Tarnished (FringeTIX)
La La Parlour @ The Umbrella Revolution
10:30pm, Thu 8 Mar 2007
Yay for burlesque! 2006’s most popular Fringe Theme is represented this year with the return of Tarnished, La La Parlour’s celebration of all things burlesquey. There’s a new word.
First up – most shows in 2006 that wore the “burlesque” tag had a healthy dose of circus influence; lots of stunts and tricks and risk and feats of strength. Tarnished doesn’t really follow that trend; aside from a few short whip, ribbon, hoop, and loop routines, the bulk of the content is theatrically derived. And that’s a good thing; the four girls of the La La Parlour know how to work a crowd, and there’s plenty of cheeky (ho ho) humour to be had – the (gorgeous) short redhead, Neridah Waters, proves a competent comic foil for the troupe, and naturally endears herself to the crowd.
My standout was the delightful Marie Antoinette slutting about in a cream cake whilst her maid cleans up behind her. This piece, of course, devolved into a bizarre pantie-zombie nightmare – very abstract, very avante-garde, very yum. It was also good to see the return of the angle-grinder-crotch sparkfest (I’ve not seen that for a few years now) – it really is quite a striking visual spectacle. The bubblegum sequences were also very unique.
Above all, though, Tarnished felt FUN. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and the girls look like they’re having fun onstage – and they make damn sure that audience have fun, too.