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Reviews

The Oregonian - November 2006
Willamette Week Online - November 2006
Everyday with Rachel Ray - September 2006
St Johns Sentinel - March 2006
Portland Tribune - January 2006
Oregon Art Beat - October 13, 2005
The Oregonian - A&E - January 14, 2005
The Oregonian - A&E - April 23, 2004

Miz Kitty is on the prowl

When fiddler Lisa Marsicek was working at Artichoke Music, the proprietors suggested she think up something for their Back Gate Stage. She thought, "Vaudeville!!!" and Miz Kitty's Parlour was born.

So was Miz Kitty herself, Lisa's alter ego. Something came over Lisa when she decided to emcee in costume and character.

Five years later, her vaudeville review has moved to Imbibe after two raucous years at Artichoke and two more at Mississippi Pizza, which featured all manner of good musicians and oddball performers, comedians and unexpected acts, all presided over by Miz Kitty, introducing the acts and sitting at the side of the stage in all her hoochie glory.

Lisa also leads the old-timey band the Flat Mountain Girls.

Interviewing Lisa and Miz Kitty is like being Lee J. Cobb's Dr. Luther in "The Three Faces of Eve."

Had you ever been Miz Kitty before?

Lisa: No. I had all the costume stuff laying around the house -- I would put on my Miz Kitty outfit, put on my "Breakfast at Tiffany's" LP and clean house in it.

May I speak to Miz Kitty, please? This emergence that you had onstage -- were you always trying to get out?

Miz Kitty: I was. Thank God she took the mop out of my hand and gave me a microphone.

Lisa, do you actually feel some kind of transformation when you put the Miz Kitty outfit on?

Lisa: Yep. I don't know what it is. I'll be all nervous before the show. As soon as I come out with my costume on a half an hour before the show, people come up to me, "Oh, Miz Kitty, we're so glad to see you! Say something dirty." I say something dirty and whack them in the head with my fan. You do that dressed in street clothes, they don't like it. You put on a corset and glittery underpants and hit somebody and they're happy and give you money.

Miz Kitty: I wish she'd settle down. First thing she needs to do is to go to the bar and get herself a nice whiskey and then everything's fine. It's enough to give you the vapors.

Why do you think people let you get away with hitting them with your fan?

Miz Kitty: False eyelashes.

Lisa, what about the acts in the show?

Lisa: You never know what you're going to see next, is it going to be a belly dancer, a juggler, is somebody going to fall down? Is it going to be an accordion, a banjo? Who knows what's next, jazz? And then there are the door prizes. Last time I gave away a dust mop that looked like a merkin, a horse painting framed in an actual wooden toilet seat that looked like a horseshoe, fabulous costumes, marital-aid manuals from the '50s and '60s -- all from my world travels.

Miz Kitty: She gave away my dust mop merkin. I wanted it. It was part of my accouterments.

Tom D'Antoni
Friday, November 17, 2006
OregonLive.com - Entertainment

Willamette Week Online - November 2006

"Have a history lesson at Miz Kitty's Parlour. The show harks back to vaudeville's golden age—an enchanting time just after the Revolutionary War of 1812 when Jesus was still the King of Arabia. The Gold Rush was on, and President George Jefferson was movin' on up to the White House. There's ragtag ragtime, sideshow charm and a variety show. See sketch comedy from Renob Control, listen to the Whiskey Flats Brass Band and marvel at Jasmine, Portland's own artistic Hula-Hoop manipulator extraordinaire. So travel back to a happier time, before hippies and Ryan Seacrest, when prostitutes could dance and dinosaurs still terrorized Australia. It's magical."

photo by Susan Seubert

Everyday with Rachel Ray - September 2006

In the magazine section titled: 12 Reasons to Love Portland, Jancee Dunn says: "Vaudeville is still in style.

If you time your trip right, you’ll be able to catch the city’s wildest act: the monthly variety show Miz Kitty’s Parlour at MISSISSIPPI PIZZA PUB. Scantily clad funny girl Lisa Marsicek, a.k.a. Miz Kitty, announces a rollicking lineup of burlesque acts, tap-dancing duos and belly-dancing troupes."

It aint Lawrence Welk...or is it? Miz Kitty brings the variety show back to life at the Mississippi Pizza Pub. Whiskey Puppy's Justin Auld (banjo), Rachel Gold (guitar) and Travis Harrison (bass) a pluckin and a strummin on stage. photo by Eva Hershaw

St Johns Sentinel - March 2006

Eva Hershaw says: "Vaudeville revival - Mississippi teams with old-fashioned entertainment.

It aint Lawrence Welk...or is it? Miz Kitty brings the variety show back to life at the Mississippi Pizza Pub. Their talent, however, lives on. Portland ushers in a new generation of vaudeville talent as the older generation passes into history.

Handing out shameful door prizes, a sausage cookbook among the best, and pulling volunteers onto the stage, Miz Kitty engages the viewers seated an arm's length from her microphone. As a host, she has a certain gravitas about her, one of hard whiskey and soft smiles."
[more - see page 9]

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photo by David Plechl Portland Tribune

Portland Tribune - January 20, 2006

Eric Bartells says: "Lisa Marsicek has been on the spear tip of Portland’s old-timey music revival for several years. She’s one of the clog-stomping Flat Mountain Girls but also the saucy vamp who hosts the popular monthly revue “Miz Kitty’s Parlour.”

A rollicking, vaudeville-style grab bag of entertainment, the show is in its second year of shoveling people into the Mississippi Pizza Pub like extra pepperoni onto an 18-inch Heart Stopper.

“It’s always packed,” says James Cook of the local band Trash Can Joe, which has performed at several revues. “Lisa just has a talent for bringing together really good acts.” [more ...]

Oregon Art Beat - October 13, 2005

"Miz Kitty, who is the vamp behind the popular monthly vaudeville revival show, is really Lisa Marsicek. Meet Lisa and her alter-ego and find out why Miz Kitty's Parlour has been playing to sold-out audience." [See web mention]

photo by Olivia Nisbet The Oregonian

The Oregonian - A&E - January 14, 2005

The fabulous Miz Kitty (Lisa Marsicek) brings an all-star edition of her funky cabaret to Mississippi Pizza Pub, with a mix that ranges from chanteuses to puppets to ukuleles to poets to accordions to operatic spoofs and a master mixologist. [Full picture]

The Oregonian - A&E - April 23, 2004

Lee Williams says: "Once a month, Miz Kitty opens her parlour doors and invites the public in to catch her discoveries, local talent she presents vaudeville-style: live, one microphone and no five-second delay. The show, a consistent sellout, is a flashback to simpler days and unplugged nights, with plenty of banjo picking, tap dancing, you name it". [more ... ]