Busta Nutcracker

On Saturday Ming, Kyle, Matthew, and I went to see Busta Nutcracker, A Burlesque Parody at the Southern Theater, put on by the Wicked Wenches Cabaret, which does productions and burlesque classes.  Kyle and I had backed the production on Kickstarter and each received two tickets to the show as part of our sponsorship.

We had dinner at Vic's first, at Riverside.  I've never been there before when it wasn't full of frat boys and really annoying MBA types.  But apparently that's just in the spring and summer when the deck is open for drinking.  In the winter it's full of those of Malaysian heritage who don't realize their Groupon is no good on a Saturday, and Baked Alaska taste testers.

I enjoyed Busta Nutcracker much more than the Suicide Girls event we went to recently.  The theater is much more conducive to viewing than the standing room only at the Varsity, and the connected plot is just more fun, even if the dancing isn't quite the same quality.

Here's the stage.  It changed once or twice to host the various fairy dances - Clara and the Nutcracker's thrones replacing the bed.  Unlike in the productions I've seen in the past, Clara crawls all over that couch a bit more provocatively.  My father posted a message that my sister and niece were at the Nutcracker too!  When my sister asked I told her we were near the dancing pole on the right (just outside the frame on both sides of this photo), at which point she realized we were perhaps at a different Nutcracker.

There were some great parts.  I thoroughly enjoyed the part of the Nutcracker where the Nutcracker leads everyone in a tassel dance. Hilarious and energizing.  Hussy Hautepants was an excellent dancer with a 50's Vargas girl vibe.  And Dazzling Di'Vine, who's apparently from here in my hometown, made for an excellent German beer woman in a bit that featured dancing glasses of beer coming out from under the skirts of Mother Gin (it wasn't like that when my daughter did the same part as the beer for ballet).  I also liked Mz. Vixxxen's ballet (on pointe?) dance where she was a bit S&M and possessed Clara such that whatever she did with her hands Clara did with her legs.  A clever bit of burlesque.  The dance of the marijuana fairies by Oopsy Daisie was a bit strange, but they were obviously trying to keep the show light and fun.



The program...


Kyle and I both show up as Kickstarter contributors.  There was a good turnout.  They sold a lot more tickets than there were Kickstarter backers.  The Southern was packed.


The cast of Wicked Wenches.  They do an Oz and Disney themed production as well.  They may be our new alternative to Best of the Midwest Burlesque now that it's folded.


And a bit of the program explaining the first part of the plot.  You can see that Clara is forced to dance...repression is just inherent in the system.