Oregon Center for the Arts Presents "what The Funk?!" A Bipoc Burlesque Film Festival Documentary Event

Get ready for a night of entertainment as the film "WHAT THE FUNK?!", directed by Adriana Guiman, makes its way to Southern Oregon. Sponsored by the Oregon Cultural Alliance and Southern Oregon University's Multicultural Resource Center, this film event promises to be a night to remember. The film will take place on April 28th at the Meese Auditorium in the SOU Art Building. Doors open at 7pm, and the film will begin at 7:30pm. General admission tickets are $10, while students can purchase tickets for $5. After the film, there will be a Q&A session where audience members will have the opportunity to interact with the special guests and co-producers, Rebecca M. Davis and Kia Puckett. "WHAT THE FUNK?!" is the story of the first-ever What the Funk?! BIPOC Burlesque Festival held in Seattle, Washington in August 2019. The film follows the journey of festival producer and founder Kia Puckett as they explore the creation of a supportive community of performers in the world of burlesque. The film includes live festival performances, behind-the-scenes footage, and performer cameos, providing an intimate look at the inspiration that drives these artists and the challenges they face in promoting inclusivity and accessibility in the industry. Co-producers Rebecca Mmm Davis and Mx. Pucks A'Plenty (Kia Puckett) are both well-known figures in the burlesque industry. Mx. Pucks A'Plenty was recently voted #17 on the 21st Century Burlesque Magazine's TOP 50 Most Influential Burlesque Industry Figures of 2021. They are the founder of the What the Funk?! An All BIPOC Burlesque Festival, which has made history with three sold-out nights. As an international headliner and producer, Mx. Pucks is known for their sex appeal and their fusion of lifestyle and performance as a plus size queer femme of color. Rebecca Mmm Davis is an international emcee, host of the Stay Up Late Show!, and co-producer of What the Funk?! An All BIPOC Burlesque Festival. She is an accomplished stage and film actor, and her production company, The Stay Up Late Show!, is focused on stimulating seasoned artists and exposing new artists to established audiences.

The Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University is a hub of creativity, education, and community engagement. As an academic division of Southern Oregon University, the OCA offers programs of study for students in Music, Theatre, and Creative Arts, and is also a regional arts center that hosts a wide range of exhibitions and performances. The OCA partners with community arts organizations, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Britt Music & Arts Festival, and the Ashland New Plays Festival, to bring a diverse array of arts experiences to the region.

One of the OCA's most exciting initiatives is the Schneider Museum of Art, which engages with the visual arts through exhibitions and programs that support interdisciplinary study, research, and discourse for both the academic and public communities. The OCA is also home to the Chamber Music Concerts, which present chamber music of the highest quality for the enjoyment, enrichment, and education of the Southern Oregon, Northern California, and Southern Oregon University communities.

Each spring, the OCA produces the Oregon Fringe Festival, a multi-day event celebrating bold, innovative, and outrageous creativity in the arts. The festival is a crossroads for emerging artists and professional practitioners to engage with each other’s creative work, and features a diverse roster of music, theatre, visual art, film, physical theatre, dance, circus, spoken word, and more. In addition to performances, the festival also includes panels and workshops for students and the greater community.

The OCA also houses the ShakespeareAMERICA Institute, a forum for practitioners, scholars, teachers, students, and audiences to explore new and provocative thinking about the works of William Shakespeare through the prism of an American perspective. With so much going on, the Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University is a thriving center of artistic excellence and a hub for the creative spirit.