A lively cast of Las Vegas locals put on the monthly “Burly-Q Revue” on Feb. 10 at Daddy Mac’s and proved that, contrary to insinuations in the Las Vegas Weekly, there is a lot of Vegas burlesque to love.
Miranda Glamour, pictured left, was the “femcee” for the night and conducted the show with her usual mix of warmth and wryness. The timing of the performance wasn’t ideal, as the “Varietease” event for the Burlesque Hall of Fame was also taking place the same evening. Logistics meant that the start-time of the ”Revue” was delayed by an hour, but that was the only casualty.
Glamour detailed a bigger tragedy, though. In her coverage of the “Varietease” show, Kristin Peterson of the Las Vegas Weekly commented that, “aside from Cha Cha Velour’s monthly burlesque show at Boomers Bar, it’s slim pickings around town, despite the burlesque dancers that abound here.”
Hmm. Maybe Peterson is talking about Las Vegas, N. M., because Las Vegas, Nev. has more burlesque than arts writers like me know what to do with. Yes, as Peterson pointed out, Cha Cha Velour’s “Booming Burlesque” at Boomers Bar is a fantastic standby. However, the “Burly-Q Revue” takes place on the second Thursday of every month is is tied with Madonna for reinvention capabilities.
“Karnival” at the Onyx is generally the second Wednesday of each month and almost always includes burlesque of some kind. The Erotic Heritage Museum is known for featuring performers like Dr. Sexpot for one-time-only or serial events, like the “Grindhouse Burlesque” show that took place on Feb. 13. Jeff McBride’s “Wonderground,” another recurring show, happened Feb. 17, as did the “Four Play Variety Show” at the Erotic Heritage Museum. There has also been talk of a burlesque game show that would be transpiring in the near future.
Individual performers are continually grabbing the neo-burlesque movement by the horns and organizing their own shows. The people behind these instances will tell you that the burlesque business isn’t easy. It isn’t dead, either, and the performers deserve credit where credit is due … including at the “Burly-Q.”
Once the show got started, it skipped along energetically and featured acts from well-established Vegas performers. Lou Lou Roxy, with pink gloves and her signature smirk, managed to shimmy her way out of a strait-jacket to a track that could have scored an enjoyably bad spy movie. The second act featured Roxy in a glittering copper dress, which was soon discarded in favor of fringe and feathers that were both artfully wielded.
JP Nomi Malone performed, most memorably, a contemporary pointe number to Across the Sky’s “First Love Song,” which was a true novelty and holds potential for future performances. Cartwheels, handstand-rolls and splits, coupled with the exaggerated presentation, made both of Malone’s acts entertaining.
Miranda Glamour and Dr. Sexpot maintained intermittent banter that kept things cohesive. Glamour’s delightful “Touch-A Touch-A Touch Me” from “Rocky Horror Picture Show” is becoming a signature act for her and, like a good cheese, keeps getting better with time. Sexpot revealed unsung talents on the piano to go along with her splendid voice in a jazz number at the top of the show. Her sunshine-steeped personality also shone through in “Put a Bag Over My Head and Let’s Make Love,” which was, if possible, almost musical theater burlesque.
Blanche DeBris, part of the cast of “Menopause” at the Luxor, gave Sexpot a vocal run for her money with a rendition of “Funny Valentine” sung into a handheld mirror. Oh, and there was a guy eating what looked like flaming marshmallows. Zamora the Torture King smoked other performers with his fire-eating act and ended the show with the same side-show energy that makes burlesque so much fun to watch.
All bawdy jokes aside, this month’s “Burly-Q” was unexpectedly poignant. While the comment in the Weekly certainly isn’t condemning in itself, it reveals a sobering mentality about some of the artistic work in the city. Grassroots shows like this can be easy to overlook sometimes. However, the vivacious effort on the part of the performers makes them considerably harder to discredit.
A wink and a kiss and a bump and grind to everyone at The Las Vegas Dance Insider – thank you for spending time with The Burly-Q Revue and *gasp* writing about lil’ ol’ us
We hope to see you again soooon!
Sincerely,
Miss Miranda Glamour
Producer, The Burly-Q Revue
Burlesque Performer/Femcee/Pleasure Engineer
Thank you for this article!! You are so awesome for coming out and showing appreciation for the Burly Q and burlesque in Las Vegas. Great article, great pictures, you rock!!! Thank you!!!
