Citizen Staff Writer
Culture
OTTO ROSS
ottoross@tucsoncitizen.com
At the Art Culture Partnership building, half-dressed ladies in fishnets sprint back and forth dancing and doing cartwheels until they can hardly breathe.
Following the display, a man called Horrace the Horrible firmly tells them that their kicks in the can-can weren’t high enough and that they need to show more of their bums when they flip their dresses up.
Welcome to the risqué and wild world of the Cabaret Boheme.
“I wanted to start a troupe that was something different than what Tucson had, and the sky is the limit,” says Cindy Blue (Peaches VaVoom), founder of the Cabaret. “We can do anything you can imagine onstage.”
Cabaret Boheme is an adult-themed vaudevillian group that performs a wild array of bawdy acts including burlesque, singing and dancing routines, sketch comedy, stand-up, even magic shows on occasion. Many of the performers participate in a number of different acts and are even responsible for writing their own sketches and, in some instances, their own choreography. This idea of a multitalented and creative collective is exactly what Blue had in mind when she started the group.
“I wanted to create more of a vaudeville variety show and incorporate anything we could think of,” she says. “Any specialty that any of my performers have, we want to emphasize that and allow them to do their thing and give them a place to do that.” As a result, audiences can never be sure what Cabaret Boheme will do next. From Sarah Palin sketches to provocative and sexy dances, no two acts are alike.
The troupe will perform Saturday at Le Petit Carnaval. The group has tailored its acts to fit the French theme of the festival. The troupe will perform sexy “Moulin Rouge”-style dances as well as numbers from the show “Cabaret.” The vocal pieces will be sung in French or will be French songs such as “La Cage aux Folles” and “La Boheme.” This concept of tailoring shows for particular occasions is the future of the group, says Sofia Blue, Cabaret Boheme performer and producer of the Le Petit Carnaval.
“I would like for us to have sets that are ready to be brought to people in different venues. We’d like to branch out and offer entertainment that’s ready to go for corporate parties or festivals and at the same time have those core sets that are ready to go.” While the troupe will tone down the adult content of its show at the Carnaval, don’t expect members not to have any fun at all, says music director Horrace the Horrible.
“It’s nothing horribly crude but at the same time there will be a lot of innuendo and scantily clad women, and men. I have my shirt off a lot so, there’s something for everyone!”
IF YOU GO
What: Cabaret Boheme performing in Le Petit Carnaval, a celebration of French food, music and art.
When: Saturday
6 p.m. – Street performers outdoors. This is the free part.
6 – Lobby is open with food, art vendors, games, and live action nickelodeon theatre.
7 – Show opens with Cabaret Boheme
7:30 – Le Chat Lunatique
8-8:15 – Cabaret Boheme
8:15 – Marvelle
8:45 – intermission
9 – Cabaret Boheme
9:15 – Marianne Dissard
Where: Fox Theatre, 17 W. Congress St.
Price: $22 general, $42 V.I.P.
Info: www.foxtucson theatre.org