Thread: The Cherry Pop Peep Show Review

Lulu Spanx Inc. debuted a new Burlesque event in Birmingham last night - and the short version of this review is that it was a good show.

First impressions have to be about the venue. When I think of rooms above pubs I normally have this vision of some grotty room and toilets that aren't fit for rats to use, let alone humans. The Cross does not fit into that stereotype - the room is dark but the quite spacious, with the stage occupying the corner of the L shaped room, good for viewing from all angles. The toilets are very nearly pristine and well decorated. In short Lulu has done her work well when it comes to the venue.

Naturally the venue alone cannot create a good show, that falls down to the talent on the stage. If you've been watching Lulu Spanx Inc. closely on MySpace then you'll know that the event line-up had some serious problems with two acts being forced to pull out at the eleventh hour due to reasons beyond everyones control. In the end the show came down to four talented performers who had to make the night - and they pulled it off.

The compere was Lady Beau Peep. She was a bubbly and charasmatic compere who played the crowd and had them clapping along at times. She may not be of the same quality as Imelda May - but then us Candy Box faithful have been spoiled - but what she lacks in range she makes up for with pure stage presence and enthusiasm. Without this energetic compere the night would have struggled despite the other performers, after all who wants a sandwich without the filling.

The Girl Can't Help It promoter and performer, Millie Dollar, started the night off with a charming and cute balloon dance. As can sometimes happen things didn't go according to plan, that damned sparkler just wouldn't light or stay lit, but rather than let it ruin the act the sweet young Miss Dollar intergrated it into the act like the true professional she is - getting lots of ahhs when it was going wrong and lots of cheers when it was working. The act succeeded because Millie worked with the problems, and it was probably more effective as a performance than had it all gone according to plan.

Diva Hollywood, the stand out performer of the night with no disrespect to any of the other talent, blew the audience away with her 'Evolution of Woman' routine. This performer not only owns the stage, she owns the audience - it's no suprise that the MoB have her on their books. The only other performers I've seen with her stage presence are Lilly White and Immodesty Blaize. I want to say more about this act, but I'd rather people went to see her perform live.

Poppy Von Tarte busted out a bizare act that had me in stitches. Dr When and Nurse When also shared my interest in the act - it was totally surreal. What we didn't know was that due to a long day and a last minute booking to replace Eva Braun somehow the wrong track got played for the act. Poppy had to add lib an entire act with all the wrong props and outfit. Not only did she manage this, she even managed to keep the audience engaged and laughing whilst no doubt having a performers nightmare. Poppy, you rock. :cooler:

The second half saw the same three ladies in the same three slots, first Millie with a graceful routine I think is called 'Ribbon Strip' - Millie is truely a beautiful performer. Diva followed her first killer act with 'The Widows Plight', a sleazy excuse to enjoy exploitation :twothumbs:. Finally Poppy got to do a horror based fan dance which was graceful and slightly leftfield - no meat and potatoes Burlesque from this lady.

Sadly the night ended all too quickly, but not before Lady Beau Peep busted out 'The Timnewarp' with Scarlet Fever, Dr When and Nurse When supplying some crazy audience participation.

I do hope that Lulu can put on another strong line-up come the 22nd of December. I feel that the event would also have benefited from being on any night other the the day before The Candy Box - despite having some of us Burlesque hardcore in the audience it also had a few casual attenders who decided to talk through Millies and Poppys 2nd acts. I feel that more Burlesque fans and less casual bods would be the topping on this already delicious Burly pie. And the event deserved more people than it got, even if the numbers were respectful for the first event of hopefully many.

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Gosh Gehenna thank you for such a lovely review you have made me blush, what a lovely write up to wake up to. It was a really fun night and I thought everyone was great. It was fun to hang out with you and Angel and I still can not get over Scarlet and her husband they looked amazing in there costumes, I will not let the cat out of the bag as they are wearing them tonight but so funny.
Hope you have a great time tonight I am going to have a very chilled Sunday very tired after the drive home and did not go to sleep till about 5 am this morning.
Diva x

You take it easy Diva, you sure earned the rest after your performance last night. I'm sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to you properly last night, we had to rush to get the last bus home.

On a final note, having seen you perform live I can honestly say that your MySpace videos don't do you justice. I really do rate you as highly as Lilly White and Immodesty Blaize. Cheers to Lulu for bringing you to Brum.

Well I can certainly agree with Gehenna Cherry pop peep show got off to a flying start. Diva was awesome she has such stage presence and Scarlet & I really loved the show. It was also nice to put a face to a name when we met Lulu spanx.Scarlet & I wish this show every success. Candee photography covered the night expertly and the photographs can be seen on Cherry Pop Peep Show on Flickr - Photo Sharing!