Monday, March 28, 2011

ON Tour(Tournee) closes the San Francisco International Film Festival May 5, 2011
7Pm Castro theater
Mathieu Amalric won Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival for TOURNEE

After Party @ The Factory 9:30 on

Local Girl Makes Good- want to interview Kitten on the Keys, Suzanne Ramsey?
Contact for the Media Lawrence Helman PR (415)661-1260
lhelman@sbcglobal.net













LAWRENCE HELMAN PUBLIC RELATIONS – E MAIL - lhelman@sbcglobal.net

1643 32nd Ave. SF, CA 94122 - Tel. 415 /661- 1260 / Cell. 415/ 336- 8220 (DO NOT PUBLISH THIS #)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, March 29, 2011

For press materials and hi-res color press photos, visit:
http://www.suzanneramsey.net/ontour

Hi res photos from ON TOUR:
http://www.tournee-lefilm.com/

To arrange an interview with Kitten on the Keys (Suzanne Ramsey),
please call publicist Lawrence Helman at 415/ 661-1260
Kitten On The Keys (aka Suzanne Ramsey)
San Francisco Resident
Has Co-Starring Role in ON TOUR
A New Film Comedy by French Director Mathieu Amalric
Plays Closing Night at 54th San Francisco Int’l. Film Fest 2011
Castro Theatre – Thursday, May 5 at 7:00 pm
www.kittymusic.com

Local girl makes good! New Burlesque star Kitten on The Keys (aka Suzanne Ramsey) a San Francisco resident and Bay Area native has a co-starring role in the new French film ON TOUR. It was directed by famed French director Mathieu Amalric, earning him the Best Director award at last year’s Cannes Film Festival. Amalric also stars in the film. ON TOUR will be the closing night film at the 2011 54th San Francisco Int’l. Film Festival. The film will screen at the Castro Theatre – 429 Castro St. in SF on Thurs. May 5 at 7:00 pm. Tix for the film only are $30 (or $25 for SF Film Society members) or $65 (or $85 for SF Film Society members) for the film and post-screening party – 9:30pm at the Factory, 525 Harrison St. in SF 94101. Tickets go on sale
March 21 for members and March 30 for gen. public. For tickets and information visit http://fest11.sffs.org/info/ticket_information.php

Kitten on the Keys Performs in San Francisco:
Want to see Kitten On The Keys perform? Kitten has a long standing gig in SF. She tickles the ivories and croons decadent songs of yesteryear -- unearthed Tin Pan Alley treasures with a twist.
 on 2nd and 4th Thursdays every month at the Madrone Art Bar,
500 Divisadero St. in SF 94117 Show time: 6:00 – 9:00 pm. http://madroneartbar.com/

After the SFIFF screening of ON TOUR, the cast of Cabaret New Burlesque goes on tour of Northern France (May) and Speleto Italy (July). We play legendary club Le Cigale in Paris early October. In July we have a collaboration with the ‘new Gainsbourg” Philipe Katrine. Our troupe is represented to the same touring agency as Woody Allen & Marianne Faithfull.

ON TOUR stars Amalric himself as a producer who brings an American Neo-Burlesque troupe to France, played by genuine performers Mimi Le Meaux, Kitten on the Keys, Dirty Martini, Julie Atlas Muz, Evie Lovelle and Roky Roulette. In a road movie narrative, the plot follows the troupe as they tour French port cities with their show, which was performed for actual audiences during the production. The inspiration for the film was a book by Colette about her experience from music halls in the early 20th century, and a part of Amalric's aim was to translate the sentiment of the book to a modern setting.

Kitten says of her role in On Tour:
“I play a character loosely based on my burlesque alter ego Kitten on the Keys- the bawdy piano playing Mistress of Ceremonies. On stage I am usually over the top humorous and outrageous BUT this film shows a responsible, together woman. She helps Mathieu’s scattered cheap character Joachim by getting the burlesque troupe to the next seedy theater by train, helping his kids find a a place to sleep, and basically tells him to get-bent because of his ill attitude towards our show. I get to sing and play piano in Haute Burlesque creations by local San Francisco costume designers Jessica Landsdown and Monique Motil.
I also get to rock-out and sing some Aerosmith and Radiohead. During the actual filming of ON TOUR we played several port towns around the Western Coast of France where I entertained the real show audience with my one woman musical schtick and played selections by Piaf, Brel, Gainsbourg, and Trenet.

The back story how Kitten got cast:
I got discovered in 2003 in LA as the Mistress of Ceremonies for Teaseorama Burlesuqe Showcase by a cultural curator Kitty Hartl who worked for a big French Cultural Institution Le Lui Unique. Mi Mi le Meaux, Dirty Martini and I are the Original Gangsters of the show Cabaret New Burlesque that was put together for the IDEAL Festival 2004 in Nantes France. We came back to France several times including Paris 2005 at Theater Le Zebre where a photo of our neo burlesque troupe in LIBERATION caught actor and director Mathieu Amalric’s eye. He felt like we reflected the spirit of Collette’s stories of her days in Music Hall he was searching for. A new cast of Cabaret New Burlesque did a 3 month residency in 2007 on an island in Nantes France and Mathieu Amalric and his co-screen writer Philippe De Folco came to see our shows. He had never realized straight men do burlesque too and was curious about San Francisco artist Roky Roulette. Matthieu started scouting for burlesque performers in San Francisco at Bimbo’s at Teaseorama, flew to see our new show in Naples, Italy, and somehow always stayed in touch. I thought he was going to train skinny French actresses for our roles and POOF! He called me Dec. 2009 and I screamed, WOW-My Life is going to change!

