Matthew Bugg on the past, present and future of Miss Nightingale

You
describe it as “the burlesque musical”. What does that mean?

Well,
the term “burlesque” has been around in English since the late
17th century. It comes from the Italian “burla” – meaning joke.
“Burlesque” literally means to parody, satirize or to send
something up – often through innuendo and double entendre. People
often think of burlesque as simply meaning stripping, because in
post-war America that’s what it pretty much became. But traditional
burlesque is so much more than that. Many burlesque performers remain
fully clothed for their entire act, even if that clothing is a bit
revealing!

The
important thing that distinguishes a burlesque performer from any
other sort of variety act is that whoever they are – male or
female, young or old – they undercut their own sexuality to get a
laugh. Burlesque can be deeply political, satirical or just a bit of
saucy fun, but the performer is always in control, which can be very
empowering. I think that’s why so many women (and gay men) adore
burlesque.

So,
is there any stripping in Miss Nightingale?
Well…
when a stripper strips, it’s all about the nudity. But when a
burlesque artist performs a striptease it’s less about the strip
and more about the “tease”. I can’t say more than that…
you’ll have to come and see for yourself!

Has
the show been performed before?

Yes,
we first performed a shorter, studio theatre version of the show at
the Lowry in Salford and the King’s Head Theatre in London in early
2011.

How
did that go?

It
was an unbelievable success. Even better than we could ever have
dreamed it would be. We sold out a week at the Lowry, even after they
added extra seats for every performance and we broke all box office
records for a late night show at the King’s Head Theatre, where we
ran for a month.

We
got some fantastic reviews and even got coverage in the national
press, which I never imagined would happen. But best of all
audiences loved the show and we had a whale of a time doing it,
although I have to say it was exhausting!

Are
there any changes between this production and the last?

Yes,
I reworked the show to make it bigger, bolder and with more
burlesque. There are more songs, more drama and a lot more 1940s
razzle-dazzle.

Last
time we had so many constraints that we had to work around. We could
only afford a very small band and a cast of three. And we only had a
fortnight to rehearse which was not really enough – especially for
a new show – and we had to make sure that the show lasted only an
hour and a half so that London audiences could get the last tube
home!

So
I had to cut loads of text and songs which was a shame. On top of
that, the stage at the King’s Head is only about eight-foot high,
so our set had to be tiny. And we had to take it down every night and
put it up again in the ten minutes between the two evening
performances! I don’t quite know how we survived!

This
time the conditions are much easier. We’ve been able to afford a
bigger band and cast. There are no time constraints either so I’ve
been able to rework the show, adding new characters and new songs.

Where
are you touring to?

We
opened in Ipswich at the New Wolsey Theatre at the beginning of May.
We then tour nationally (including a week at the Leicester Square Theatre in London), finishing at the end of
July.

Incidentally, our leading lady Amber Topaz is from Rotherham.

What
are you going to do after the tour?

Have
a well-earned rest! Then it’s back to work, because we’ve had
the offer of taking the show to the Edinburgh Festival, quite a lot
of interest in touring the show again in the autumn and we’ve also
had enquiries from across the pond about bringing the show to New
York. All in all 2013 is looking to become a very, very busy year
for Miss Nightingale – the burlesque musical!