Gender Blender Burlesque 2 @ Connections Nightclub
Tuesday, January 21, 2020
This recent Cabaret Award FRINGE WORLD weekly winner is colourful, sparkly, loud, sexy and sultry, with flawless tech, and worked the crowd up into a frenzy the like of which you rarely see in an audience. The costumes were amazing, the makeup works of art, and the lighting design for the entire performance up there with the best.
The opening number featuring the entire ensemble of seductive performers was an absolute highlight, as each performer compliments the next in a beautiful, colourful cocktail to the soundtrack of Hey Big Spender, doing justice to the pure yet naughty vibes of this tune. Each performer is dressed in black – black baby dolls, black bodysuits, black leotards and dresses, the perfect way to ease us into the extreme colour palette that would follow.
MC for the night Ruby Slippers did a fabulous job of keeping the crowd in a state of hysteria in between the acts with her sexy strut and witty banter. First up was Mr Boylesque WA 2015 Bobbie Sox, dressed dapperly and trimmed in glitter, somehow combining innocence and raunchiness for a delightful performance. Veronica Jean Jones had a whole different vibe, strong, and fierce, and her energetic performance sent her gorgeous red hair flying. Flo Reel’s number was a standout, performing on stilts in an awesome, unique, frantic, angry-yet-silly and sexy performance to a cover of Radiohead’s Creep.
Ruby Slippers delighted with a number of her own, leaving nothing behind in her lip-synced performance of Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler that had every audience member singing along, accompanied by cheers that had been growing ever louder as the show progressed. Miss Burlesque Western Australia 2017 Veruca Sour was classy, glamourous yet eccentric, with facial expressions that lit up the stage. In another highlight of the night, Scarlet Adams, creator of Gender Blender, put in a surreal, eerie yet sexy performance that you couldn’t tear your eyes away from, starting under a translucent sheet before bursting out of it to rock the fuck out of the stage. Easy to see how this bombshell managed to win Miss Burlesque Australia in 2018 as the first-ever drag queen to enter the competition.
Gender Blender Burlesque 2 is a raucous night and a feast for the eyes, and Connections Nightclub’s stage is the perfect place for the festivities. The only let down venue-wise is that the back two rows of seats on the floor sit a few inches lower than all the other rows, making it hard to see which is a shame for a show where your eyes want to drink in every sassy sight.
Mention has to be made of the incredible lighting design and operator, who got to show off their chops when MC Ruby Slippers invited them to flex their lighting transitions from 90s New York stand-up to the inside of a lava lamp and every imaginable lighting state in between. It was heartwarming to see such awesome appreciation of the tech team.
MELISSA KRUGER
