BrightestYoungThings: LiveDC: Burlesqu-a-pades @ Birchmere

all words: Rachel Eisley
all photos: Chris Chen

On Valentines day, an eclectic crowd flocked to Alexandria’s Birchmere Theater for the Burlesque-a-pades - a burlesque-cabaret extravaganza hailing from NYC, boasting an exciting and diverse show full of magical surprises and off-color humor. Burlesque-a-pades featured beautifully sexy ladies in glitter and pasties galore, with gloriously confident and polished showmanship. The host for the evening was Murray Hill aka Mister Show Biz, a fabulous individual who self-describes as the “hardest working middle-aged man in show business.” Of purposefully ambiguous gender and sexual orientation, Murray Hill kept the audience on their toes with charming vulgarities, frenetic self-effacing humor and hilarious slapstick comedy. The evening was scored by the Brian Newman Quintet, who lent comedic rapport to the evening while evoking 50’s hepcat crooners, their tight performance bringing another level of panache to the performances. Every aspect of the Burlesque-a-pades was titillating and glamorous, with ladies Angie and Helen Pontani, Maine Attraction and Strange Powers delighting the audience with sensuous, outlandish, energetic and sequiny performances and costumes. Every burlesque was more and more beautiful, especially one of Angie Pontani’s numbers in which she wore an elegantly sheer dressing gown evocative of a butterfly’s wings while dancing in bedazzled ballet point shoes. Providing comedic interjections, Albert Cadabra and Dangrr Doll provided mortal-injury-defying illusions worthy of the Coney Island Freakshow. The Burlesque-a-padeswas a Valentines evening to remember, the Birchmere a perfect venue to relax and literally feast, both ourselves upon dinner and our eyes and ears upon the exquisite entertainment.