Any good artist knows immediately when their work begins to feel stale, even if it’s not perceived that way by onlookers. Burgundy Brixx, the mind behind the hilariously funny glitter bomb of an evening that is Kitty Nights Burlesque, is no different.

After eight years of writing, performing, and hosting sass-filled weekly shows at the Biltmore alongside her husband, host Doug Thoms, Brixx has opted to make the show a monthly event instead.

“I had been thinking about changing it for a long time,” Brixx tells the Straight during a telephone interview. “Doing a weekly club night with a new original theme every week was very draining—yes, I realize that it probably made me a little bit crazy—so I wanted to change it to focus more on the quality of the shows, rather than the quantity. I was starting to feel like the quality wasn’t up to the standard I’ve set for myself.”

Not that the quality of the shows was lacking in the eyes of audience members—Kitty Nights was voted best burlesque in the city by Straight readers in 2015 and 2016. 

Since taking a brief hiatus from Kitty Nights, Brixx has been busy planning the new seasonal format, which will consists of 12 shows. Most will be held at the Biltmore, while two are set to take place at the Rio Theatre. She’s given longtime fans of Kitty Nights the option to purchase a season’s pass as well.

“There will also be a lot more live music,” Brixx added. “Five of the shows will include our own in-house band, the Kitty Nights Hot & Heavy Band. We’ve been using the same rotation of musicians for our live band shows for years.”

The integration of live music is part of a larger move on Brixx’s part to work Kitty Nights into something that resembles more of a theatre company than a weekly club night, in an effort to “help burlesque get a better standing in the arts community.”

“That’s part of the reason why I took some time off, so that I could re-associate myself with the theatre, dance, and music communities, so that I could see what I could bring back into my practice and my art with burlesque,” she says. “It’s nice to have a mixture of different types of people, like musicians, singers, and comedians, to bring more texture to the shows.

“There’s no reason burlesque shouldn’t be identified with other arts—it definitely helps to elevate the status of burlesque,” Brixx says. 

Having the extra time to develop the upcoming season has allowed her to put together a lineup of shows that are “really outside of our comfort zone”.

Among them will be nights dedicated entirely to the music of Kate Bush, the B-52s, and a Winter Soulstice—an evening loaded with soul, funk, and R&B—which Brixx hopes to establish as an annual holiday tradition.

“We are also remounting a few shows in bigger formats at the Rio, including the Prince show, which we did just before his passing, and our David Bowie show from a few years ago.” Favourites like the geek-themed nerdlesque show, and a Halloween event where Brixx will dress up as Alice Cooper, are also in the works.

She added that they’ve intentionally planned many of the monthly shows around long weekends, with a few even taking place on Saturdays, so that attendees have a day to relax after a wild Sunday out at Kitty Nights. 

While the format may have changed, Brixx says that at its heart, Kitty Nights still has the same purpose: 

“We are always trying to make sure that we maintain a stage that’s body-positive and gender positive at all times, and it’s really important to make sure that we’re creating space for everybody,” she says. “There are a lot of troupes in town that are more specific, but in order for Kitty Nights to be Kitty Nights, it has to be an open door for different people.”

Kitty Nights returns to the Biltmore this Sunday (October 9) for an evening of ‘Octoburlesque’.  Find tickets and event information here.