Review: Burlesque reveals real talent

Vixen Vamp Darlene Mohekey surrenders to the "hands all over the place" treatment at the Blue Baths newly-opened Comedy Cabaret - It's A Quack-Up! Photo / Supplied

Burlesque has come to the Blue Baths and Rotorua's nightlife is all the better for it.

This show is a delicious melange of everything that makes showbiz showbiz. There's glamour, there's glitz, there's a heady musical mix, laughs by the bucket load, a touch of pathos, colour, outrageous costumes, inspired lighting and an illusionist trickster who has even the most cynical pondering how could this possibly be?

It's a heady mix that has heads spinning.

Under the direction of the multi-talented Rima Te Wiata, the company of five's delivered exactly the "BAM factor" show notes reveal she aimed for.

It was no easy task when she picked up the challenge to coax cabaret comedy from a cast who, with one exception, were unknown quantities to her. After a scant four-week rehearsal period they've done her, and themselves, proud.

Vibrant as the show is it would be a pallid parody of Vaudeville circa the 1930s without its body-defying choreography, the work of locally born and bred Taiaroa Royal, who made such a name for himself in the ground-breaking dance companies Limbs and Black Grace.

Whatever contortions he's demanded of the team they've delivered.

Has there ever been anyone more camp than Mr Lola Illusion aka Ian Harman? Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, would die for a brush with his sequins and tail feathers.

As the vixen vamp Darlene Mohekey has become a Blue Baths regular, this is her third show in the venue, working the room with seasoned assurance.

Toss in multi award winners actor/vocal impressionist, Jason Chasland playing Buster, Tainui Kuru as Aldolpho and Nomi Cohen (showgirl Rosie) and this is a crew who return the music hall genre to its rightful place in entertainment, that's entertainment with a capital E.

Jill Nicholas

-On Saturday an Our People special will turn the spotlight on Taiaroa Royal and reveals how Rotorua gave him his entree into the world of dance.