A GODDESS WALKS AMONG US:
A TALK WITH THE GODDESS MISS KITTY
Those familiar with Manhattan Cable Public Access channels might remember Goddess Miss Kitty (http://www.myspace.com/goddesshow, or http://goddessshow.blogspot.com) from her show "Dram with Miss Kitty," which became “The Goddess Show,” in which her lush voluptuous form titillated viewers for years. Those familiar with burlesque or the alternative cabaret scene might now Kitty from her flamboyant and sexy acts, including her Naked Carmen or her Cleopatra, or her infamous pasta routine. She was a regular at the old Blue Angel, and puts in frequent appearances at exclusive parties and events.
She also did a radio show for a brief moment, which you can look up here: http://eroticradiolive.com
Kitty started her public access show in 1997, but her first professional appearance was as a dancer in the Bronx, when she was 17. “I had just graduated high school, didn’t feel the need to go go college, I didn’t need a degree in dance or modeling or acting, I just wanted to do it. I hated school.”
Kitty was raised in the Bronx, and moved to Connecticut, when her mother remarried. She went back to the Bronx to finish High School. “There was a lot of moving around, I was almost like a foster child, lots of different people taking care of me, from mother to grandparents to stepfather, it was crazy. I went to school in Connecticut, Westchester County, and the Bronx.”
Kitty was inspired to do burlesque when, by chance, she saw a Blue Angel show at the old Tunnel, in 1996. “There was this secret little spot, hidden by the co-ed bathroom, where they’d perform burlesque. Then I met Bonnie Dunn, who was part of the Blue Angel, at a party, and we became friendly. She asked me to help her with a piece. I told her I choreograph and dance, and would love to do my own stuff. She told me to come with her sometime to meet Uta Hanna, who created the Blue Angel. They were still at the Tunnel, and I created a little piece for Bonnie to ‘These Boots are Made for Walking,’ which was hilarious. I created it with another dancer, and at the time, I was living in this little box of an apartment on Chrystie and Stanton, and the three of us rehearsed there. After we performed it, Uta said, ‘I want you to peform for me.’ I wasn’t very confident, I hadn’t had my boob job yet, but she said ‘Don’t worry about that, it’s not about that, it’s about performance.’ I understood, but I still didn’t feel confident, I wanted to be at my best, I wanted to be perfect. I got my boobs done in 1999, and there I was, I went into audition, and I got it.”
Kitty wanted her boobs done because she felt it would help her in the entertainment industry. “If I had to reveal my body in a scene, I would be so self-conscious I would forget my lines, and I didn’t want that. Getting my boobs done gave me confidence, so I could forget about how I looked. When I was onstage, I didn’t focus on how I looked naked, I just did what I had to do. It opened a lot of doors for me, I became a nude model, I started doing burlesque, fetish, all stemming from my boob job.
“My cable show ‘Drama with Miss Kitty’ became ‘The Goddess Show’ and I did notice that the people at MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network) treated me differently after my boob job. They wouldn’t take me seriously, like I was dirt or something. When I first started, they would put me on radio shows to help publicize the network, but after I got my boobs, and started being topless on my show, they stopped taking me seriously. But you know what? I didn’t care, I felt like I could be sexy and funny, which is rare. I can do whatever I want. I have no limitations.”
Kitty was on cable about 10 years, until she got tired of the drama with MNN, and doing a show week after week without financial reward. Kitty also feels that there was some resentment towards her as a woman who got naked and called herself a “goddess.” “There was never any religious reasons for that, I am a pagan at heart. It was more an expresson of my personal spirtual beliefs, I think we’re all gods and goddesses, and we should express that. But I think there were a lot of puritans at MNN, and I even got some complaints about my show from the Church. My boobs have done great things for me, but they messed me up on cable. I don’t have any regrets, though. Now I’m trying to pitch show ideas to real networks, I’m tired of not making money. I’ve gotten plenty of exposure, I can drown in my exposure, now it’s time to make money. I’ll just say I’m developing a cooking show. I won’t say more.”
Kitty doesn’t do as many live shows as she used to, and mostly does “private parties, things like that. If someone asks for me, I’ll do it, but it’s not like when I was a regular at Blue Angel or Le Scandal.” (The show the Blue Angel turned into).
“I don’t do much live burlesque anymore because the pay is low, the women are very catty, and I want to branch out from the underground stuff. I could stand the crap if I got more money. You have to love performing, but it’s nice to make a living at it too. I feel I need to develop more of my business side.”
Kitty feels her life continues to move forward. “People say to me, ‘You’re like the underground Madonna’ and I say, ‘But I don’t have Madonna money.’ That’s the question, how do I get Madonna money? That’s my big goal for the future.”
