ladykatza

So daecon and I have long had a thing against Valentine’s day. Even prior to our being together, I never expected much more than a single flower and a box of chocolates. (I’ll take chocolates just about anytime, though) This year, however, I was alerted to a troupe called Big City Burlesque was having a show. It just HAPPENS to be on the same day as Valentine’s. I had been wanting to see them for a while now, I’ve always been fascinated by the artistic side of the “strip tease”. Sooooo, I bought tickets and told the hubby we’re going out that night. We had already splurged a bit on dinner at a hibachi place earlier in the week because we had a gift certificate.

I also tried to interest some friends. Most couldn’t get baby sitters, the rest were out of town, or SO’s not interested. That’s fine, since I figured I’d run into people I know anyway. I was more than correct on this one. We ran into one of daecon’s old high school friends, who also plays a a local “personality” at conventions and Ren Fests. He ended up sitting with us. We also ran into Ace Talkingwolf, another local personality that’s pretty much trying to start up the steam-punk scene in Atlanta. We went to Manuel’s Tavern with them afterwards and had a nice, long catching up.

In any case, the show was not just burlesque, but also vaudeville. No one was actually dressed up in black-face, but they did have a BIG BLUE GENIE, who also doubled as the “Strong Man”. The show itself was entertaining, but far from polished. Some of the girls had very polished routines, others didn’t. I think the ballerina and miss peacock were my favorites.

The two BIGGEST problems I had with the show were 1) wardrobe malfunctions and 2) lighting. I had a conversation with my Mom some time ago about this sort of thing. She pointed out that Hollywood has made our expectations of such things very high. People are so used to the perfectly polished image that anything less so is “Sub Standard”. Even so, the two problems I listed above could have been better. Having an expectation of the costumes being done for a dress rehearsal would have been good to hammer out problems. As for whoever was doing the lighting? I hope they aren’t getting paid, and even so, I’d fire them and get someone who knows how to point a spotlight.

All in all, I was entertained. Which is the point, really. I got to meet some of the girls afterwards and they are quite nice. I loved the fact that none of them were stick figures. In fact, many of the girls were quite voluptuous and some older. The theater was standing room only. I’m hoping with more money and exposure, they will have the ability to improve the quality of the show.