I can't tell you how anticipated Friday night was. For over a month, I'd had tickets to Bustout Burlesque at the House of Blues- an anniversary present- hiding under the laundry detergent in the wash room, counting down the days to the 18th. After f-i-n-a-l-l-y finding a wonderful sitter for Shelby (I called some churches after the agencies were all booked up and one recommended a woman that they have teaching there), we headed out for a pre-event drink at, where else, the Avenue, our favorite little bar. I handed Dustin the tickets in a sweet little anny card across the smokey table and watched his eyes light up. Bingo.
After a gin and tonic on St. Charles, we proceeded down to the French Quarter an hour early to find some parking, no small feat on a Friday night. Luckily, we were able to find a spot in a lot about 3 blocks away. I don't often have an occasion to wear heels these days, so the less walking, the better. We waited in the serpentine line for about 10 minutes before I got a call from Rick, the manager of the burlesque troupe. I'd been driving him nuts for the last month to get reserved seating (in actuality, I only called a few times, but that was a lot for me, as I hate to impose), it being a special occasion and all. He actually came out and got us, leading us to the front of the line and through the doors. Can I just say how bad ass it felt to do that? I promise I didn't give anyone any snotty looks. Then he took us to the seating area and let us choose one of the limited tables. We decided on a bar top behind the floor seating, which turned out to be the perfect perch to enjoy the show. We thanked the most awesome manager in the world, ordered drinks and settled in to see the long-awaited performance.
It really was great. I loved the troupe's band, the Bustout Burlesque Jazz Band. The Emcee, Dante, was a funny little guy in a top hat and vintage pastel tailed coat. I'm quite glad we decided against the table right in front of the stage, as he called the girl sitting there up to the stage to be his straight man (or woman, as it were). The first performer was Kitty Twist, a Southern Belle who decided to show off her little southern tush. Very sweet. Then was the fabulous Praline DuPree. She was hands down our favorite. Her facial expressions were the best (though with a body like that, I doubt the male members of the audience noticed). She was dressed as a girl on a jungle safari. Who forgot to wear pants. Her work with the whip would have certainly had Dr. Jones intrigued. Then the lovely Athena sang Santa Baby, followed by more schtick from Dante. There was even a special appearance by Wild Cherry, a "real live" dancer from back in the day. I was really excited to see her up there, as I've seen her included in documentaries on TV and read about her on the Internet. And, as it turns out, Dustin's grandparents saw here back in her prime on Bourbon Street. It was a nice surprise. But don't worry, she stayed fully clothed the whole time, even though she showed she's still got the attitude. There was a special performance by guest star Michelle L'Amour, and she was wonderful. Her milky white skin and pageboy-cut dark hair made for a wonderful contrast. She did a routine with the big feathered fans (my favorite burlesque prop of all time) in a nude, sequined pastie-and-panty combination and performed beautifully. I believe the next girl was Roxie LaRouge, but to be honest, I wasn't paying attention to her name. Let's just say, she was much more top heavy than the other girls. A bit thicker, too, but certainly hot. It was really awesome to see a slightly meatier girl get up there and shake her pasties. More singing from Athena, then the last act, Foxy Flambeaux. Dressed as the original Barbie, she definitely looked the part. Though she seemed a bit less enthused to be up there (maybe due to already having preformed earlier in the evening) hers was still a lovely act. The finale was a chorus line-type production by all the ladies dressed in what Mrs. Clause probably wore on her wedding night. Lots of fun, I must say.
All in all, it was a great show. I highly recommend going if you have a taste for jazzy big band music and beautiful women taking off their clothes (except the pasties, of course!).
After the show, I scored an autographed photo of Cherry and we headed to Bourbon street. It's nice to walk down the street looking nice every once in a while. We grabbed a beer from Huge Ass Beers, classy drinks for our classy night, then headed home. Don't worry, there were no laws broken, although we did consider trying to trick the lot gate into letting us out for free. Which we didn't do. Because it would be wrong. And stupid.
