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Which, after all, was what it was, not a show I'd choose to attend, not my cup of tea, but the ole wingnut had expressed interest, wondered if Olivia Newton John would show up for the premier, he's awfully interested in the lives of celebrities, paying undue attention to The wedding in the Royal Family, ridiculous gossip, salacious, scandalous, it's as if he gets all his news from the tabloids, it's all part of his keeping himself well informed...
Anyways, with the wing-nut as my wingman we head on down, I'm sure I've become somewhat notorious for the company I keep, big black dirty cotton gloves on, a bright teal golf shirt over top a full length undershirt, people must think I'm his caregiver, and having to leap in, block him from grabbing the chocolates off the tray and pleading that he thought they were all samples (he does this merely to stir the pot), and enough about him. The audience, about 90% female, a few supportive male companions dragged along under threat of their relationship, it's a sold-out show, the cast, the show, well, there's a lot of applause, lots of singing, some good, some bad, some moments shine, others not so much. But chances are if you'd made it down, bought a ticket, it was your cup of tea and you loved it...
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Which was the 3 hour long Burlesque show in Nelson. Which I can't rate highly enough, because nowhere else in the world would you see something like this. The support of the audience, the utterly off-the wall acts, the enthusiasm for every act - regardless of gender, persuasion, age or body style. And, like the last theatre production I saw here, completely off-the-wall, over-the-top batshit crazy, and an audience ranging in age from 20 to 80 and everyone enjoying themselves like it's the most normal thing in the world. Easily 30 or more performers from as far away as Calgary and Seattle, all for a $20.00 ticket. It doesn't get better than this - you might get a more finished play or performance, but never would you get the absurd and outrageous acts - that generally were the hits of the show - the same process that "finishes" theatre too often finishes it in the other sense, takes off the edge and makes it bland and homogeneous. Not here, not by a long shot. 5 Stars.
This place is Paradise.
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I missed a "Beginners Guide to Nelsonia" at the Capitol Theatre, so I sent a couple of Friends from work in my stead...they said it was good. I could imagine, even if you weren't funny there's just too much material...
So, when on Sunday night the chance came up to see Shirley Gnome at the Royal, of course I leapt on it. I knew nothing about her, but I was needing my monthly dose of alternative ant and theatre...
She was good. I mean, I knew nothing about her, it was a walk-in blind situation, standard Nelson show with a smaller talented musical act first, followed by a burlesque show (always the burlesque, everyone in Nelson is dying to take off their clothes for an audience), followed by Shirley...
Look her up on YouTube. A fine nights WTF entertainment, Charming, Over the Top, another evening perfectly suited to the local tastes and climate.
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And, Friday, after the girl's leave, I'm back in town after cleaning up the guest-house to see the burlesque.
It's like the other plays I've seen here - completely WTF, politics, sex, every-other-act out of left field, there's no cohesive whole, but - at the same time - it's great.
It's got the support of the entire community.
I've been to the same event's in Calgary - they tend to draw the same crowds - uniform, kinksters, swingers and wife-swappers, here it's different. It's everyone. And I identify better with everyone than I do with the specialty niche groups. If I'm at a Gay Bar I want the eclectic crowd of straight-gay-kink-confused-etc. Being at a Gay Bar filled with nothing but homosexuals has no appeal whatsoever. This event wins, if only by it's inclusiveness.
The acts, WTF, I make one minute videos of each of the intros, don't record too far, only want to tantalize, send them to the boy to show him what he's missing. He's missing out for sure.
The first few acts, the thicker gals, then the slender ones - there are abundant beauties here, and the acts, varied, comic, sexy, the diverse sizes, the "inclusiveness" - regardless of my own tastes, it makes the event a win-win. And the audience, always the audience, they're supportive in volume and applause like you'd never see in the big city.
This is great. I'm sad the boy couldn't be here.
(waiting for the show to start, the gentleman in the top hat is an audience member dressed up...just in case they need him...)
The show goes, good couple of hours, there's the kinkster's here for sure, there's a woman from yesterday at the hot-springs with the daughter, she was then with her husband and child, today she's here with her black lover (and I watch carefully, yep, I'm not misreading this), but there's everybody else as well. Normal people. Cultivated people. Artistic people. Articulate people. Common people. And herein is the value.
***
The burlesque ends, the bar begins shutting down, it's only 12:30. The doorman(Woman) - A friend of a friend, I buy her a drink, it's all shutting down, we move on, to Finleys - the redneck bar - smoking on the patio - this is good, a hot summers night, on the patio, cigarettes allowed, where else? And we chat.
She's homeless as well. She's a variety of housesitting gigs in town, she takes me to the first - an artist, his studio, furnished with artists shit, inspirational props, I have all of this, not exactly the same but close enough, same-ish-ness, deja-vu, I know him without meeting him. And then to her other place, where she'll sleep, an arts apartment above Baker Street, and, looking around, I know this as well, know the tenant without meeting her by her furnishings and books, we drink, chat, she lifts her shirt, pulls down the side of her trousers to show me her tattoos, offers to let me sleep over - tempting, she marks the invisible line down the bed, but I find her attractive and this invisible line, I won't respect it I know, not sure if that's the point, we've both had a few, but it's better to be cautious and I'll catch up with her again when I've a place of my own...
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Tonight, the choice was between the Valley - play, "A Midsummer's Night Dream", and dinner with the cult. I was all for the cult, there was going to be dinner, blessings, then after music and dancing, shit, I wanted the cult...
...the boy did too, but his friend, well, he was a bit leery. And so liberal democracy is thwarted yet again by the conservatives...
We end up driving into the valley - "A Midsummer's Night Dream", playing at the Vallican Whole. We're optimistic, after last night's "WTF" we're pretty excited about how much more "WTF" we'll get here.
It's community theatre. Everyone in the audience - maybe 100 people - they're related to - brother, sister, mother, son, daughter, father, husband, mother, wife - somehow to a member - or several - of the cast. And there's a lot of "in" jokes, laughter at things we wouldn't get, we're not in with, we don't know the community.
It's a bit of a buy in. A lot of a buy in. Like with - if you're following this from Calgary - "Front Row Centre" Players - the people who did the "Big" musicals again at the Pumphouse Theater. The productions - they were enthusiastic, but amateurs. The same. But here, the audience goes wild. It's great.
And some of the performances - well, they're worth it. And others - well,...but the enthusiasm, the general appreciation from the community, it overrides all tastes and prejudice.
The first act ends, go outside, have a cigarette, chat to a couple of the locals, it's amusing, this, funny, we're laughing at the cultural disparities, the fact that such a family oriented production has such obvious product references to the local currency.
Try this in Calgary. Even with liquor. The boy knows, it wouldn't fly. You'd be getting letters to the editor, unwanted features in the papers, arrested, it would be "NO".
Here they're all in on the joke. The joke, well, you know it if you're reading this, and if you don't I won't explain. The sun is going down, the play ends, the theatre is roused to ridiculous applause - and, were there a green room, we'd be staying - there's interest, there's beauty and personality, this would be the best "Green Room" in the country, I'm sure, but there isn't and the boys are hungry, want to return to the hostel to eat and then go out clubbing so we drive off into the sunset, 30 minutes or so back to Nelson, the long shadows of evening promising further adventures. I love this place.