Burlesque or Bust – New for 2025

Burlesque or Bust: A Memoir of Trauma, Healing and True Love (New for 2025)

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With foreword by Erik Lee Preminger, son of Gypsy Rose Lee.

Includes new photos and memorabilia section, never-before-seen. (please note, the book is paperback). Pre-order is a bundle, book, plus tote bag and signed postcard. Allow 3 weeks for delivery.

If you are outside the EU and UK, and want a signed copy, order this bundle and based on your address in PayPal, we will contact you and arrange any payment for increased postage. Thank you.

Like Ali Rose in Burlesque The Movie, I left my small-town life behind for the allure of the big city. The bright lights of London beckoned me. Excommunicated from the Brethren Church in my hometown for daring to express myself, I lost my sense of identity, my faith, and the familiar world I once knew. This turmoil ultimately led me into a state of psychosis, resulting in my admission to a mental health facility.

Finding my way back, I moved abroad and discovered burlesque, a captivating form of cabaret art.

Burlesque did not break me; it rebuilt me.

Reinventing myself as Sapphira, I transformed my trauma into triumph. Discovered as a singer through my performances, I experienced a twist of fate when I was unexpectedly cast as Electra in a production of the Broadway musical inspired by the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, another legendary burlesque queen who authored a world-famous memoir. This moment represented more than just a role; it was a profound reflection of my own journey.

A lilting piano melody from Café del Mar titled Tones saved my life during my darkest moment. Years later, I fell in love with my music producer, a man whose nickname was inspired by that very word. I draw inspiration from the entrepreneurial spirit of Dita Von Teese later meeting her in person in Australia, and I discovered a kindred spirit becoming the muse of Australia’s iconic artist, Charles Billich.

Burlesque or Bust is my story, a captivating and vibrant true story of survival, reinvention, and the transformative power of music, movement, and radical self-expression.