If burgers, beer, burlesque and benevolence are your thing, then you’re in luck. On Saturday (Jan. 18), The Diva Dolls – Brandy Blaze, Lexis Cummings and Nina Colada – will be performing their first burlesque show of the year at the Foundry Pub. The performance, titled Burger, Beer and Burlesque, will also have an added flavour of philanthropy.The Diva Dolls are raising money to send Colada’s 10-year-old cousin, Jevan Freeman, from Belize to the United States for medical treatment. Freeman suffers from a blood disorder known as Idiopathic (or immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (IPT). “It’s very rare and he needs a lot of medication. It’s a disease that causes him to bleed through his pours and eyes,” Colada said. “We need to raise funds for him to go somewhere in the United States ... so that he can get a surgery that can help him.” IPT is a blood disorder that can develop in children and adults and causes bleeding from various parts of the body. According to the AboutKidsHealth.ca, 80 per cent of children diagnosed with IPT are able to recover without treatment in roughly six months. Children who develop chronic IPT can make a full recovery, but medication is often required.
“He’s starting to recover. He ended up going back to school just before the Christmas break,” Colada said. “He actually did pretty good in his grades in school, so he is still being a little trooper.”To help raise money for Freeman the girls will be holding a 50/50 draw as well as a silent auction. Items available at the auction include a wide range of gift certificates. “There are gift certificates for six sessions of laser hair removal,” Blaze said.During the intermission, the girls will be taking photos with the Diva Dolls for a fee of $5. “They will be printed right off at the end of the night and all the proceeds will go to Jevan as well,” Blaze said. The Diva Dolls have been together since 2010 put on approximately three burlesque shows a year. “We like to have a lot of humour to our shows as well,” Blaze said.After four years of performing together, Cummings said there is no shortage of laughter amongst the trio. “It is always entertaining. We always laugh at each other,” she said. “We work really well together and we are able to come up with our own choreography.”
Tickets are available at the door. To purchase tickets in advance, please call Blaze at 250-713-1120.