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Allison Kugel: You recently collaborated with Taylor Swift, doing your famous Martini Glass routine alongside her for the Bejeweled music video. Tell me about that experience. Dita Von Teese: With the Taylor Swift Bejeweled music video, that started with a phone call and me teaching her my martini glass [routine] and us doing it side by side in her video. My best [celebrity] experience was Taylor. She is really a kind girl, she knew everything about what I do, and she wanted to not just have me be behind-the scenes-teaching her to be in my glass. She wanted to showcase what I do. Connecting with a younger generation who are Taylor Swift fans, it was pretty fun and interesting. Allison Kugel: Any not so great celebrity collaboration? Dita Von Teese: There was a talk show with Bethenny Frankel (Bethenny, 2012 – 2014). I was asked to go on her show and teach her how to do my glass routine, and guess what? She didn’t show up for rehearsal! They were like, “You have to come to rehearsal and teach her how to do this routine,” and then she never showed up. And I was like, “Why am I at rehearsal? I don’t need to rehearse. I can do this blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back.” Then we did it live on camera, and I was like (to Bethenny), “You’re on your own.” Allison Kugel: Let’s talk about this outrageous wardrobe you have for this show. Dita Von Teese: This show (Dita Las Vegas: a Jubilant Revue) is unparalleled even for Las Vegas. When I went into this epic theatre where they had the great Showgirl Jubilee in the late ‘70s, I asked them what happened to all the costumes from Jubilee In the seventies, when they did this big showgirl review and the costume budget alone was $3.5 Million. I asked if I could use those costumes in my show and they said yes. I’m using a combination of all these vintage Bob Mackie in addition to new costumes. All of my footwear is Christian Louboutin. We are good friends and we created all this fantasy footwear for my show that sometimes winds up in his line. Jenny Packham is another designer; she dresses the royals a lot. She’s made several looks for my show. Everything is custom made. These aren’t things you can buy off the rack. And then I have a copious amount of Swarovski crystals and massive amounts of vintage feathers. There is an incredible amount of bling in this show that you have never seen before. That’s guaranteed. And if you are counting the existing vintage Bob Mackie showgirl costumes from the archives with everything else, [the wardrobe] is literally, like, $12 Million. Allison Kugel: You never really ventured into acting or singing like many celebrities attempt to do. You’ve stayed pretty tried and true to Burlesque. Dita Von Teese: I was never like, “I’m going to be a movie star.” I remember, at one point, I had a new manager and she was like, “Okay, now we’ve got to get you in films. We’ve got to get you to be an actress,” and I was like, “I don’t want to be an actress. I want to be the world’s greatest Burlesque star. That’s all I want.” I didn’t do [Burlesque] to get somewhere else. I did this because I believed in it. Allison Kugel: What can people expect when they come to see Dita Las Vegas: A Jubilant Revue? Dita Von Teese: It’s the ultimate Vegas revue. There’s no other show like this in Vegas. There is no other level of extravagance. This is where you will see the quintessential showgirl, but you will also see show guys. We’ve got all of the dramatics and the feathers and the rhinestones, but there are an equal number of men performing in the show as women. Tickets for Dita Las Vegas: A Jubilant Revue are available at ticketmaster.com/ditavegas. About Journalist and Podcast Host Allison Kugel Allison Kugel is a veteran entertainment journalist and host of the Allison Interviews podcast. Watch and embed the entire interview video with Dita Von Teese @YouTube. Listen to the audio podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Follow Allison Kugel on Instagram @theallisonkugel and at AllisonInterviews.com.