LIVE REVIEW: First Time at a Burlesque Show? Spotlight Cabaret’s got your back
Prologue
The show is sold-out. The ceiling is lined with massive crystal chandeliers, but the lighting somehow remains moody. At the front of the room is a stage — only one small step up from the ground but further elevated by the plush red curtains that flank it and the star-speckled curtain behind. The curtain glitters red and blue by some form of magic … or by the hand of the magician in the sound and lighting booth, Aaron Mach.
Music blasts from an invisible source, emanating from the room itself. The songs exist somewhere between a 1920s swing jazz record and a 2020s lo-fi playlist. Very reminiscent of the music Jay-Z produced for the 2013 Great Gatsby film.
This is Bourbon and Burlesque at Spotlight Cabaret. Owners Aimée Beaudoin and Jeff Halaby host this event every Thursday night, but July 8 was special — the first Bourbon and Burlesque night since the many-a-shutdowns. People have been anticipating this; it’s obvious in the building murmurs from the many packed tables.
The night is separated into two acts with performances by three dancers: Cherry Munroe (known off-stage as Chantel Hutchison), Kitten Mansfield (Jamie Hudson), and Onyx (Sachi Keller) as the headliner, and for good reason.
Old Fashioneds are on special, but tequila seems to be the drink of choice.
“Get me a dry glass of wine … and maybe a shot of tequila,” says Onyx to the bartender. What I interpreted as a joke the bartender knew was not. He delivers a glass of white wine and a smaller stemmed glass with a shot of gentle-honey-coloured liquid. She throws the shot back and sits at the bar with her wine. I ask if she performs often and she tells me she has been doing it for 15 years collectively, between stripping and burlesque dancing. I ask if she still gets nervous. “Yeah, well, I’m still human.”
Act I
The lights dim, the music fades, and the hosts take the stage. The sun is still beaming outside, but you’d never know from inside the bar. The blackout curtains feign nighttime. I half-expected the police to bust in and confiscate my drink or to be ushered through a bookcase. Someone in the audience plays Yu-Gi-Oh! on their phone.
Beaudoin and Halaby start off with a Treaty Six land acknowledgement and recognition for the “POC and queer entertainers who have danced here before us.” Then, Halaby has everyone in the room raise a glass for his recently deceased mother, and then Mach blasts an airhorn.
Cherry Munroe is introduced as the queen of “dry humour and wet dreams.” She emerges from behind a red curtain at first wearing a pink shower cap and blue robe which she removes to reveal a brown set that includes a bra, underwear, garter, cape, and, as we later find out, nipple tassels! Munroe’s attire matches the theme of her song, which was initially lost on me. A version of Ginuwine’s Pony plays through the speakers, only this version was about drinking coffee and subsequently, or perhaps consequently, excreting it, unlike the original song which is simply about having sex. Munroe used coffee cups as props and poured coffee cream, which from the audience appeared to be shreds of paper but was apparently actual liquid, down her front. Munroe’s humour, commitment to the bit, and maintained sexiness saved her from her questionable subject matter.
Next, Kitten Mansfield performed burlesque for her very first time, but you’d hardly know it. Mansfield is also originally a professionally trained musical theatre vocalist and you’d absolutely know it. She sang and danced along to a song that pleaded with someone to please her. She wore an all-pink outfit that was reminiscent of a flamingo or, fittingly so, Sharpay Evans in High School Musical.
Throughout the night, Onyx walked by wearing different outfits and wigs and carrying various items whose use in this context could not be easily identified. Her first costume change was from her all-white pantsuit to a navy blue bathrobe, but when she took the stage (not before taking another tequila shot) she was clad head to finger to toe in disco attire, along with a red and black afro wig. Onyx is introduced as Miss Nude Canada and Miss Burlesque North America., and when her performance begins it is apparent that she is well-deserving of these titles.
Her dance starts with Superbad by James Brown and a great deal of clothing removal. This segment of her dance is funky and playful. She incorporates cape choreography, hair choreography, floor work (like doing the worm), and all with smooth charisma. The turning point is the removal of her wig to reveal long brown beach-waved hair. The song then transitions to a rock song. She wears a white fringe thong, and momentarily leaves the centre stage to grab her only prop for this act: a stripping pole on which she does a full routine. The audience is losing it, and Onyx looks like she is having fun. By the end of the song, she realizes that she forgot to take off her bra – but I think she was nearly the only one who noticed.
Act II
While the dancers prepare backstage, Beaudoin and Halaby heckle the audience. They target couples, all of whom make a joke about only being in their relationships for the sex. I wonder how many half-whispered arguments this incited on their rides home.
Kitten Mansfield opens this act. Her vocals are as impressive as last time and her choreography seems to be a little more inspired and rehearsed. She incorporates more floor, hair, and leg choreograph, and has worn more to take off, and under the hot stage lights, she must have been excited to remove her charcoal velour one piece.
Onyx walks by with oven mitts and a silver container full of … something.
Again, Cherry Munroe’s outfits match her song perfectly. She stands centre stage wearing a set made up of the same pieces as her last one, only the colour of this set matches her name. This performance is a juxtaposition to her last one. It is sexier and more serious. The combination of her two acts displays Munroe’s range. She looked incredible and did not miss a single beat. With her back to the audience, she takes a drink of something and when she turns around she has what appears to be blood dripping from her mouth. She smears it down her body and her last set of the night ends. It was not surprising to find out that she will be performing this one in the Burlesque Hall of Fame in Vegas.
The horror theme continues into Onyx’s closing performance. A song that sounded like Marilyn Manson filled the room. At the back of the stage sit a cooler and two pails of water. Onyx is wearing a fully rhinestone-ed cape, mask, gloves, and one-piece. When the music starts, she opens the cooler and what looks like smoke billows from within. The oven mitts make sense now; she was carrying dry ice. Onyx is the star of the show in every sense of the word. Her performances tell a story — this one was similar to the 2007 horror movie Trick-r-Treat (in a good way). She removes her mask to reveal vampire fangs, and blood begins to drip from her mouth. Beaudoin describes the second act as #Menstrual.
Epilogue
There are two main takeaways from this event according to me – a first-time Burlesque viewer: 1. The more you wear, the more you have to take off, and gloves are a must. 2. Comedy and burlesque are twin flames.
