Cite’ des Arts is pleased to announce that the entertainment schedule for the award-winning Louisiana Steampunk Festival has been set. The Louisiana Steampunk Festival will be hosted by Cite’ des Arts at its facility at 109 Vine Street and along Vine St in downtown Lafayette on November 4 & 5, 2017 and starting at 11:00 AM on both days.
Headlining this year’s event will be Dr. Frankenstein’s Laboratory presented by Professor Sparks and Theatre Bizarre Orchestra who will be accompanied by the dance routines of Cosmic Kitten Performance Arts and Felix Elixir. Other performances will include: The New Orleans Steam Cog Orchestra, Oddly Drawn Circus, the talented young performers from Soundscape Studios, Trybe Habibi Bizarre, Shakshuka, The Magic of Rod Cannon, Boom! Boom! Burlesque, the Steampunk Circus, and many educational panels and demonstrations.
In Dr. Frankenstein’s Laboratory, you will see the high voltage special effects devices used in vintage movies live and onstage. The amazing devices produce arcing, sparking and throwing spectacular electrical bolts just as they did on the set when originally filmed. The films that these devices were used in include: Frankenstein (1931), The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), The Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and many more including Young Frankenstein (1974).
The show will help you discover a little history about Ken Strickfaden, the man who created these first high voltage special effects used in early movies and what these devices were called by their creator, as well as Nikola Tesla, the scientist who gave us electricity as we know and use it today. See these high voltage special effects devices operating again live on stage for the first time since the filming of these classics in the early 20th Century.
The Theatre Bizarre Orchestra is rooted in Detroit's burlesque, rock & roll, jazz, and vaudeville culture, the TBO are a band of musicians invoking the spirit of dark carnivals, demented circuses, and ribald debauchery, which can only be defined as neo-vaudeville. Their music is captivating and mesmerizing, and their show blends the ethereal with the burlesque in one fell swoop. Like the four winds they travel across the land, moving from city to city throughout the year, a pied-piper ushering spirits to that grand Theatre Bizarre Gala every October in Detroit. A cackle and a rustle in the autumn leaves, something wicked this way weaves!
Named by the Southeast Tourism Society as one of its Top 20 Events in the Southeastern US for 2016, the Louisiana Steampunk Festival has provided a forum in Lafayette for the Steampunk movements. This year marks the first year that the Festival will emphasize the Steampunk theme to create a unique historical and fantasy themed event. This renewed focus on the Steampunk theme is designed to create an immersive performance space where visitors can become part of the performance. A variety of Steampunk and Victorian inspired music and entertainment will entertain while visitors can shop the stalls for unique Steampunk and Victorian inspired crafts and art.
Steampunk celebrates 19th century science fiction fun in the modern world. STEAMPUNKERS are diverse innovators – many come and make and showcase their own music, stories, art, costumes and creative 19th century paraphernalia. Steampunk is a Science Fiction / Fantasy genre where the Industrial Revolution either didn’t happen or happened differently. Time travel, steam power, clockwork, airships, goggles, mad scientists, and Victorian-inspired fashions are common themes in steampunk. Steampunk encompasses a sense of longing not for the actual past, but for a futuristic past that never was, and turns that longing into artistic expressions of music, literature, art, and entertainment.
For more information on the Louisiana Steampunk Festival visit: http://www.steampunk-festival.org/ or call (337) 291-1122. Tickets will cost $10 per day and include admission to all daytime performances. Weekend passes are available at a discounted price.
