Presented by Adelaide Festival Centre
Reviewed 13 June 2016
Burlesque is usually defined as sexy, bawdy and comical striptease. With tongue-in-cheek situations and characters, girls or boys can make a show of sexily removing their clothes while keeping it light hearted by adding a bit of fantasy and a giggle. It’s the giggle and the elaborateness of it all that generally separates Burlesque from strip and prevents it from feeling dark and seedy.
Von Teese is an absolute master of this artform and on her opening night in Adelaide the audience was treated to four of her famous sexy scenes including the Martini Glass Splash and her newest and most stunning act, the Opium Den. The costumes and sets are elaborate and dazzling and Von Teese absolutely oozes sex appeal.
The hilarious Murray Hill, who’s fast paced wit, keeps the variety show moving along and his self-deprecating style of humour is an absolute winner with the crowd.
The remainder of the ‘Vonterage’ were a bit of a mixed bag with some excellent performances from Perle Noire, who owned the stage without any dazzling props, and Ginger Valentine who is sexy and athletic with a more traditional routine.
A less successful Catherine D’Lish looked awkward as she climbed a spider web and attempted some acrobatics on a ridiculously dimly lit stage, while Natasha Estrada appeared in some tacky costumes accompanied by some equally tacky moves. The two seemed out of sync with the classiness of the rest of the show and perhaps some better staging and costumes might have helped bring them up to standard.
There is also some eye candy for the ladies as Jett Adore added a bit of masculinity providing a more comical than sexy take on Zoro, and two chiselled back up dancers in gold shorts had pulses racing as they were introduced as Alex from Poland and Elio from Puerto Rico. In Act Two, when Hill pulled a few unsuspecting males out of the audience for a strip little did he know it would be one of the highlights of the night with local boy Anton Schrama finding some slick moves and giving the ‘Vonterage’ boylesque team a run for their money.
In spite of the couple of less than perfect acts, Von Teese still puts on a good show with fantastic costumes and staging and Murray Hill is the quintessential MC, showing off expert talent at getting the crowd fired up and laughing whenever there is an opportunity.
Reviewed by Ceri Horner
Twitter: @CeriHorner
Rating (out of 5): 3
Venue: Festival Theatre
Season: Till the 23rd June 2016
Duration: 90 mins
Tickets: $84.90-$129.90
Bookings: Book online through the Adelaide Cabaret Festival website or phone BASS on 131 246
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