HOLLY HARKNESS
on family
(Holly) The showgirl thing came into play when I started to learn about my family’s history with vaudeville.

They had a traveling group called Frank Dobson and the Tyrants.

(Ruby) Yeah? What’s your family relation to that?
(Holly) Yeah, so—Frank Dobson, the Dobsons… Pretty messed-up history. There was blackface happening, unfortunately.

But their main thing was burlesque. And that’s what I really grabbed onto.

(Ruby) Like, are there still family connections to that?
(Holly) Yeah, interestingly—Frank Dobson is my great-great-great-great-grandfather.

He led Frank Dobson and his 13 Tyrants—13 of his women family members.

(Ruby) That’s crazy.
(Holly) Yeah! They traveled the country doing burlesque acts. They even performed at Carnegie Hall.

They were known. And we still have a bunch of pictures from those shows.

(Ruby) That’s so interesting.
(Holly) I remember looking at them and being like…

(Ruby) What did they look like?
(Holly) Traditional showgirl. Big feather pieces, headdresses, skimpy little outfits—basically bathing suits, but decked out in jewels and everything.

It was so glamorous.

And I think the idea of being a showgirl is super appealing to me.

But with a twist—like, I want to be the one showgirl whose lipstick is smudged.

The one who maybe fell over and busted her head before she walked on stage.