If I am not in love, I am most definitely, want only and painfully in lust with the girls of the Gogo Burlesco – five extraordinarily naughty Australians. Yes there is nudity, yes there is ballsy humour, yes there are feathers, yes there is classic burlesque, yes there is a lot of sex appeal, and yes, for the most part, it is wonderful. Christa Hughes, the Master of Ceremonies (or Mistress of Corruption), grabs the audience firmly by the balls and leads us through the different dances, sketches and routines by way of her own dances, sketches and routines. She may or may not be wearing anything when she does them and I am now re-appraising Julie Andrews!
Imogen Kelly, Judith Lanigan and Lola the Vamp (who has a PhD in burlesque apparently) provide the spectacular visual entertainment with the extraordinarily talented Svetlana Bunic on the accordion.
This is a show that seems to cater for the specific target audience of meat eating, red-blooded heterosexual males rather than the high camp of classic burlesque fans. As such, the humour tends toward the lesser intellect and at times jokes ran on a little too long. The Petomane (look it up if you don’t know) sketch seemed to drag, particularly because it was clearly not Christa’s own “music”.
However, I adored the Muppet routine – I now have a particular fondness for Kermit-and Imogen’s UV monster dance was spectacular. Lola’s Feather and Serpentine dances were beautifully erotic, a refreshing backward step from Christa’s hardcore approach. My highlight was Judith’s hoop Swan Lake routine, which, after a hiccough with balloons earlier in the show, demonstrated incredible skill, lissome agility and supreme comic timing.
This is a show well worth watching. Bring your vocal chords, as you will be required to whoop, holler and wolf whistle. Bring bags of testosterone too. Five sexy women, all of them stars. Out of five, I would definitely give them one.
4/5
Alexander Donald
