What:
Miss Everheart Presents: Early Burly
When:
27 February
Where:
The Butterfly Club
Performed
by: Ainslee Adams, Anya Anastasia,
Adelaide Everheart, Caterina Vitt
Image courtesy of Jackson Auditore |
Burlesque is a word that has
evolved in meaning and intention over the centuries. Originally a term used to designate
literature, drama, or music created for the purpose of causing laughter through
caricature, in modern times the most common understanding is that of variety
shows involving strip tease. Yes, we can
blame the Americans for that.
In modern times, even the
idea of it being for laughter is not part of the common parlance – with most
lay people, when they talk of burlesque, focussing on sexualised performance a
la men’s clubs, The Pussycat Dolls, and pretty much any modern female pop music
video. Again, let’s blame the
Americans...
Early Burly is a burlesque
show which covers all the definitions you might have come across for that
genre. Our energetic, and slightly
awkward, mistress of ceremonies – Miss Everheart herself – kicks of the show
with a sexy rendition of ‘Come Into The Jungle’ before assuming her MC
duties. Everheart has a musical theatre
background and her voice is strong and seductive.
As she comes on stage,
Everheart is dressed in an elegant yet masculine waistcoated ensemble which is
a sexy foil to her hourglass figure, pincurled hair and sky high
stilletoes. Everheart takes the time to
explain the roles and expectations of the audience and issue a warning that if
you don’t look like you are having a good time you may just become the victim
of some audience participation.
Everheart’s strength as an
MC is her persona as a nervous ingénue and her singing voice which is
stunning. She gets away with telling
really bad ‘dad’ jokes whilst performing her duties as the ‘stage kitty’ and
collecting all the costume pieces after each act.
The first act introduced is
Caterina Vitt. Vitt is an amazing dancer
and demonstrates a flexibility that excites men no matter what their age. Vitt’s act is probably the most modern
interpretation of burlesque – it is sexy and grinding and every move is
designed to draw your eyes to her lady parts.
Adams comes on next. Adams epitomises the legend of burlesque,
Gypsy Rose Lee. We have all seen the
musical or watched the film about Gypsy’s story. Adams exemplifies that sexy, teasing grace
and elegance that Gypsy was known for.
Her first costume is a rich, green velvet, with a tulle mermaid base,
and a long zip from the top of her left thigh to the top. On her exposed thigh there is a magnificent
tattoo of a woman, as as she continues to disrobe, we discover more and more jaw
dropping gorgeous skin art.
The final performer, Anya
Anastasia, wowed us all with her entrance in a magnificent Marie Antoinette
ensemble, complete with wig, jewels and gloves.
Anastasia surprises us all by sitting at the piano, but what comes next
is just glorious.
Anastasia embodies the
original meaning of burlesque. She sings
hilarious and bawdy and clever songs, teasing our minds rather than our libidos
– although she does do a little bit of that at one point! Anastasia’s first song is about her
character, and she discusses the benefits of removing one’s head. My favourite line was about having one’s head
chopped off is a great way to lose a couple of kilos.
For her second number ‘I
don’t do Burlesque’ Anastasia plays with us unmercifully as she finds ways to
remove items whilst constantly telling us that she won’t. Apparently it is hard to play the piano so
the gloves have to come off, and my, isn’t it hot in here now?
There was a short interval
so that everyone could refresh their drinks and costume changes took
place. Even Everheart surprised us by
coming out in a flashy yellow gown reminiscent of ballroom dance.
My biggest disappointment
was that the second half had very little to distinguish it from the first half
except the change of costumes. There was
not much variety in the dances performed by Vitt or Adams and they all
performed in the same order so it became predictable.
The one exception to that
was Anastasia who came on to stage in a surprisingly sexy skeleton
unitard. Lit with UV lights, the bones
were eerie as she sung about visibility.
Miss Everheart presents is a
fun and clever show, generally speaking and the performers have very clear
definitions within their characters and style.
Needless to say, the costumes are all magnificent.
I also want to give a quick
plug to Anastasia’s upcoming show, Metawhore! which is playing at La Mama from
next week. Go along and see it. She is an amazing performer with a biting and
clever wit.
4 stars
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