La Clique Burlesque Reopens

Edinburgh cult hit La Clique will visit London for the first time this autumn when it will reopen Leicester Square’s historic Hippodrome as a public performance venue. The international burlesque cabaret opens on 10 October 2008 (previews from 2 October) at the Hippodrome, where it’s initially booking through 1 February 2009, with additional late-night weekend performances from 11 October.

According to promotional material, La Clique is “impossible to define and impossible to resist”, a mixture of cabaret, new burlesque, circus sideshow and contemporary variety. Its eclectic and ever-changing assortment of acts includes: Norwegian contortionist Captain Frodo; Spanish stripper Ursula Martinez; Germany’s David O’Mer (pictured), who has re-invented the pleasures of a nice soak in the tub; hula hoopist Yulia Pikhtina from Kiev; the English Gents performing their inconceivable feats of human strength and skill; London’s own PVC-clad fetishist Miss Behave; the puppets of Montreal’s Cabaret Decadanse; and New York alternative comedian and Freddy Mercury reincarnation Mario.

La Clique has performed seasons around the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Montreal, Dublin and New York in addition to regular summer stints at the Edinburgh Fringe, where it’s annually one of the hottest tickets at the festival.

First constructed by Frank Matcham in 1900 as a water circus, the Hippodrome’s early performances featured elephants, polar bears and sea lions which all frolicked in its 100,000-litre pool. A varied history has seen it operate as the location for one of Harry Houdini’s greatest escapes; and in the 1960s and 1970s, the stage was graced by the likes of Judy Garland, Shirley Bassey, Ethel Merman and The Temptations in its incarnation as the dinner-dance venue Talk of The Town. It was purchased in the early 1980s by Peter Stringfellow who turned it into a nightclub and returned it to its original name, the Hippodrome. Most recently, the venue has been used for private events only.

La Clique is produced in London by La Clique Productions, Chocolate Factory Productions, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin.
by Terri Paddock

Burlesque and The World Famous BOB

Anyone who believes the new burlesque revolution is actually just stripping for those too embarrassed to go to a lapdancing club will find plenty of ammunition for their argument in The World Famous *BOB*'s act. In the past the New York cabaret artist has mixed Martinis with her cleavage, and her website proudly boasts of her 42F bust alongside puns about her Big Top that would shame a lads' mag subeditor.

But the whole burlesque scene, which is supposed to be all about teasing glimpses, is now so over-exposed it has all the erotic mystique of someone mooning. Cannily, The World Famous *BOB* has used it as a springboard into other art forms, having been photographed by the likes of Mario Testino and David LaChapelle, as well as appearing in The New York Times, dabbling in performance art and MCing, modelling for Thierry Mugler and playing a cameo role in John Cameron Mitchell's film, Shortbus.

Support act Imelda May will be blasting out her foot-stomping retro-rockabilly tunes, and there will also be music from Candybox's in-house band, Palookaville Orchestra. They recently won a Ministry Of Burlesque award for their 'spit and drool' music - the organ-powered garage-rock they'll be pumping out as the resident dance troupe, Candied Heels, strut their stuff.
By Paul Clarke

Quentin Tarantino gets cosy with sexy German burlesque dancer

Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino (45) was seen getting frisky with burlesque dancer ‘Tallulah Freeway’ while working on his new film in Berlin.

Tarantino is staying in the German capital while he shoots his new movie 'Inglorious Bastards', which is rumored to include famous faces like Britney Spears and Brad Pitt. When he’s not working, the director has been seen getting cosy with the sexy bartender and burlesque dancer, who uses the ‘Tallulah Freeway’ moniker as her stage name.

The director's pretty partner (28) works the taps at the ‘Alt Berlin’ pub and takes to the stage as a burlesque dancer at various clubs and private events around the city.

Show Review: X Burlesque

You'd think a burlesque show would be the safest bet on the Las Vegas Strip.

But even with a head start -- four years of operating in different places with various titles -- "X Burlesque" has found it's not easy being the fifth or sixth of anything. Not even when you're selling bare bodies, one of the city's most valued commodities.

When the revue moved into the Flamingo Las Vegas early last year, it had to fight for attention. "Crazy Girls" has longevity. "Bite" has a gimmick (vampire babes!). "Crazy Horse Paris" has European prestige. "Fantasy" has live singing and (gasp!) a dude or two to enhance the couples appeal.

