O.K. The "Cabaret" - read Burlesque, well, I've probably seen 1 too many. Not exciting. The Venue - upstairs at Saltlick - not at all suited, standing room with limited visibility and lots of blocking.
The audience - well, boring Calgary Theatre People. The kind of people Homer Simpson was thinking of when he said "...a Play ... A PLAY! WHAT COULD BE MORE BORING THAN A PLAY!!!". It's a fundraiser, so there's food and snacks - that's good. And they replenish it, so that's good because theatre people eat like every meal's gonna be their last.
But the act - fine, but you can't see it - or only in glimpses through the crowd, and these girls, I've seen 'em before in Nelson, wouldn't matter if I've never seen 'em before, Calgary, it's not the place to see Burlesque - Nelson, easy a dozen or more girls per show - this show, 3 girls, 4 acts, and really, I can't criticize, I've seen one too many burlesque shows is all and I need a break.
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Looking for something to do, found this: http://www.handsomealice.com/current-productions/risque-cabaret/.
Which could be good, we'll see. It'd be hard to compete with the Kootenays, but I have to give them a chance...
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Which, after all, was what it was, not a show I'd choose to attend, not my cup of tea, but the ole wingnut had expressed interest, wondered if Olivia Newton John would show up for the premier, he's awfully interested in the lives of celebrities, paying undue attention to The wedding in the Royal Family, ridiculous gossip, salacious, scandalous, it's as if he gets all his news from the tabloids, it's all part of his keeping himself well informed...
Anyways, with the wing-nut as my wingman we head on down, I'm sure I've become somewhat notorious for the company I keep, big black dirty cotton gloves on, a bright teal golf shirt over top a full length undershirt, people must think I'm his caregiver, and having to leap in, block him from grabbing the chocolates off the tray and pleading that he thought they were all samples (he does this merely to stir the pot), and enough about him. The audience, about 90% female, a few supportive male companions dragged along under threat of their relationship, it's a sold-out show, the cast, the show, well, there's a lot of applause, lots of singing, some good, some bad, some moments shine, others not so much. But chances are if you'd made it down, bought a ticket, it was your cup of tea and you loved it...
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Which was the 3 hour long Burlesque show in Nelson. Which I can't rate highly enough, because nowhere else in the world would you see something like this. The support of the audience, the utterly off-the wall acts, the enthusiasm for every act - regardless of gender, persuasion, age or body style. And, like the last theatre production I saw here, completely off-the-wall, over-the-top batshit crazy, and an audience ranging in age from 20 to 80 and everyone enjoying themselves like it's the most normal thing in the world. Easily 30 or more performers from as far away as Calgary and Seattle, all for a $20.00 ticket. It doesn't get better than this - you might get a more finished play or performance, but never would you get the absurd and outrageous acts - that generally were the hits of the show - the same process that "finishes" theatre too often finishes it in the other sense, takes off the edge and makes it bland and homogeneous. Not here, not by a long shot. 5 Stars.
This place is Paradise.
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