OK, I might not be the best person to review a show, I have issues! But reviews are always about a personal point of view, aren't they? So let me explain mine.
Since forever I find that shows are too loud. I don't know if I am too sensitive or if the worl has gone rather deaf around me... The phenomenon however already occurred about 20 years back in Berlin when I watched 'Cirque de Soleil'. The show was breathtaking, but my head had swollen to the size of an exploding star. It was the same when I watched 'Fame' in London a few years back. And that brings me to another issue: If I go to a show, especially in a city like London, I am expecting a blast.... and Fame was... well, ok-ish. I however have seen better shows by the entertainment team of my holiday club. And I don't mean that condescending; those guys were incredible!
So, here I am telling you about a London night out on the occasion of hubbies birthday. We both like burlesque, there are not a lot of shows of this type in London, this part of the world seems to be a bit squeamish, and when we found the 'HurlyBurly Show - A Contemporary Burlesque Revue' we of course had to go. Raising another issue: Squeamish is not a word that would describe me. My honeymoon location was chosen for the nude beaches and I have thrown my bra in photo shoots, so I expected quite a bit.
Travelling from Ipswich we arrived well in time, there are nice coffee places like Caffe Vergnano on Charing Cross Road just a hop from the Garrick Theatre. Picking up the tickets from Box office was straight forward as had been the online ordering before, and there we were sipping our drinks and waiting for the show to start. Interval was only 10 minutes so one could order and pay for drinks before, what was a good decision to have taken as otherwise one wouldn't have been able to go to the loo.
The theatre is on the small side, typically English, cosy and nice to be in, but we had booked rather late, all the good seats were gone, and I initially was worried that the heads in front of me would spoil the view, but I could see the stage perfectly well from seat R3 in the stalls.
And then the show started and all that I am writing now has to be seen on the background of the above: It was an entertaining show and we enjoyed it, but it was LOUD! And not just loud... the sound system was not very pleasing on the ear. Brass music went straight through the head like a power drill. Towards the end I had to hold my ears close and we may have shouted at each other on our way home with people in the train thinking: 'Oh well, typical old couple, a bit deaf already.' And that was how we felt, numb-ish humming in the ears for a few hours to last.
Performance wise I'd like to pass hubbies judgement: 7/10. The girls were good, especially one dancer was really inspiring, but I saw the DVD of the Crazy Horse Show with Dita von Teese and I'd say: 'They might take on that one dancer mentioned above, and then they would train her.' But my judgement might just be spoilt by the telly.
And finally the show itself. Again a hubby statement: 'I'd like to have it a bit naughtier'. See, there were a lot of naked rears, stringy costume and boobs with tassels, but we were missing the 'tease' bit in it. It was very much 'Revue' and not so much 'Burlesque'. We missed an arc of suspense going through the show. The numbers rolled one after the other, but except of the solo of the dancer mentioned above, which was quite at the beginning, I wouldn't be able to pick a highlight, and I surely wouldn't be able to determine a peak point of the show.
It nevertheless was an entertaining evening and the show is very watchable. If you don't want to get engaged in interaction with the audience, then don't sit in the front; the people who did, surely enjoyed it and there was a lot of 'whoohooing' and whistling going on. So people did have a good time!
For us the show was inspiring as we now decided to make show going our new hobby. We will get ourselves well fitting ear plugs, and off we will go into the London nightlife!
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