Irrepressible Kitty gets into more mischief

Dance hall-style show begins seventh season

By Eric Bartels

The Portland Tribune, Oct 15, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Courtesy of Owen McIlhatten

Lisa Marsicek, known as Miz Kitty (left), begins her seventh season as the saucy host of Miz Kitty’s Parlour, a vaudevillian variety show where retro music is just the starting point. The Dim Sum Puppet Theater (right) is part of the show.

The niche Lisa Marsicek found years ago has proved to be pretty durable. This weekend, she begins her seventh season as the saucy host of Miz Kitty’s Parlour, a vaudevillian variety show where retro music is just the starting point.

Saturday’s opener will feature Eric Stern, the accordionist and vocalist of the band Vagabond Opera, and Cotton Jenny, a local band that plays dark, dangerous jazz behind singer Jennifer Faust.

But the show will also include appearances by the Dim Sum Puppet Theater and the belly-dancing troupe Mandala.

“How many times can you say ‘I’m gonna go out and see Taiwanese Glove Puppetry?’” she says. “People are just looking for something that’s more organic. You get a taste of everything.

Fans have followed Marsicek and her show since its beginnings at Artichoke Music in Southeast Portland, where she was working in 2002.

“I didn’t really see anything else going on like that when I started,” she says. “People were just looking for something that’s more organic. When I was at Artichoke Music, such a cast of characters would come through the door, it was easy.”

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