It was our first burlesque show (but certainly not the last), the first night we'd gotten to really go out on the town and enjoy ourselves in forever, and the very first time we've ever hired a sitter. We've never had a better anniversary date. I can't wait to see what we come up with next year.
After a gin and tonic on St. Charles, we proceeded down to the French Quarter an hour early to find some parking, no small feat on a Friday night. Luckily, we were able to find a spot in a lot about 3 blocks away. I don't often have an occasion to wear heels these days, so the less walking, the better. We waited in the serpentine line for about 10 minutes before I got a call from Rick, the manager of the burlesque troupe. I'd been driving him nuts for the last month to get reserved seating (in actuality, I only called a few times, but that was a lot for me, as I hate to impose), it being a special occasion and all. He actually came out and got us, leading us to the front of the line and through the doors. Can I just say how bad ass it felt to do that? I promise I didn't give anyone any snotty looks. Then he took us to the seating area and let us choose one of the limited tables. We decided on a bar top behind the floor seating, which turned out to be the perfect perch to enjoy the show. We thanked the most awesome manager in the world, ordered drinks and settled in to see the long-awaited performance.
It really was great. I loved the troupe's band, the Bustout Burlesque Jazz Band. The Emcee, Dante, was a funny little guy in a top hat and vintage pastel tailed coat. I'm quite glad we decided against the table right in front of the stage, as he called the girl sitting there up to the stage to be his straight man (or woman, as it were). The first performer was Kitty Twist, a Southern Belle who decided to show off her little southern tush. Very sweet. Then was the fabulous Praline DuPree. She was hands down our favorite. Her facial expressions were the best (though with a body like that, I doubt the male members of the audience noticed). She was dressed as a girl on a jungle safari. Who forgot to wear pants. Her work with the whip would have certainly had Dr. Jones intrigued. Then the lovely Athena sang Santa Baby, followed by more schtick from Dante. There was even a special appearance by Wild Cherry, a "real live" dancer from back in the day. I was really excited to see her up there, as I've seen her included in documentaries on TV and read about her on the Internet. And, as it turns out, Dustin's grandparents saw here back in her prime on Bourbon Street. It was a nice surprise. But don't worry, she stayed fully clothed the whole time, even though she showed she's still got the attitude. There was a special performance by guest star Michelle L'Amour, and she was wonderful. Her milky white skin and pageboy-cut dark hair made for a wonderful contrast. She did a routine with the big feathered fans (my favorite burlesque prop of all time) in a nude, sequined pastie-and-panty combination and performed beautifully. I believe the next girl was Roxie LaRouge, but to be honest, I wasn't paying attention to her name. Let's just say, she was much more top heavy than the other girls. A bit thicker, too, but certainly hot. It was really awesome to see a slightly meatier girl get up there and shake her pasties. More singing from Athena, then the last act, Foxy Flambeaux. Dressed as the original Barbie, she definitely looked the part. Though she seemed a bit less enthused to be up there (maybe due to already having preformed earlier in the evening) hers was still a lovely act. The finale was a chorus line-type production by all the ladies dressed in what Mrs. Clause probably wore on her wedding night. Lots of fun, I must say.
All in all, it was a great show. I highly recommend going if you have a taste for jazzy big band music and beautiful women taking off their clothes (except the pasties, of course!).
After the show, I scored an autographed photo of Cherry and we headed to Bourbon street. It's nice to walk down the street looking nice every once in a while. We grabbed a beer from Huge Ass Beers, classy drinks for our classy night, then headed home. Don't worry, there were no laws broken, although we did consider trying to trick the lot gate into letting us out for free. Which we didn't do. Because it would be wrong. And stupid.
It was our first burlesque show (but certainly not the last), the first night we'd gotten to really go out on the town and enjoy ourselves in forever, and the very first time we've ever hired a sitter. We've never had a better anniversary date. I can't wait to see what we come up with next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment