Stripper Energy

Stripper Energy

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Stripper Energy episodes

  • Best of KPBS Podcasts - Cinema Junkie & Stripper Energy
    Best of KPBS Podcasts brings the best of KPBS storytelling to our listeners. Each episode features curated highlights from across the KPBS podcast lineup, paired with conversations with the producers and hosts. This episode features the podcasts Cinema Junkie & Stripper Energy
    51 min
  • Chapter 6: Fringe Women or How Art Can Heal

    Kata Pierce-Morgan has always spoken out.

    In the 1970s she raised her voice against the police abuse she suffered as a dancer at Les Girls Theater. In the 1980s, she advocated for dancers rights in the media and overturned a city ordinance. By the 1990s, she had firmly established Les Girls as a safe space for dancers.

    But along with those victories came a lot of trauma. In the 2000s, Kata turned to art to heal herself.

    "No Regrets" at San Diego Fringe 2024

    In 2013, she became part of the San Diego International Fringe Festival. The annual event takes its cue from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which began as a creative act of rebellion against the artistic establishment.

    Kata now stands in solidarity with sex worker/artists Lady Grew from Ireland and Rachel Atlas from New Zealand. All three are using Fringe to confront stigmas and stereotypes.

    IMG_2789.JPG

    In this chapter:

    Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

    Kate McGrew/Lady Grew, singer, activist, sex worker, Fringe artist

    Rachel Atlas, Fringe artist, activist, sex worker

    Kit Marsh, Fringe artist, sex worker

    Cherida Fraser, Fringe artist

    Credits:

    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host/Video editor

    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

    Sanns Dixon, Videographer

    Roland Lizarondo, Videographer

    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

    David Washburn, Editor

    22 min
  • Chapter 5: Fighting Back Or The Rise of Stripper Energy
    After more than a decade of sexual harassment, coerced encounters, and psychological abuse by San Diego vice, Kata Pierce-Morgan and her fellow Les Girls dancers were ready to tap into their stripper energy and fight back. If polite society and the legal system were not going to help them end the abuse, then they would take matters into their own hands. If no one was willing to believe a bunch of strippers, then Kata would install video cameras to prove their claims. If the rat pack cops thought they could terrorize them into silence, then they would find their voice and speak up. And if internal affairs refused to take their complaints seriously, then Kata would simply have to come up with a new game plan. Prepare for Chapter 5, Fighting Back, or the Rise of Stripper Energy.
    In this chapter:
    Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater
    John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s
    Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence, also involved with WomenOccupySan Diego and the National Lawyers Guild.
    J.W. August, journalist
    Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater
    Mel, current manager of Les Girls Theater
    Credits:
    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host
    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer
    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer
    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator
    Sanns Dixon, Videographer
    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants
    David Washburn, Editor
    More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy
    #strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #sandiegohistory #1980s #vice #policeabuse #fighting back
    Explicit content.
    27 min
  • Chapter 4: Vice Grip or the Rise of the Rat Pack
    How dare a stripper, a fringe woman, not stay silent and compliant as vice officers sexually harassed her ... and worse. And how dare Kata Pierce-Morgan challenge stereotypes and fight back? But Les Girls Theater had a history of fighting back starting with its owner James Morgan who spoke up against police abuse to a county Grand Jury in the hopes that the California Attorney General would crack down on the San Diego Police Department's Rat Pack. Kata was a midwestern Catholic girl who believed, like her late husband Jim, in not being a silent bystander. Even if you were a dancer at Les Girls. After all, Jim had won a groundbreaking victory over censorship in the late 1960s. But as the 60s became the 70s, Kata and her fellow dancers faced an onslaught of police raids, nude interrogations and coerced encounters.
    In this chapter:
    Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater
    John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s
    Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence, also involved with WomenOccupySan Diego and the National Lawyers Guild.
    J.W. August, journalist
    Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater
    Mel, current manager of Les Girls Theater
    Credits:
    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host
    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer
    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer
    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator
    Sanns Dixon, Videographer
    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants
    David Washburn, Editor
    More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy
    #strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #sandiegohistory #1980s #vice #policeabuse
    Explicit content.
    21 min
  • Chapter 3: Climate of Fear, or What Happens When You Poke the Bear
    Les Girls Theater scored a victory in the censorship battle but that only intensified an escalating war with the police who found new ways to harass the Les Girls dancers. They routinely endured a climate of fear as vice cops would arrest them but not file charges.
    In this chapter:
    Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater
    Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s
    Sid Kassouf, former employee at Show Place
    James Morgan, original owner of Les Girls Theater, late husband of Kata
    John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s
    Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence
    J.W. August, journalist
    Credits:
    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host
    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer
    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer
    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator
    Sanns Dixon, Videographer
    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants
    David Washburn, Editor
    Explicit content.
    26 min
  • Chapter 2: Let It All Hang Out or How a Texas Baptist Went All-Nude to Shock San Diego

