Hot Brown Honey, a collective of fierce, multi-talented First Nations women smashing stereotypes and remixing the system, are joining forces with Australian collective Polytoxic, known for hyper-visual, pop-inspired performance work. . . All for an excellent cause.
In ‘A Night For The Queen’, part of The Tivoli’s (Brisbane) Open Season programme, Polytoxic and Hot Brown Honey will present a resplendent night of femme-fronted performance and live music, to raise funds for Hot Brown Honey Queen Bee (plus Musical Director, Composer, and Sound Artist) Kim ‘Busty Beatz’ Bowers, who has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help toward this cause – with more than $37,000 already donated.
“Our beloved Queen Bee Kim ‘Busty Beatz’ Bowers has been diagnosed with breast cancer and we need your help to support the costs of medical treatment, mental and physical well-being, day-to-day living expenses and childcare through this time,” the Hot Brown Honey team say on the GoFundMe page.
Leah Shelton
“Busty is a beacon in our creative community, a tireless advocate for Sovereignty, Justice, Equity, Visibility and the Arts as a tool for social change. She's also a single mum, working as an independent artist and community activist without any income support. So we are calling on you, our village, to help in any way you can at this time.”
Busty signed her first record deal at the age of 16, recording and touring for more than a decade. She has created music locally and globally, for theatre, cabaret, music circus, screen, visual arts, and dance.
In March, Busty was three months into her battle and gave her followers an update on social media.
“Life has changed exponentially. I live in this inbetween space – where time is a mash up, timelines smashed up with deep and painful processing – many tears,” she writes. “I’m now in the next part of this journey. Talks start now about surgery and the next stages of more chemotherapy. While I’m pretty messed up physically – some days I can’t move from bed, the moments of absolute joy have been daily.”
Rhythmology
“The love that you all sent has has an amazing effect on every part of me. From messages, check ins, art and poetry, mixed tapes and floetry! Praise up the Ancestors cause this has been a most bodacious part of my reality. Also my third eye is taking up my whole damn forehead. We are the latest models of our Ancestry.”
‘A Night For The Queen’ promises to be an avalanche of provocative cabaret, circus, performance and and drag, as well as showcasing powerhouse vocals from killer music makers.
Performers in the show are Lisa Fa’alafi, Leah Shelton, Alinta McGrady, Hope One, Lilikoi Chaos, Mayu Moto, Rhythmology, Richie LeStrange, and Beauty And The Beats.
‘A Night For The Queen’ is on at The Tivoli (Brisbane) 25 August.