Mathieu is an astute intellectual guy. He has definitely made this a collaborative project. Although ON TOUR did not have a script but a loose outline, we were able to interject what we would really do as our own burlesque characters in those situations. I like talking about film and music with him. He is a real thinker. When I am in Paris, he puts me up in his spare room, and I take his kids to the movies plus gave his baby a crazy platypus stuffed animal he carries with him at all times. We are like one extended wild family. He came to see one of my solo shows in Paris last year- he really cares and stays in touch. Plus I have run into him on the METRO in Paris- he is a real down to earth person.

Some of the famous and fascination people Kitten has met while working on the film
and at film festivals are: Javier Bardem, Jody Foster, Olivia de Haviland,
Kirsten Dunst, Salma Hyak, Penelope Cruz, Woody Allen, Rosey de Palma, Pedro Almadovar, Kristen Scott Thomas, Philipe Katrine, Quentin Tarrantino, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Tim Burton, Bennicio del Toro, Cannes Festival Director Thierry Fremaux, Alexandre Desplat (composer) Juliette Binoche, George Lucas, Martin Scorsese, Spinal Tap and Olivier Assayas.

Kitten on the Keys BIO:
Kitten on the Keys…aka Suzanne Ramsey is an award-winning musical and burlesque artist.
As seen on HBO, E!, IFC, Queer TV, MTV, Bravo, and other media outlets, she embodies the spirit and style of those days of decadence gone by. As a pianist and chanteuse, expect a racy ragtime romp when this little kitty sharpens her claws on a meow mix medley of mad-cap gems of yesteryear with a naughty whimsical edge. This Internationally known versatile comedic performer MC's, sings, dances, tickles her ivories, plays the ukulele and accordion in outrageously campy costumes! She's a little Cabaret, Burlesque, and Vaudeville all rolled into in one pink, buxom package! Her coquettish voice channels a saucy Betty Boop coo with a gritty Mae West ommph!

Kitten on the Keys co-stars in the 2010 comedy ON TOUR in which she portray a version of her burlesque musical mistress of ceremonies self in a film by famed French actor and director Mattieu Almaric (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY; QUANTUM OF SOLACE). Mr Almaric has been a fan of the hit show CABARET NEW BURLESQUE that Kitten on the Keys has been performing in for several years throughout France and Italy.

She has opened for seminal punk rockers the DAMNED on the Twisted Cabaret Tour 2007 in the UK, appeared in a video by French rock band FRENCH COWBOY, performed in Midnight Cabarets at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland 2008, at the Napoli Teatro Festival in Italy with the show Cabaret New Burlesque, and in Paris Quartier D'ete Festival in Paris 2005. She traveled the US and Canada with Burlesquefest 2003 as the Musical Mistress of Ceremonies with Devotchka and Catherine D’Lish. In October 2003 she received rave reviews in Hollywood as the MC for the TeaseOrama Burlesque Convention! In ‘04- ‘06 she was the MC at the Annual Miss Exotic World Contest. Suzanne started performing with The Cantankerous Lollies and SF Famous Burlesque Orchestra several years ago. She plays piano, ukulele and accordion for goth cabaret performer Vinsantos and David J of Bauhaus fame. Kitten and Vinsantos wrote some music for the Peaches Christ film “All About Evil”.h In 2003, Suzanne won the SF Weekly Music Award in the New Genre/Beyond Category for her campy vaudevillian performances of her kinky cabaret ditties. Kitten on the Keys was made a SAINT by the thoughtful Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence- Kitten on the Keys is now SAINT TICKLE ME IVORIES! Her three favorite female role models are Alice Cooper, Liberace, and Freddie Mercury.
Kitten recently played piano for jazz vocal legend Little Jimmy Scott, tickled Liberace’s mirrored Baldwin Grand Piano, won a Best of the Bay Award for songwriting and presented an award for best décor at the Cesar Awards in Paris.

Mathieu Amalric /Director BIO:
Mathieu Amalric is a French actor and film director best known internationally for his performance in THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, for which he drew critical acclaim. He also has won the Étoile d'or and the Lumière Award. Amalric first gained fame in the film MA VIE SEXUELLE (My Sex Life...or How I Got Into an Argument), for which he won a César Award. Amalric was selected to play the newest Bond villain Dominic Greene, and stars alongside Daniel Craig (with whom he had previously starred alongside in Munich) in the 2008 film QUANTUM OF SOLACE. His latest film, ON TOUR, premiered at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and won Amalric the Best Director Award.

Calendar Editors:

WHAT: Kitten On The Keys (aka Suzanne Ramsey)
San Francisco Resident Has Co-Starring Role in ON TOUR
A New Film Comedy by French Director Mathieu Amalric
Plays Closing Night at the 54th San Francisco Int’l. Film Fest 2011

WHEN: Thursday, May 5 at 7:00 pm

WHERE: Castro Theatre –429 Castro St. in SF 94114

TIX: Tix for the film only are $30 (or $25 for SF Film Society members)
or $65 (or $85 for SF Film Society members) for the film and post-screening party
– 9:30 pm at the Factory, 525 Harrison St. in SF 94101.
Tickets go on sale March 21 for members and March 30 for gen. public.
For tickets and information visit http://fest11.sffs.org/info/ticket_information.php

PERFORMANCE:
Kitten has a long standing gig in SF.
She tickles the ivories and croons decadent songs of yesteryear -- unearthed Tin Pan Alley treasures with a twist.
 on 2nd and 4th Thursdays every month at
Madrone Art Bar
500 Divisadero St. in SF 94117 Show time: 6:00 – 9:00 pm. http://madroneartbar.com/

PRESS INFO: For press materials and hi-res color press photos, visit:
http://www.suzanneramsey.net/ontour

The Castro Theatre and Madrone Art Bar wheelchair accessible.

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Sass! Sequins! Songs!