Miss Fortune, the eponymous and mysterious purveyor of burlesque show The Beautiful and the Damned, has several things to answer for.
As a novice to the burlesque scene, I came with open eyes ready for a performance that nodded to the decadent roots of the cabaret scene. I expected a feast of sparkles, feathers, garters- and a lot of skin. Whilst there were sparkles, feathers, and even more skin than I had bargained for, I left feeling slightly let down by the performance. I had expected to be transported, to be seduced by stories and the power of the female body- and instead all I saw was a fairly amateur production that lacked the magnetism and raw energy a burlesque show should possess.
It may have been due to the venue (upstairs in what is by day a restaurant) that didn’t help to add a sense of authenticity. It might have been the sparse audience who were reluctant to participate in the ladies advances. But I think it was that the performances seemed cliched and farcical, with stories that could have been aptly cheeky in different hands, but that fell short of the descriptions of ‘the Beautiful and the Damned’ trope that attempted to be weaved throughout the show.
Two of the performers, one from the UK, and local lady Leopard Lass, were hidden gems in the rough presentation of the performance, alone offering the originality that complemented their sensual acts. Leopard Lass is an independent burlesque dancer with her own sideshow in Glenelg, something I would happily recommend.
The Beautiful and the Damned was more the latter than the former, a performance with moments of raw power and seduction, but too few and far between to make it worth seeing.
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