Lustre @ Ivory Blacks

Scarlett Fever is one of the newer nights on the scene, presenting the theme of Lustre to tease and titillate the compact and bijou crowd at Ivory Blacks.

Ivory Blacks is not the first venue which comes to mind for a burlesque evening – with the band cage at the stage and the dark and gloomy setting, it’s not the ideal choice to create a cabaret atmosphere; and four or five tables is nowhere near enough to placate a group where most of the audience have to spend the evening either standing up, or sitting behind a pillar. However, compered by the entertaining Baron Bartholomew Black the night soon gets in swing with the glitzy and expensively themed evening.

The lovely Miss Daiquiri Dusk and Miss Hells Belle are by far the crème de la crème of the evening – showing their professionalism and comfort on the burlesque stage with aplomb but there are far more amateur and new performers than the experienced. However, Captain Anchor was a vision of sparkles to match his incredibly strong voice and Miss Dancelicious (with her partner ‘Kenny’ – short for ‘Ah Kenny Believe It’) was a new face to the scene who shows some great potential through inventive routines pulled off with great style.

All the performers of this evening – including Miss V, Azure de Corum, Miss Electra Volt and Favourite Sin were all of a high standard, particularly for a new night but with burlesque and cabaret evenings being so popular, they might need something more inventive to pull out of their tassled bags.