just as her photos convey.  But then there were the tragic parts, such as the sexual abuse at the hands of her father and later in life the mental illness that brought her to a screeching halt.  Still, she lived her life with a sense of purpose and had a strong sense of self.  She radiated beauty and sensuality, but also struggled like we all do – perhaps she had more than her share of struggles.  The thing about Bettie Page is that she is every woman – extraordinary and complex, beautiful and mysterious, both naughty and nice.  Perhaps she is what every woman aspires to be in one way or another.  I can see how she has become an icon of feminine empowerment – ironically by doing an art form that was supposed to be for the pleasure of men.  I really cannot wait for all of Bettie’s fans to see her film and have the experience of knowing her more deeply.  She is, in my opinion, an American treasure.

And naturally, when Art of the Pin-Up Girl – a musical romp through the history of American Pin-Up - is staged it will be thrilling to see a young actress embody Bettie Page and with this song accomplish what our beloved Bettie deserves:  To stop the Show!!

 

Bettie Page Reveals All is directed by Mark Mori.

Art of the Pin-Up Girl: A Musical Journey through the History of the American Pin-Up!

 

Pin-Up "Jasmine" by Baron von Lind

http://www.baronvonlind.com

So here's the story.  Several years ago I began writing original music (with Greg, my honey and my composer) and an outline for a project inspired by a coffee table book I had acquired called, The Great American Pin-Up (Taschen, Martignette & Meisel).  I was so mesmerized by that book and the decades of beautiful art that had been created by real painters who were uber-talented and every bit fine artists.  These luminous portraits were used for a variety of advertisements and other pop-culture and pulp-fiction purposes.  I'm sure I don't know why, but every time I would look at these gorgeous pieces, I would think:  What if that girl came to life?  What would her story be?

And as I ruminated on that subject, a thousand images of my mad lifelong passion for musical theatre began to resurface - after quite a few years of not performing and being merely an audience member.  And since we can trace the origins of Alberto Vargas' humble beginnings directly to his work painting the Ziegfeld Follies girls for the posters in the New Amsterdam Theater lobby, the need for this story to be a musical was carved in stone.  Then, I began to study all the pin-up books I could get my hands on - and I can assure you that I am quite the pin-up librarian these days!

As I studied, a wonderful truth came into clear view:  Those women were real women - live models for the artists - who lived fascinating and often scandalous lives.  They had the brevity not only to pose with little or no clothes but quite often they had romantic relationships with the artists who immortalized them. Their stories are firmly rooted in the lore of our American theatrical and entertainment culture - from the richness of the burlesque to the Greenwich and Ziegfeld Follies, to the Golden Age of Hollywood and yes, even Playboy.

Since I am a believer in the idea that truth is way more interesting than fiction - this is a story that weaves in the tales of actual people and events into the tapestry of a glorious musical trip through the time and space of Pin-Up Art in America.  I hope you will join me in this endeavor as we share a work very much still in progress and we return to the wisdom of the Great Ziegfeld and begin to once again, "Glorify the American Girl"!  And really, don't you think it's about time??  Viva La Pin-Up!!

For more eye candy, come to my Wonderful World of Tumblr:
http://artofthepin-upgirl.tumblr.com/archive
And get thee to my pin-up page on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/artofthepinupgirl