A T...T H E
The original "I LOVE PARIS" flyer
Not long after SEDUCTION ended our weekly nights at Club 5, the club was sold to a new owner who wanted to reinvent the venue into a live music destination with limited number of regular club nights. As the concept came together they approached us to create a new theme to be their flagship night. Having done the fetish lifestyle theatre for years before hand we decided to create a night of entirely new shows that focused much more on the theatrical side of our previous performances rather than the standard "whips and chains" of the more predictable fetish shows. The night was dubbed "THE GALLERY" and each month a theme would be chosen that the cast would create a series of shows around and perform each Saturday of the month. The shows were half rehearsed and half improv to keep each night entertaining even if you'd seen it the week before. We enlisted the talents of SEDUCTION main stage performer Blixx who (for The Gallery purposes) went under the pseudonym Moxi Laune to write the stage shows and gather a troupe together. With Moxi at the helm and his new cast Bijou LeRoux, Slint Mandrake, Mina Malaise, Gabriel Hollow and Rufus Lefae, the Marquee stage saw some of the most avant garde and inventive stage shows in Jacksonville. The first months theme was "I LOVE PARIS." Huge stage sets were built including a 20' Eiffel Tower that lit up to adorn the stage behind the costumed performers. Everything was set and the massive advertising campaign was under way. Unfortunately the opening date for The Marquee's flagship night was the Saturday after the 9-11 tragedy. Our pleas and those of our media partner Planet Radio went out to the management of the Marquee to push the opening date back until the shock of the recent events had dissipated. However, they decided to go ahead with the opening. At the last minute fearing a lack of patronage they added on a recognizable DJ that was incredibly talented, but did not really fit with the them of the night. Though the shows, narrated by Chumley of Planet Radio, were spectacular, the opening was not what anyone had hoped. The modest turn out was in a deep malaise and none of the patrons attracted by our advertising respond to the music as predicted. After intense meetings with the owner, management, cast and representative of Planet Radio it was clear the concept of the night was not in line with the majority. We toughed it out for the next three weeks and put on some amazing vignette shows the likes of which Jacksonville had never seen. When it came time to come up with the next months theme and show concepts our ideas were ignored and the club went in its own direction creating a theme and flyer with our names on it that no one in the cast or crew approved of so simultaneously the creators and majority of the troupe resigned. Some of the extras in the cast remained and attempted to carry on, but only accomplished an embarrassing string of clumsy acts that were more painful to watch than entertaining. The night quickly closed and the SEDUCTION cast continue to perform together.
Below are rare scenes from Moxi Laune's original performance "Venus Flytrap" from The Gallery's "I LOVE PARIS" theme night.
