Have you ever seen a burlesque show? You’ll get a chance on Friday when a traveling band of entertainers from Cleveland known as the Red Hot Heathens brings its riotous act to Suzy’s Smoke Room in downtown Mansfield.
What is burlesque? It’s a form of cabaret featuring musical numbers, bawdy humor, striptease and often some “sideshow” novelty acts.
American burlesque flourished from the late-19th century onward. Its popularity waned in the mid-20th century when flat-out sexual exhibitionism replaced titillation, but recent years have seen a revival in the form as audiences have latched on to the old-fashioned glamour and rowdy sense of fun.
I spoke with Red Hot Heathens founder Aurora Sans and asked how her troupe of performers fits into this tradition.
“I hate to categorize it,” she told me. “I guess we’re neo-burlesque, but if it was up to us we’d call ourselves ‘outlaw’ burlesque. We’re a different flavor.
“‘Classic’ burlesque says you can’t use this word or talk about that, but it doesn’t matter to us. We don’t care what the standards are, we’ll do something ridiculous just to get attention.
“We play corner bars,” she continued, “dirty punk bars, you know? We’ll perform anywhere, not just in theaters.”
So how would you describe yourselves?
“Raunchy. We’re like – what’s that phrase from Hooters? You know about Hooters, right?”
I told her I had a passing familiarity with those establishments.
“Well, ‘delightfully tacky, yet unrefined’ … that’s us.”
Fancy costumes?
“Yeah, but let’s just say … some of my costumes have been made out of PBR boxes. My thing, it’s classic rock. I do Alice Cooper numbers. For this show I’ll be doing AC/DC and ZZ Top.”
Aurora’s other influences include John Waters, Hunter S. Thompson and Benny Hill.
“By the way,” she added, “that movie Burlesque (with Cher and Christina Aguilera)? We’re nothing like that.”
So who else is in the group?
“There’s Foxy Moon, and Ooh-La Lola,” Aurora told me. “And our man Inferno Joe – he’ll be bringing the sideshow act. He does the shock ‘n’ awe. Staples and mousetraps.
“And there’s the Reverend Booze McKoot, who unfortunately can’t be with us on this trip. But he’s really an ordained minister, you can put that down. That’s his real title.”
I asked Aurora how she first got drawn into the burlesque scene.
“It started about seven years ago,” she told me. “I was going through a divorce and I just wanted to do something completely out of my comfort zone. I was scared (to death) to begin with, to be honest, but now when I’m onstage I can say anything or do anything. I’m a different person.”
Aurora told me she started out with a troupe called Le Femme Mystique Burlesque before branching out on her own with the Red Hot Heathens.
“Back then no one (in Cleveland) had done burlesque shows in rock bars, it was just in gay bars. At the time I’d been working as a local music promoter, working with bands and promoting shows, so we capitalized on those connections.”
From the early days, the group’s “house venue” has been the Richland Cafe in Lakewood.
“They took a chance on us,” said Aurora. “They let us take over an otherwise quiet Wednesday night. And it worked out.”
Six years later and with countless shows under their belt, the Red Hot Heathens are an established part of the local scene. I asked how they compare with the other burlesque outfits.
“I would say we’re respected but not necessarily well-liked by the others.”
How come?
“Because we do so many free shows. And that doesn’t always go down well with the other groups.
“But for us this isn’t a career. We have day jobs. This is our hobby, our outlet.”
In fact Aurora (not her real name) is an accountant by day who has just completed a business degree – and her co-workers have no idea what she does on stage.
“And Lola?” Aurora told me, “Lola’s a lab tech.”
Inferno Joe?
“He’s something in quality control.”
Am I right in thinking at the beginning you were putting on a new show once a month?
“Yeah,” said Aurora, “and let me tell you, I have no idea how in the hell we did that. I mean, yeah, we were producing a different show every month. With full-time jobs.
“(Burlesque) was still a novelty in Cleveland back then. The place was packed on a weeknight and often I’d get by on about two hours of sleep before turning up for work the next day, barely sober.”
Aurora explained that their themed shows at the Richland Cafe last about 90 minutes and consist solely of their performance. Their road shows are a little different.
“We have a band open for us,” she told me, “then we come on and do a middle set, typically a group number and individual acts. I usually MC and perform as well. Then the band comes back for a closing set.
“We’ve played places like Pittsburgh and D.C.,” Aurora continued. “But we really like to go to places where there’s no (burlesque) scene.”
The band coming to Mansfield will be the “Appalachian Punk” group Scoliosis Jones, another Cleveland fixture who this summer will be opening for surf guitar legend Dick Dale at the Grog Shop.
The group features an old-style stand-up bass, and they play just the kind of kick-ass rockabilly that will have Suzy’s jumping alive amid the swirls of cigar smoke.
As if this wasn’t enough, the Highway Hellions car club from Ashland will be bringing some of their fine automobiles to display out front before the show.
It’s all happening at City News/Suzy’s Smoke Room at 100 N. Main St on Friday, June 2. Festivities start around 7:30 p.m.
Oh, you lucky people. I keep telling ya – the fun just never stops around here.
http://www.redhotheathens.com/
https://www.reverbnation.com/scoliosisjones
http://www.highwayhellions.com/
