They had me at “free burlesque show.”
A month or so back – long enough ago for me to almost entirely forget about it – I got an email for this. It had been a while since I had been to the Harris (the last time was for Alonzo King and Lines), and the price was right, so I signed up for tickets. Times were listed as being from 6:30-10:00.
I arrived just after 5:30 and there was already a line forming along Randolph. Luckily it was pretty short, there were only about 15-20 people ahead of me, and I had the building on one side to block the wind and provide a very small amount of warmth. It was snowing. It kind of reminded me of Black Friday, only without the street fighting over trinkets.
As it turns out, the show was part of a larger event put on by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to celebrate International Condom Day. They’ll be in Cleveland this coming weekend. It was a very LGBTQ-friendly event, with a very diverse crowd. The overall vibe was fun and very relaxed. Some people chatted with their friends, some visited the informational booths that were set up, some sat around looking at people’s shoes (lots of amazing choices on display).
As an ’80s kid I grew up on edutainment. This show definitely fell into that category. The music was ABBA – heavy, but I swear I caught a Showgirls reference and maybe a few other pop culture pieces (I always feel like a genius when I pick up on a reference. They’re all over the place, I encourage you to look for them if you don’t already). Dancers were highly athletic, and just as diverse as the audience, and the highly saturated color palette of the lighting and costumes (that means rainbow colors, do pay attention). Some of them clearly had some ballet training, as did the choreographers (if you ever go to a burlesque show, any burlesque show, look for that. Once you see it you’ll never unsee it. This message has been brought to you by my ex, the ballerina snobberina).
All in all highly enjoyable, absolutely worth the price of admission and then some, if you happen to be going to Cleveland I’d definitely see about dropping in to see them.
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