Skip to main content

Review of The Burlesque Show 2017 at Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton

There is still a feeling of outer body going on when I attend The Burlesque Show despite this now being my third time. A sort of, is this really the thing I want to be seeing? I mean burlesque, it's a bit of a weird and niche thing isn't it? Well yes it absolutely is in reality one of them things, and the one it isn't when you watch it is weird.

The Burlesque Show though, is actually quite poorly titled to be fair. I am not sure what else I would call it, but this is far from 100% burlesque action, this is good genuine old fashioned variety evening, wrapped with a little slightly risque burlesque and saucy humour. However, if you come thinking burlesque is all about kit off, I have seen more nudity in a refined dignified play or two, and certainly the humour has been much more coarse at a reputable comedy gig or two.

Last year I was very critical of the fact that the 2016 show had been so close to the 2015 version that to quote myself "the pot really does need stirring on the material front to keep this fresh and entertaining". Thankfully the pot had very much been stirred for 2017, and while there were a couple of routines seen previously, they were either very much worth seeing again, or were audience involved to generate a much different journey to the finishing off.

Hosting duty this year was taken by the truly delightful and wickedly funny Lili la Scala, who also happens to be none other that Mrs Tape Face, of The Boy With Tape On His Face fame. That is one talented and inventive household right there. From her effervescent arrival onto the Royal stage, Lili has the audience in the palm of her hands, with both her quick witted repartee with the crowd, clever and funny jokes (with just the right amount of sauce), and also a simply amazing singing voice. A show like this really lives and dies sometimes on the quality of its host, and in Lili, there is infinite quality. Having said we need an excellent host, that is not to say that the meat in the sandwich can be flimsy, and for 2017, The Burlesque Show has good solid meat.

After having had a break in 2016, the brilliant Pete Firman returns with his quick witted, and rather startling tricks, which even having seen them previously on his 2016 own show tour, still baffle in the extreme. Pete is a consummate professional, able to have not only a tremendous magic skill, but adept at handling any possible iteration of audience member, including during this show, the extremely reluctant Pat, and the not reluctant in anyway at all Phil.

Two other returning performers, who presented a relatively similar collection of acts were Alexandra Hofgartner and Abi Collins (in two different characters). The former performed her daring silks act once again, however in the first half, she performed the equally daring, and new to me, aerial hoop act. Both performances are captivating to watch, as is Alexandra herself. So I was more than happy to see her again.

Abi Collins, who had hosted the show the previous years, performed her highly flexible hula hoop act in the first half and then in a brilliantly entertaining spin on the night, appeared as her second alter-ego Peggy Sued in the foyer during the interval. It turned out, that as well as entertaining the guests there, she was also selecting her co-performers for her second act piece. Bad backs permitting, it turned out to be Greg and Steve, who had the task of getting hands-on with Peggy's "love device". It was the same as we had seen before, the scarily dangerous routine, but with different people, it was different enough to entertain.

So what was new? Well obviously apart from Lili's constant brilliance, we had Robin Boon Dale and Jack Bailie (in the second half a double act, in the first just Robin). They are the circus act of old, presenting a masterclass of pretty impressive juggling. However for a spin, their dual performance is the full-on Full Monty routine, as they keep their balls up in the air (so to speak), while removing each others clothes to the strains of Sir Thomas of Jones. It is clever, skilled, and funny and yes they go all the way, but you probably didn't catch more then a bottom, due to skilled use of their hats.

The second brand new performer was the wonderful burlesque part of the show proper, in the form of the lovely Lena Mae Lenman. She performed two silky smooth routines at the start and the end of the evening, which were every bit the sophisticated world that proper burlesque is and clearly the audience was thrilled with it.

It is interesting that without a doubt the audience during this performance was the best of the three I have seen, perhaps an awful lot to do with a good splashing of alcohol. However they truly were up for it. The front row in particular was the perfect collection of burlesque virgins (certainly dropped in it on the front row), the outrageously rude mother sitting two seats from her son, and a keen audience participant and one less so. The best front row yet!

So, a much more stirred line-up with new and quality repeated material, and definitely for me the best of the three Burlesque Shows I have seen. Perhaps the only criticism that could be laid at the door of the show is quite ironic really, in that it perhaps didn't actually contain enough actual burlesque. For me that didn't matter, as this show is something much more than the name it goes by. It is a chance for a night of sauce and a good splash of really missed variety entertainment. A sadly very rare thing to be seen nowadays.

««««

Performance reviewed: Saturday 14th January, 2017 at the Royal & Derngate (Royal), Northampton.


The Burlesque Show ran at the Royal & Derngate (Royal) on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th January, 2017 only.

For further details visit the Royal & Derngate website at http://www.royalandderngate.co.uk/

Popular posts from this blog

Review of & Juliet at Milton Keynes Theatre

First performed in 2019, & Juliet has become quite a global success, and now, as part of a UK Tour, it has arrived at Milton Keynes Theatre for a two-week run. Featuring a book by David West Read, it tells the what-if story of the survival of Juliet at the end of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet . Primarily a jukebox musical, it more specifically features the works of Swedish songwriter Max Martin (and friends, as the credits describe). The question is, does & Juliet provide more than the standard of many a jukebox musical before it, and does it honour the tragic tale from which it has sprung? Our story opens with William Shakespeare presenting his latest work, Romeo & Juliet , for the first time. However, when his wife, Anne Hathaway, learns how he intends the tale to end, she is away with his quill and planning on her reworking of the story. At the core of this touring production's success is Geraldine Sacdalan's powerhouse performance as Juliet. Her Juliet ...

Review of Northern Ballet - The Great Gatsby at Milton Keynes Theatre

This production of The Great Gatsby performed by Northern Ballet was my fifth encounter at the theatre of a full ballet production and as before, I happily share my review of the show with nearly zero knowledge of-the-art form and more of a casual theatre-goer. You could say that this is a poor direction to come in on a review, but I would say that casual audience are the ones to review this for. Over the years, Northern Ballet has set quite a high benchmark for ballet productions, and any audience member who is worth their salt as a ballet fan would no doubt have tickets for this new touring version of the 2013 version of The Great Gatsby , lovingly created by David Nixon OBE. So much is Nixon part of the very fabric of this show, that he not only provides the choreography and direction but also the initial scenario and costume design (assisted by Julie Anderson). So, discounting those ballet fans already sitting in the audience, what does this offer for the more casual theatre-goer ...

Review of The Rocky Horror Show at Milton Keynes Theatre

Richard O’Brien’s anarchic, surreal, and often incomprehensible musical, The Rocky Horror Show , has captivated audiences for over fifty years now. With this new tour, it feels as fresh and unpredictable as if it had just emerged from O’Brien's vivid imagination yesterday. While another review might seem unnecessary given the countless dressed-up fans who fill every theatre it visits, let’s go ahead and write one anyway. The Rocky Horror Show follows the adventures of Brad and Janet, a newly engaged couple. On a dark and stormy November evening, they run into car trouble and seek refuge at a mysterious castle reminiscent of Frankenstein’s. There, they encounter the eccentric handyman Riff-Raff, the outrageous scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter, and a host of other bizarre characters. What unfolds is a science fiction B-movie narrative that is at times coherent and at other times bewildering — yet somehow, that doesn’t seem to matter. I first saw The Rocky Horror Show in 2019 and exper...