The word ‘Burlesque’ often conjures up images of being essentially just a sophisticated striptease act and to a large extent, that’s exactly what it is but when done properly, there’s an awful lot more to the genre and the evening at Matt And Phreds certainly warranted the additional title of ‘Revue’, combining stand-up comedy and live music with an array of burlesque talent.
Burlesque was obviously the main point of the evening, with the audience treated to four artists giving between them, seven very different performances. Burlesque can just be based around outrageous costumes having no artistic base other than some kind of erotic fantasy. Cherie Bebe’s Burlesque Revue was clearly aiming at something more theatrical and purposeful with compere Jonathan Mayor setting up each act on the lines of studio theatre sketches and with minimalist props and carefully chosen music, each act took us into a different world. There was so much to this than just dancing, with facial expressions very much part of the performance, conveying various mood changes and emotions, as each act progressed its own narrative.
Some performances were based on popular genres, giving remarkable diversity to the evening’s inspirations. Cherie Bebe gave a worthy insight into the Parisian Moulin Rouge scene whilst Motown received a vibrant, sexy twist from Velvet Jones. Jones’s first performance of the evening, on a sort of 80’s Broadway theme, put a different slant on the burlesque style, straight away discarding a robe to reveal a virtually-naked body which she then proceeded to seductively dress up; let it not be said Burlesque is just stripping off!
Other acts, inspired by cinema and novels, included atmospheric 40’s railway classic ‘Brief Encounter’, performed with real feeling by Starla Bright, and Suki Surrender’s uber-sexy tribute to 60’s sci-fi icon ‘Barbarella’ (complete with weapon and ‘energy juice’!). Starla Bright later returned to cheekily reveal the seductive lacy, blue underwear worn by straight-laced Victorian literary heroine Alice in her visit to Wonderland’; the things you learn at a burlesque show!
Aside from the arse-wriggling (of which there was plenty) and all the sensual moves, there was a strong emphasis on dance and this worked well with the theatrical approach to Burlesque.
The review would be incomplete without reference to Jonathan Mayor whose riotous gay humour and banter with the audience really held everything nicely together; very much a comedian in his own right. A lot of his comedy was observational, including commenting on his own mixed-racial heritage. Unfortunately, this developed in the second half into a political rant against Brexit, with comedy cast aside to make way for subjective commentary on the state of the nation. Yes, it was a revue show but to include political ranting seemed to be stretching things. Fortunately, Mayor brought the comedy back before the close of the show lest a social-political lecture completely overshadowed his earlier good work.
Music was provided by Elmo Ashall at the start of each act, a talented singer/guitarist whose own passionate songs together a couple of well-known numbers were performed with gusto and feeling.
A nice touch at the end was for all the cast, including the Stage-Manager-cum-Props Mistress, to all appear on stage together in true theatrical tradition, iterating that fact that this had truly been a Revue. This was a very enjoyable evening, with the audience’s attention and enthusiasm in clear evidence from start to finish. It was also a demonstration of a very imaginative approach to what can be a somewhat predictable genre and this has the potential to be taken further. If you think you know all about Burlesque, prepare to be surprised and wowed by Cherie Bebe’s Burlesque Revue!
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
on - 8/9/19
photo credit - Karen McBride
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