 |
Welcome,Member Center | Log out |
|
Welcome,Member Center | Log out |
|
Hot stuff: Burlesque is back in MinneapolisContinued
from page
1
"There's nothing better than knowing you helped a 70-year-old woman find a whole new appreciation for her boobs," Dupree says. Medical adhesive is the most reliable fixant, Dupree says. Still, wardrobe malfunctions are a hazard of the trade and the women delight in describing how they covered themselves with the flick of a fan, feather boa or hat. Around them, female performers in all shapes and sizes arrive in the crowded backstage dressing room pooped from their day jobs, reviving as they slip into their alter egos. "We basically make enough here to support our expensive habits -- the feathers, the beads, the costumes, the shoes and stockings that get ripped," Dubois said. So why do they do this? "I have power when I'm onstage," said Lady Luck. "Yeah, it's sexual power, but I'm in control. I look at the audience and see people with their mouths open. It's wonderful to be desired." The work is fun. The talented cast is close. And Dubois has found she's a master at engaging the audience. Her zaftig body is far from perfect. Yet feeling beautiful in her own skin has been surprisingly liberating. "I wasn't even a girl who would wear a swimsuit in public. Now I feel confident the way I am, not that I have to change into some skinny little thing." Dubois recalled one woman who came to the show with her emotionally abusive boyfriend. For years he had berated her as ugly and undesirable. In the middle of the show she turned to him and said, "I am so dumping you. None of the women up there is perfect but they're stunning. And I'm that person." All the right moves Clothes come off slowly as dancers warm up the Minnesota crowd. Sinewy CoCo Dupree, the embodiment of what the Harlem Renaissance must have been, is a pro at the steamy side glance and excruciatingly slow move. Soon she'll strip to pasties and stockings. But for now she toys with the audience, taking a five-minute song to slip out of her dress, stripping no further than a corset. "That was the G-rated piece," Dubois teases Nate. "I have a lot of experience and I might just have to take you backstage." A blush spreads from his collar to his hairline. But Nate is a good sport. After several drinks, he catches a boa thrown from the stage, smiles goofily when Dubois perches on his lap, buys her a tequila and lopes up onstage to drape the boa around her. Finally he slips a tip into her purse. "Thank you, Nate. I'm glad you got it that I'm not going to bend over for it," Dubois says. Nate is the first to shout out naughty words to Dubois's fill-in-the-blank burlesque song. "I could end the song there but I think you guys deserve more," she says. Nate's eyes bug out as Dubois finally opens her black peignoir, revealing black garters and stockings. She drops the gown. With shoulders moving she gets the sequined pasties spinning in opposite directions. Suddenly she motions for Frenchy to still his drum. "Let's talk," she says solemnly. "Let's talk about a few months ago when my parents called and said, 'Honey, we're coming up to see your musical show.' " The audience gasps. "No, no, you don't understand. My conservative, Republican parents from South Dakota came. And I forgot to tell them I was stripping." Her parents sat in the front row as Dubois maintained her professional, er, demeanor. Afterward her mother asked, "Oh, my God, where did you learn to twirl those things like that?" Her father tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Oh, honey, I've changed her diapers. I've seen a lot worse than that." Kay Miller is at kmiller@startribune.com.
|
Search |
|||||||||||
Copyright 2005 Star
Tribune. All rights reserved.
feedback|terms of use|privacy policy|member center|company site|company directory & contacts
company jobs|advertising information|newspaper subscriptions & service|eEdition|classroom newspapers
425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488 Map|(612) 673-4000
If you go: Lili's
Email this story
Print this story