Tease trip
By KAREN SHADE, 10/19/2006
Savonne the Minx (above) and Lu Foxxx (below) are two of the stars of the Eye Candy Burlesque show. Courtesy Photo
Burlesque group looks to the past to choreograph modern show
When a group of strippers advised Gypsy Rose Lee in the movie "Gypsy" that "You gotta get a gimmick," burlesque ingenue Lauren McAnulty was listening.
"If you don't have a gimmick, and you don't have something that makes you an individual, you're just like any other dancer," McAnulty, 25, said. "You have to create a character, something you can call your own."
So for its debut performance, Eye Candy Burlesque introduces ballerinas en pointe, tough-talking broads and a sassy ring leader, teasing, taunting and having a little fun with some old-fashioned, theatric debauchery.
The real gimmick, the element that sets them apart from similar acts, however, is a willingness to put on a brand of burlesque that McAnulty hopes will register as parody and vintage instead of just tasteless and outdated.
The group will put on two outings at the Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St., Friday and Saturday nights. They start out in costumes, but (true to the act) won't stay in full dress for long.
"What sets us apart is the choreography, for one thing. It's traditional burlesque. Ours is a little bit more based in jazz and cabaret and a little more vaudeville," McAnulty said.
The group sprouted out of the SuperOVUM comic improv troupe that regularly performs at the Nightingale. McAnulty was one of the first members but left for a period. She rejoined recently at the invitation of troupe member Katrina Lofgren.
At a recent SuperOVUM show, McAnulty performed a burlesque dance, a first look at her almost unrecognizable alter ego, the chain-smoking, take-no-prisoners Lu Foxxx.
Think Mae West meets the original Pussy Cat Dolls.
"I love the whole dark comedy. Even though I'm the nice girl, I am kind of a smart a-- sometimes. That's where Lu comes out," she said.
McAnulty formed the group with Lofgren as Momere, the emcee, and others taking on roles such as Katerina the Naughty Ballerina, Savonne the Minx and Scarlet Poppy.
The group also choreographs its act to have a light, playful air, unlike stripping, McAnulty said.
She said she worked in exotic clubs for more than a year before she quit.
"I didn't like the dirtiness of it," she said. "I was a goofy girl and spent too much time being silly and talking to people and being myself."
Nightingale Theater owner John Cruncleton invited McAnulty and the group to perform at the theater after he watched her solo dance.
"I find the whole thing interesting because it's undoubtedly exploitation, but it's self-exploitation," he said. "It's ironic and self-knowing. What they're doing to the audience is titillating them, but at the same time, they're winking at them."
Lofgren said the theatrical element is important to the act.
"We wanted to put a little more, what's the word I want to use, a little more class than a striptease," Lofgren said.
And they're borrowing from Broadway to help set the tone of the show. Momere opens Eye Candy with a song from "Chicago."
McAnulty also said the program will play to the vaudeville quality of old burlesque. It isn't only about the tease.
"I would love for this to be what I am when I grow up," McAnulty said. "I would have no problem doing this for the rest of my life."
Gypsy would be proud.
EYE CANDY BURLESQUE
When:10 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where:
Nightingale Theater, 1416 E. Fourth St.
Admission:
$5 and restricted to ages 18 and up. For more, call 583-8487 [As of February 2007, 633-8666].