    Kata Pierce’s life changed when she met James Morgan in the early 1970s. For decades, the two of them challenged censorship and police abuse of power by refusing to be silent bystanders. But their actions had consequences. Find out how a raid on Jim’s Left Bank establishment led to him opening Les Girls Theater and staging what was referred to as “The Censorship Play.”

    Some of the attractions Jim created.

    1969 Let it all hang out ad scane.jpg (2536x3269, AR: 0.7757724074640563)Nudie Cutie framed copy.jpg (2179x1569, AR: 1.3887826641172722)Floating castle photo.jpg (4032x3024, AR: 1.3333333333333333)In this chapter

    Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

    Bobbi Rogers, former dancer at Les Girls Theater and performer in “Let in All Hang Out”

    Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s

    Sid Kassouf, former employee at Show Place

    James Morgan, original owner of Les Girls Theater, late husband of Kata

    Credits:

    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

    Sanns Dixon, Videographer

    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

    Marc Biagi, Actor reading James Morgan

    David Washburn, Editor

    22 min
  • Chapter One: Stripper Life or Can You Handle the Naked Truth

    While dancers today may bristle at the term "stripper," Kata Pierce-Morgan embraced it in the 1970s and fought against the stereotypes with what she calls “stripper energy.”

    In this first chapter, meet a trio of dancers who worked at Les Girls Theater across three decades starting in 1968. Surprisingly, the stereotypes and stigmatization they encountered decades ago persist today. They will share what their jobs were really like and how Les Girls was a unique environment that would eventually become entirely run by women.

    As a former dancer and the current owner of Les Girls Theater, Kata has been turning chapters from her life and the history of Les Girls into politically charged performance art for San Diego International Fringe Festival. It was at Fringe that I met Kata and began to be exposed to her story. As I interviewed her over the years in my coverage of Fringe, I realized that she had an amazing story about a marginalized community, and I wanted to share it with more people. A consistent theme in her plays has been: never be a silent bystander.

    20240518_Stripper Energy_Kata show-36.jpg (6048x4024, AR: 1.502982107355865)
    © Kori Suzuki 2024

    This year she presents “No Regrets,” a music and burlesque show set in 1968 when vice raided the Left Bank Nightclub, which was the precursor to Les Girls Theater. The show premiered last Saturday to a packed house and will have final performances this Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

    Prepare for sassy strippers, corrupt cops, and a fierce activism launched from the unlikely stage of a strip club.

    "Chapter 2: Let it all hang out, or how a Texas Baptist went all-nude to shock San Diego" drops June 5 with additional episodes dropping one per week in the following four weeks.

    Credits:

    Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

    Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

    Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

    Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

    Sanns Dixon, Videographer

    Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

    David Washburn, Editor

    Explicit content.

    27 min
  • Trailer.Aud
    Join me under the neon glow of the historic Les Girls Theater for “Stripper Energy: Fighting Back from the Fringes.” Former dancer and current owner of Les Girls Theater, Kata Pierce-Morgan, provides unlimited access to a half century of archival material that uncovers a dark chapter of San Diego history from the 1970s and 80s.
    Kata has been turning chapters from her life and the history of Les Girls into politically charged performance art for San Diego International Fringe Festival. Her consistent theme has been, never be a silent bystander. This year she premieres “No Regrets,” a music and burlesque show set in the late 1960s when vice raided the Left Bank Nightclub, which was the precursor to Les Girls Theater.
    Prepare for sassy strippers, corrupt cops, and a fierce activism launched from the unlikely stage of a strip club.
    Explicit content.
    Links (not sure if you need links but I need them for KPBS web):
    San Diego International Fringe
    https://sdfringe.org/
    No Regrets
    https://sdfringe.org/events/golden-corpse-presents-no-regrets/
    Les Girls Theater
    https://www.lesgirlstheater.com/
    2 min

About Stripper Energy

From the publisher's feed

Join me under the neon glow of the historic Les Girls Theater for “Stripper Energy: Fighting Back from the Fringes.” Former dancer and current owner of Les Girls Theater, Kata Pierce-Morgan, provides unlimited access to a half century of archival material that uncovers a dark chapter of San Diego history from the 1970s and 80s.