The ladies of the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue brought their unique brand of entertainment to the Lester Centre of the Arts on March 2, giving the audience a glimpse into the world of burlesque.
The seven ladies — Betsy Bottomdollar, Kitten Kaboodle, Dolly Pop, Silk E. Guns, Lady Muse, Ginger Kittens, and Lolly Lushbottom — mixed song, dance, comedy and plenty of skin into a two-hour tour de force that had the audience screaming with every unhooked bra, laughing out loud and hollering for more. As much as the show was about fun and entertainment, it was also about sending a message: Everyone is beautiful, and everyone should be proud of their bodies.
"Some of us are 20 and trouble, some of us are 30 and flirty and some of us are 40 and fabulous," said co-emcee Bottomdollar.
The first act of the night included five women dancing with umbrellas to a cabaret singing of Rihanna's Umbrella before a tassle-twirling finale.
"If you haven't seen a burlesque show before: Boobies. Now you know," joked Bottomdollar after the first dance.
Bottomdollar then showed all her talents, singing a song about her gardener in a bluesy but powerful voice while mixing burlesque in with the very suggestive lyrics. She was followed by Dolly Pop looking for love online, volunteer firefighter Kitten Kaboodle playing with a hose and taking off clothes to smother a fire, and Silk E. Guns in a dream sequence complete with a Gaga-esque outfit. Before the final performance of the first set, three volunteers from the previous night's burlesque workshop put on a 30-second show with the winner being decided by the audience.
The dancers went international in the second set, opening with five women performing to Day-O and Shake Señora dressed like Carmen Miranda before Dolly Pop pulled out her ukulele and kazoo to sing Talk Dirty in Hawaiian. The ladies in the crowd exploded with laughter and cheers as three men from the audience, one whose mom was in the audience and one whose mom didn't know he was there, volunteered to try their hand at tassle twirling. Lady Muse put on a slow and sultry debut on the stage, followed by Bottomdollar in a straightjacket and Ginger Kittens looked for a watermelon heart before the finale — Betsy Bottomdollar dressed as Dorothy and belting out Over the Rainbow while the Tin Man, Scarecrow and Lion stripped down to pasties — sent the crowd home happy.
This was the second time the Cheesecake Burlesque Revue has come to Prince Rupert, and Bottomdollar said she hopes it isn't the last.