A couple years ago I was watching the hot series, HBO Real Sex and the episode’s theme was essentially “erotica as performance art”. A group and venue based out of New York, the Blue Angel Cabaret was featured and it blew me away as incredible and unique like no form of dance I had ever really seen. The show consisted of several different acts, each performed by a different performer. Technically, these “performers were erotic dancers, for they did tantalize the audience with the gradual, seductive removal of their clothes, but to simply call this a strip show would be doing it a great injustice. This amazing show I saw on HBO Real Sex was more of a sophisticated, erotic technical performance that just so happened to consist of nude women. I was impressed and vowed to look into checking it out if I ever had occasion to visit New York.
Well the occasion popped up a little while ago and I looked into the erotic cabaret performance. The website showed that the group had changed a bit- the dancer with a snake and the other with neon glow body paint were no longer- and they now called themselves Le Scandal. However, the HBO Real Sex reference was listed as well as a few other great quotes from newspaper sources and I was thrilled. This performance, which, even better, was only about ten bucks, was set up to be the latest underground discovery to haunt the New York art and sex scene and I was actually going to see the real deal that was shown on one of my favorite shows. How fabulous.
I couldn’t have been more wrong, though. With my two friends who I had enticed into accompanying me, hyping it up immensely, I showed up at the NYC Cutting Room and entered into the performance setting in the back room. We were not greeted with the professional ballet- like stage and dinner theatre tables that had been shown on the sold out HBO Real Sex show. Oh no, instead the stage was low, and so were the ceilings, and the haphazardly placed tables and chairs (which were cheap and made me visualize the room as a shady gathering spot for late night pseudo mafia people smoking cigars) all made the room claustrophobic and cheap looking. Definitely not what I expected. But still, I didn’t give up hope, for the woman walking around like the manager was the mother figure interviewed on the HBO Real Sex episode. But then the door closed, and lights dimmed on a crowd of less than 15 people and that’s when I started to realize that the Blue Angel Cabaret wasn’t really as hot as it used to be. Instead, it seemed that this amazing underground erotic extravaganza was really just a recital for the real entertainment world starring a few awkward dancers and a very out of place (and impervious to exhaustion) 40ish year old magician. Let it be noted that she did not attempt to disrobe, which was probably a fortunate thing.
It was interesting to watch, though, I’ll give it that. It might’ve just been entertaining because of the anticipatory anxiety we had while sitting there wondering when the crazy underground performance art strippers were going to appear, but at least I can say that the excited, anxious feeling never went away since they never did show up. So no, Le Scandal, or the Blue Angel Cabaret was definitely not what the HBO Real Sex episode or the website implied it would be, but it was still a fun night out and something different to do for once.
The Le Scandal show consisted of several acts that almost touched the line of risqué but didn’t quite make it fully there. I would say there were about seven different performances and they were all dances with sexy clothing. And with the exception of one individual, all the dancers did in fact wear stripper-like garments, but nothing more than nipples underneath a wet white t-shirt was revealed and the girls did not solicit money while they were onstage. They did, though, solicit tips after their performances, which made for a very awkward situation when my friends and I, by default (because the room was so empty) were seated in the first row, practically head to head with their knees. We ended up tipping exclusively the person we liked least because she made us feel the most uncomfortable. But looking back, I’m glad now that we tipped and I wished I hadn’t gone into it with this huge elaborate showcase in mind because really all of these young women were clearly amateur artists who were working this once-was theatre job to earn some extra bucks and hopeful recognition until they could get their big break. And judging the show from that knowledge standpoint, I applaud them, for their efforts were steadfast and their dedication, obvious. Come to think of it, I actually think I might go see it again. This time of course preparing myself for a B, even C rated entertainment but a showcase of performers whose auras and personalities, if similar to before, will, if nothing else be inspirational.
