The lifeblood of the burlesque
community is not the big festivals, awesome as they are. It's the local
shows that allow performers to work out and perfect their acts while
fostering an audience that will put money into performer's pockets. I
just attended a fantastic local show in Nashville, Brewlesque, held at
the Corsair Distillery Taproom and co-produced by Gidget Bardot.
A perfect local show features not only great native talent, but also brings in guests so both the audience and the performers themselves can be exposed to different voices and styles of performing. Brewlesque does that. Nashville has a lot of strong performers, and the show I saw ran the gamut of classical to neo stylings. Themed shows are fun, but my favorites highlight a variety of acts only united by the fact that they're good.
Gidget is a warm and generous person, and her signature act is "Organelles," a stripping biology lesson in more ways than one. Burlesque, with rare exceptions, is not usually a vocation that allows a performer to make a living wage, so most every performer has a day job of some sort. Muggle Gidget actually is a scientist, and I love that her professional life has informed her memorable signature act. A lot of performers run as far as they can from their actual selves when they're on stage, and Gidget's authenticity is a wonderful thing.
Wherever you are, I can almost guarantee there's a burlesque or variety show somewhere close to you at least once a month. There is a good chance you'll enjoy what you see, and those artists will be fed with your cover charge and your applause more than you can know.
A perfect local show features not only great native talent, but also brings in guests so both the audience and the performers themselves can be exposed to different voices and styles of performing. Brewlesque does that. Nashville has a lot of strong performers, and the show I saw ran the gamut of classical to neo stylings. Themed shows are fun, but my favorites highlight a variety of acts only united by the fact that they're good.
Gidget is a warm and generous person, and her signature act is "Organelles," a stripping biology lesson in more ways than one. Burlesque, with rare exceptions, is not usually a vocation that allows a performer to make a living wage, so most every performer has a day job of some sort. Muggle Gidget actually is a scientist, and I love that her professional life has informed her memorable signature act. A lot of performers run as far as they can from their actual selves when they're on stage, and Gidget's authenticity is a wonderful thing.
Wherever you are, I can almost guarantee there's a burlesque or variety show somewhere close to you at least once a month. There is a good chance you'll enjoy what you see, and those artists will be fed with your cover charge and your applause more than you can know.
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