Perhaps understandably, "X Burlesque" seemed as though it was working too hard to be hip and edgy. But producers Angela and Matt Stabile kept tinkering and reworking their revue as it turned the corner on its first year in February.

The Flamingo got behind the show with a two-year extension and promotional branding in the outlying casino area. "X" is now the one topless revue you can see seriously late at night: midnight, three times per week. And it's no longer the newest kid on the block, thanks to "Ooh La La" at nearby Paris Las Vegas (which seized the title "X" once had for best sense of humor).

"X" still doesn't have that easy way of explaining where it fits. But that's a challenge for the marketing folks, not one that burdens audiences once they're in the room. Angela Stabile may sum it up best when she says the goal is to be "super sexy but also really fun at the same time."

I don't know if "credible" is too serious a word for a topless show, but it's easier to praise "X" for what it's not: seedy, derivative or overly silly.

The changes all have been for the better. A burlesque-looking curtain now covers the stage's roommate set for The Second City comedy troupe, but still creates a screen for video projections. New choreography is by Enrique Lugo, who did some audacious work for the departed "Fashionistas," and here keeps the seven women moving with rock 'n' roll athleticism that doesn't sacrifice the provocative for artsy indulgence (the same cannot always be said of the projected graphics).

And it's awkward to say it, but new comedian Nancy Ryan fits the show better than the late, great Pudgy. The comedian born Beverly Wines, who died in December, did more of an act than conventional stand-up. She gave "X" a retro-camp flair which justified the "Burlesque" in the title, but was out of place with the rest.

Ryan is a better blend with the rest of the show's contemporary thrust, while doing the same job of evening the score for the women attending with their menfolk. She's good at crowd banter, heckling a father-son team with New Jersey sass and telling the son, "Your house is blocking the driveway. You better move it" when he bolts for a restroom retreat.

The things that haven't changed are most of what made the original "X" stand out when it debuted at the Aladdin in 2002. The women keep their own hairstyles and individuality, and each is featured in a solo number. The music is fresh, and most pieces don't bother you with the entire song. A girls 'n' guns tribute to the military without corny music? It boggles the mind.

A couple of numbers now qualify as classics: a bathtub seduction paced by stage blackouts and a piece where you see only three pairs of legs and not the rest of their owners.

"X Burlesque" doesn't reinvent the wheel, or even the girlie show. But for a show without a gimmick, it's doing just fine.
By Mike Weatherford

Caburlesque on Britains got Talent

Thank the Lord for Escala and Nemesis or tonight’s Britain’s Got Talent could have been the most depressing hour and a half of TV that I have ever watched.

To be honest I’m now looking forward to tomorrow night’s final because I’m getting a bit fed up of being the bad guy and slagging everyone off, but here we go, for one last time.

Caburlesque were good, but for me they were not burlesque. Dancing in your underwear and taking off a skirt is not Burlesque, so although they danced perfectly well, it just wasn’t enough of an act for me.

Madonna Decena was an OK cabaret singer, but why on earth did they have to put a picture of her two kids up while she was singing. After insisting she wasn’t begging or just a sob story, this cheap trick did just the opposite. It shouldn’t be about who has the most heart-wrenching story, it should be about who is the most talented and she isn’t.

I don’t know why Anya Sparks bothered to turn up. The reason she was rubbish was nothing to do with her size - she could have been a size zero and she would still look like a drunk aunt getting over excited on a hen night.

Diva Las Vegas just weren’t different enough, while Per Diem were just painful to watch. It was like Journey South on a bad day. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone leg it of stage as quickly as they did at the end. I felt sorry for them, but they were out of tune.

Meanwhile, Craig Harper was so holiday camp it hurt. I thought all acts like him had disappeared in the late 80s, but sadly not. I’m sure there is an audience for him out there somewhere, but I hated the fact he begged quite so much like he was the only person who deserved it. Of course Amanda Holden liked him – she was married to Les Dennis for crying out loud!

However, both Escala and Nemesis were genuinely talented and deserve to be in the final. At the moment I think it's too tough to call, which makes a nice change for reality TV.