Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Luna Lovelee. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Luna , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

As a Burlesque performer, I noticed that alot of my showgirl colleagues were self identified “crazy cat ladies”, which is a group I consider my tribe as well! I have 4 rescue cats and they are my world.

I’ve always been a supporter of animal rescues, and donated here and there when I could, but I wasn’t involved with specific charities. While I was trying to rescue my now 4th cat Lucy, I was having a really hard time finding anyone to help me. She was this tiny kitten stuck in a car engine, and I didn’t know the owner. I just heard her tiny mews for 2 days straight while I frantically tried to get her out. I called the fire department and animal rescue, and both told me they couldn’t help me. But there was a tiny kitten in a car engine! I had to do something. I reached out to Little Lion Foundation, a local cat and kitten rescue here in Long Beach, and they responded almost immediately giving me tips and tricks for getting her to safety. It took over 8 hours, and ended with my literally jumping into a bush to catch this tiny, hissy, dirty kitten but she was safe! That’s when I became a lifelong Little Lion Foundation fan. They helped me with resources to get her vaccinated and spayed, and I am so thankful.

I started going to their fundraising events, one of which is a Drag Bingo night that is SO FUN. But one time in late 2023 I tried getting a ticket for bingo the day-of and the event had sold out.

A sold out show means that there are likely more guests who would love to buy tickets and weren’t able, meaning there was more potential for fundraising. I had been joking around with some friends about having a cat-themed cabaret show in the past, so when Little Lion Foundation made a post in Spring 2024 about needing help raising funds for their onsite spay & neuter clinic (the first of it’s kind in Long Beach!) I reached out with the cabaret fundraiser idea and they immediately were on board! And that’s how Show Me Your Kitties Cabaret was born!

The debut show was comprised of 16 artists from the Burlesque, circus and music industry. All performers donated their acts, meaning they declined pay in order to raise a maximum amount of funds for Little Lion Foundation. It sold out and we raised an amazing amount of money for the spay & neuter clinic. We’re back in March with an even bigger show and I’m so excited to raise more money for such a great cause!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve been doing burlesque for years, but I have never been interested in producing shows until Show Me Your Kitties Cabaret came around. I’ve been so fortunate as a performer to be cast among so much talent within the LA entertainment scene, and make such great connections. I was so lucky to have seasoned industry icons like Nadia Lotte and Marquis Howell offer to join the show without hesitation. Everyone just wanted to help the kitties!

With the success of the first show I’ve been really thinking about how we can make it an even ore fun night for the donors this time around. We have a wider variety of acts – this time we’re including contortionists, belly dancing, ballet, pole, tango and more ontop of burlesque, cabaret and singing acts.

You’d think with such a specific theme it would be tough to make another show that doesn’t’ feel redundant, but this one is going to be so different from the first one. The thing that really sets this cast apart is their love and dedication to helping animals!

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Kitten season is approaching fast. Kittens can start reproducing as young as 4 months old! The survival rate for cats born outdoors is only 25%. The goal and overall mission of this show is to raise funds to help cover the costs for the Little Lion Foundations onsite spay & neuter clinic. The biggest hurdle for any rescue is always going to be the cost. Even having an onsite clinic doesn’t make the surgeries magically cost nothing. By spaying and neutering community cas, Little Lion Foundation is actively reducing the amount of stray cats suffering on the streets. Fixed and vaccinated feral cats lead much happier and longer lives outdoors, even if they cannot be domesticated.

Another focus for Little Lion Foundation is their Kitten nursery. When neo-natal kittens are brought to a shelter, they are often euthanized due to the fact that there is no overnight staff available to feed these bottle babies. Kittens required feedings ever 3 hours. Little Lion Foundation will pull these at risk kittens from shelters, and give them a home in their on site kitten nursery. Bottle babies are fostered, and these volunteers put their lives on hold to make sure these tiny kittens can receive the hourly care the need to stay alive.

I am so in awe of this community and it’s on honor to help raise money for such a great cause!

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

To this day the most rewarding part of any performance is having that one person come up to you after the show and say how much they enjoyed it. And on the flipside, I am still that person myself! I love love love live entertainment and there’s something amazing about seeing art happen right in front of you. I am constantly replaying moments in my mind – maybe a friend improvised something really amazing in dance class, or busted out a guitar out of thin air and made up a catchy tune never to be heard again – these are the most powerful moments to me.

For me as an artist and performer, it’s the magic of transformation—stepping into a character, telling a story, and making people forget the outside world for a little while. In my day to day life. I am just an average cat lady with a ‘boring’ job and a huge love for animals. When it’s showtime, I am Luna LoveLee, the sparkly Vintage Vixen who lives for sultry glamour (but is still a cat lady somehow – I don’t make the rules).

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/lunalovelee22?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAaZuTNHPAwZ_SIbjRI55fq_FuIyF03eADstvt0r08YOBWkvD3mWlWUElRFk_aem_qpczlaD8Jh3tHsyfAW87JA
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miss_luna_lovelee/

Image Credits

@Memster82
@Ajeeves09
@snapnon