Brown Betties Make Lemonade…

Brown Bettie front woman Peppur Chambers is up to her naughty tricks… as usual. The singing, dancing, and acting phenom behind the Los Angeles based brown girl monthly cabaret production is also the EIC of the Brown Betties Gazette (a new issue is live, just click on the link) and the force behind the forthcoming book Making Lemonade… Which brings me to a very critical point. Anyone who has made a move across country or half way across the street even… has often found out, things aren’t always glittery on the other side or vice versa. In Peppur’s account, a collaboration of short stories, she details, in the most contemporary and conventional means – via email of course, her self-proclaimed “bitter sweet tales from an actress being squeezed in LA.” Whether it is L.A., New York, Houston (hey, Beyonce has inspired the trek for some I’m sure) any path paving sister with a mind of her own and the strength of a lioness will appreciated these pieces. With that said, I have a treat for you my good ladies! Excerpts from Pep’s book are online at her I’m A Peppur Blogsite. Just click it already!

Peppur Chambers & Her Bad, Bad, Brown Betties…

Sexy, sultry, sassy, fearless. If asked to describe the show that is Brown Betties: A Harlem’s Night Cabaret in four adjectives, you just got them. An independent contemporary cabaret performance, Harlem’s Night… debuted in Los Angeles in the summer of August 2005. Four women: Peppur Chambers, Keena Ferguson, Christy Gamble, and Danielle Lewis, known as the Brown Betties, hit the stage for a most engaging and entertaining theatrical review every few months. Interchanging music, dance and acting, A Harlem’s Night… is the story of four women of four drastically different personalities, in love with one man – Joe. Throughout the course of the show, these women, in uncanny detail, reveal their addiction to Joe through their various vices. Harlem, the lead character is Need, while the other women embody Want, Hate, and Love. We recently caught up with the oh-so-sexy and stunning Peppur Chambers, the gunning force behind all that is Brown Betties…

MP: What is Brown Betties and how did you come up with the concept of Harlem’s Night Cabaret?

PC: I came up with the concept “Harlem’s Night Cabaret” from a variety of influences. When I lived in Chicago, I was assisting in urban marketing with my friend Maze Jackson who had a campaign account with Sprite. Since I’ve always loved the ‘40s, I was like, “Dude, instead of throwing regular parties to promote the brand, we need to do a 1940s night… juke joint, Ella Fitzgerald, the whole nine…!” He was like, “Uhhh, No. People won’t get it.” I never forgot that idea and saved my proposal. So when I moved to Los Angeles, I took my fabulous theme of a 1940’s Harlem Night, named my lead character “Harlem” and made it her night of trying to desperately get an un-gettable guy named “Joe.” I brought in my old corny songs and the sultry “Hey Joe” and there was “Harlem’s Night: A Cabaret Story”!!

MP: There is definitely a revival of the pin-up girl in your production. Where did that come from?

PC: Quite frankly, I loved pin-up girls from the 40s & 50s and was pissed there weren’t any Black pin- ups. I always wanted to be one so now I am and so are the three other Brown Betties.

MP: And cabaret… have you always been a fan?

PC: Absolutely. But, traditional cabaret, where there’s one woman, her feather boa and her piano telling a story with her songs. I was greatly influenced by Julie Wilson.

MP: What was your scariest moment on stage?

PC: Uhhh. It’s always scary! Ha. My stiletto strap broke in one show and that was scary trying to not gimp around. I’ve had a booby-trap wardrobe malfunction, but that was funny (prompted us to start wearing pasties). We’ve had other wardrobe malfunctions… The real scary part is going to the ATM to get cash to pay for rehearsals and my account is overdrawn!

MP: It’s not easy getting in front of an audience of strangers in your skivvies… Do you have a ritual to prepare yourself or have you come to a place where that doesn’t even matter?

PC: We try to get bikini waxes. We also do a group prayer before each show.

MP: In addition to the production, you put together a calendar. Please tell us all about it!

PC: Jim Silke, the amazing illustrator who drew Bettie Paige, came to one of our early shows. I told him about my longing desire for an all black pin-up calendar and he offered to draw us. It took a year as he was busy working on graphic novels. Well, in the meantime, the girls felt a photo-calendar was what they really wanted. I thought it would be cool to take the themes from our numbers, like “Sweetie Pie” and “Lady’s Man” and find poses that told that story as well as were representative of classic pin-up poses.

MP: Where can you purchase the calendar?

PC: Online at Brown Betties.

*You can also find dates for the next performance at that website.