Dear Miss Polly Rae,

It is with great pleasure I write to applaud your delectable evening at the Sky City Theatre on Saturday 21 January, I hope you don’t mind but I jotted down a few of my intimate thoughts, do let me know what you think xox 

A gorgeous selection of costumes adorned the divine Miss Polly Rae and her five delicious Hurly Burly Girlys.  Akin to the likes of the world famous Crazy Horse of Paris fame and reminiscent of a live Kylie Monogue extravaganza, the evening was slick, tantalizing, glamorous and well rehearsed.  The selection of fantasy worlds were delightfully accompanied by a clever selection of music, awash with pop/rock references and plenty of tongue fully in cheek, raunch! 

The night flowed from the juxtaposition of an English convent to the cherry blossoms of Japan to the dark corners of nowhere we had been before. We are taken to the eighteenth century; a world of corsets and powdered cheeks, where Marie Antoinette reigned supreme, all a thrill of lace and French cut knickers. It was a universe of costume highlights. We had been around the world and aye, aye, aye!!! Of particular note was the ever so pretty (and I hear quite famous) feather routine, where like a rare exotic bird, Miss Polly Rae sung and fluttered with grace and poise.

There was a refreshing subtlety to the announcement of parody throughout the show. Transition to three of the Hurly Burly Girlys on Swiss Balls, adorned in 1980’s G-string sensuality, singing a slow version of “Lets get physical!!”  I have seen this attempted before by others overdone, over delivered, but this time, my god it was funny.  To my relief the parody wasn’t milked to death and we were relinquished of the awkwardness I have almost come to expect at certain moments during a burlesque show. Thus giving the audience space to enjoy, permission to really laugh and to reference their wildest imaginations and fondest of memories.

Filled with detail, intricacy and beautifully directed, the evening flowed seamlessly.  A far cry from the usual format, that can often feel, well, foreseeable.   By contrast we were seduced with a selection of well-paced and well-timed unpredictability.  Did we expect the sailor with his back to us, slowly stripping away his crisp white navy uniform revealing his tanned muscular back, to turn out to be a hot blonde? Most certainly not.  Could we have anticipated the hypnotic stage presence of the only male in the show, Arian Levanael, to be a mastery of hoop and silks, so effortless, so accomplished and well, so damn sexy in leather and then in sequins?  Possible only in our dreams…

There was a constant theme of naughtiness sometimes sprinkled, sometimes flaunted over the stage.  The magic of the naughtiness was mastered simply when the wizardry of theme, mixed with a clever soundtrack and stellar delivery, cast its spell.  One such moment was Kitty Bang Bang’s solo, “If you don’t want to F@#* me then F@#* off….” Literally a blaze of fire breathing, sass and a hot devil-may-care confidence she eats us up and spits us out and we love it!

 Miss Polly Rae was indeed a most indulgent host allowing us to feast on her palate of delectable nibbles and talents.  Her fantastic chaise lounge solo where she phones her lover singing to him “I’m Bad” in a sexy jazz-tempo rendition of the Michael Jackson classic, deliciously licked head to toe in blood red sequins. Delicious! Her candid conversation piece explaining the art of Burlesque to the window cleaner, declaring “Its not about the sex, its not about the tits its about the……….” Well you get the picture, its art, its glamour, its tease and it really is quite scrumptious Miss Polly Rae.

Whilst this time around it was a one night only show, Miss Polly Rae and the Hurly Burly Girlys are welcome back… Anytime! I hope they do return, because whilst we could debate the authenticity of Burlesque in this particular (or for any particular “Burlesque” show for that matter), I didn’t really care for the slinging of quotes or the unearthing of definitions.  Ten minutes into the evening I dropped my notebook and simply enjoyed and enjoyed some more.  After all it was all in the name of good clean naughtiness that Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girlys kept the crowd of burlesque lovers thoroughly entertained and teased, just so. 

Well done Miss Polly Rae and thank you for showing us how it’s done!

Yours faithfully,

 Megan Smith

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