Amanda Morgan ~aka Dr. Sexpot
It is great that you cover the Burly-Q Revue and I thank you for covering my show at Boomers in the past. I do not think Kristen Peterson was saying in her article that Burlesque isn’t happening in Las Vegas. Her quote states “Burlesque performers abound here”. I feel she was stating that my show at Boomers is the only show that is all Burlesque. I do not produce a variety show. Yes, there are many underground variety shows in this city that have Burlesque in their shows. Besides what you listed Punk Rock Bingo and the 1230 Clown Show also have Burlesque acts in every show. I do want to point out that these shows are variety shows. I saw Grindhouse Burlesque last Sunday and they were a full Burlesque show. So now Vegas has 2 underground all Burlesque shows and many underground variety shows that have Burlesque acts in them.
XO
-Cha Cha Velour
I am glad to see that ALL underground shows in Las Vegas are starting to get some recognition. But I am also sad to see that when one show/performer gets a write up other performers in town start with the “WELL WHAT ABOUT ME?!”s instead of congratulating those who got some little recognition.
Kristen’s article is like all articles, including this one. It can’t list all the shows in town. Which isn’t a bad thing. It shows that multiple shows of all shapes, styles, and varieties are popping up everyday. Vegas needs that! More of the underground and less with the Strip. Granted, if one of our communities’ shows gets picked up on the Strip, more power to them! And I will buy my ticket it a heart beat!
The word community is being lost and misused or not even used at all in our scene. I wonder if anyone noticed that by having Cha Cha Velour’s name in the paper, everyone’s name was in the paper (through some degrees of Kevin Bacon, ha ha). Anyone reading that article can look up Cha Cha and see she has a blog with the local shows listed. That person may not be able to go out Saturday night to see one show, but can go on Tuesday or Thursday to see others. WE all win!
Cha Cha has put a LOT of time and effort to be one of the most regarded, recognizable, and well known Burlesque performer and show producer in Las Vegas. The quote, “aside from Cha Cha Velour’s monthly burlesque show at Boomers Bar, it’s slim pickings around town, despite the burlesque dancers that abound here.” isn’t discrediting the other shows. I see it as a “HEY! GREAT JOB! HERE IS SOME RECOGNITION!” for all the hard work she has done. She didn’t pop up over night, she has been doing this for 5+ years! I can only hope to be that involved and known in 10 years!
If anything we should be giving all writers a BIG “THANKS!” for even mentioning anyone or anything in this scene. Let’s not get our tassels in a twist and forget that any publicity on or about anyone/anything is good.
And if we are trying to be professional, let’s be professional. No more harsh comments on articles. One day the writers will get fed-up and stop writing.
Miranda and Amanda, I am more than happy to check in with the “Burly-Q”! Like so many other shows in the city, I love seeing it!
Cha Cha: That is a good distinction to make–if that’s the case, Kristen Peterson is spot-on. I’ve seen some excellent burlesque acts in variety shows throughout the city, but you raise a good point that there are only a few performances that are exclusively burlesque. I’ll be sure to recognize the difference.
Miss Karla: You are absolutely right. My intent with this article wasn’t to snub or show up the author of the Weekly story–I admire the scope of their coverage and appreciate the arts writing they do. Cha Cha raised an interesting issue as well, and I suppose it comes down to each person’s definition of “burlesque.” Traditionally (and I’m sure I don’t have to spell this out for anyone here), burlesque shows have included parodies, skits and variety acts. It’s exciting to see such specialization in a city and it would make sense for the coverage to focus in on this as well. Acknowledging this difference will be something I’ll work to improve in the future.
I think the idea of community is an important one as well. Universal support is vital for any arts scene and I’m continually impressed with the encouragement that courses through the underground shows in Las Vegas. Your comments here demonstrate a level of attentiveness that I don’t always see, and I appreciate it! I’m glad this can be a two-way street and I want to make it clear that this is only one person’s opinion. I hope I’ve expressed it in a respectful way. I’ll do my best to be professional and I’m grateful for everyone’s else’s efforts to do the same.
Cheers, ladies! You rock!