Burlesque Upon a Time
Peaches and Gin. Nexus Cabaret – Feb 21 to Mar 5
South Australian based Peaces n Gin are a burlesque cabaret group with loads of potential, rolled into a sexy, sultry performance extravaganza. All that is required is the polish.
In the perfectly intimate venue of the Nexus Cabaret, the Peaches n Gin experience begins with introductions from M.C Rohan Watts, and singer Cara Brown. Bantering with typically low quality burlesque humor perfectly suited to the genre, they show us a little of themselves (Brown literally so in a beautifully busty corset) and warm the audience up for the performances to follow.
The theme is “A fairy tale” and the show begins with the opening of a story book, and the over worn phrase “Once upon a time…” Audience participation is encouraged with boo’s, hiss’s, ooh’s and aah’s at scripted points throughout the show which builds the mood and gets the room energized.
Dancers Luna Eclipse and Sapphire Snow are the main entertainment. Dressed up in decadent themed costumes they provocatively entertain their audience with cheeky, sexy choreographed routines whilst slowly removing their outfits to reveal their raunchy underwear and a range of clever and quirky nipple tassels.
Individually they are excellent, particularly Luna who really knows how to work her audience, but together they seem under-rehearsed with poor synchronicity and timing. Cara Brown sings beautifully, but is hampered by below average sound quality which is jacked way too high and causes constant feedback and bass rumbles. Watts is great as M.C when he lets go of his script and delivers from the heart, and his witty humor with Brown is often a show highlight. Cameos from David Salter as the handsome prince are standouts, as he hams up the acts and gives the audience a great laugh.
A director for this production would go a long way to alleviating a lot of the minor issues that stop this burlesque flower from blooming. Bucket loads of potential, a few more runs will hopefully see this cabaret blossom.
Paul Rodda
