by Rock ‘n Roll Ghost
#
UPDATE: Gorilla Tango Theatre’s smash zombie burlesque apocalypse hit, BOOBS OF THE DEAD: A WALKING DEAD BURLESQUE, is sticking around for a limited engagement of THREE additional performances: Fridays at 9pm, November 2, 16 and 23. Tickets are $20; www.gorillatango.com or 773-598-4549. Advance purchase HIGHLY recommended.
Gorilla Tango Theatre‘s newest production, Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque is a rousing, often times hilarious, very sexy melding of burlesque, parody/satire and old school horror theater. A bit ragtag, Boobs of the Dead takes its inspiration from AMC‘s The Walking Dead, twisting and condensing the show while satirizing it at the same time. Writer/director K Leo obviously knows this show (and probably its graphic novel source material) very well and does a spectacular job here.
Boobs of the Dead begins with an announcement from a CDC official (Paly Flames) about the current state of the outbreak and what to look for and avoid in the dead, or undead as the case may be. Flames is the highlight of Boobs of the Dead, delivering her lines (mostly) stoically, but to hilarious effect and with a knowing gleam in her eye. “One of the greatest dangers is that the infected show no visible signs of boas, pasties or high heels for the first 6 hours of infection… while they appear perfectly normal and super sexy they remain dangerous, and citizens should watch for these subtle signs and remain at a safe distance,” Flames states as the CDC official. As the show progresses, Flames’ official become more distraught, distressed and disrobed – much to the delight of the crowd and myself in particular. Flames is pretty damn sexy and cute, too.
Ahem. Anyway, the “sheriff” (Alexis Rex), wakes from a coma only to encounter the outbreak in full force. The sheriff grabs a horse with a really cute ass who takes her to other survivors, which include “wife lady” (Devyn Deviante, adorable), “best friend” (Helena Handbasket), “old dude” (Roxi La Rue) and “southern guy” (Slightly Spitfire). But soon the survivors are beset by Burlesque Zombie Alpha (Duchess Daffnie) and Burlesque Zombie Beta (Honey Cha-Cha, convincingly scary). To defeat the burlesque zombies, the survivors decide to disguise themselves as the undead. This infiltration leads to a dance number I should have not been surprised by, but was, and delightfully so (I won’t ruin it for you).
Besides Flames, the other cast member I want to highlight is Slightly Spitfire. From her accent down to her hilarious way of acting like a very butch, very crass, southern guy who secretly loves the idea of pretending to be a female zombie burlesque dancer, Spitfire was a lot of fun to watch. And there was just something about the way she moved that made her stand out from the rest of the cast. This is all personal preference I suppose, and it should be noted that everyone in the cast was fabulous, sexy and compelling individually.
The SRO audience hooted, hollered, laughed, clapped and cheered throughout the entirety of Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque. You too can see what got them all excited by getting your tickets now. Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque shows throughout October ever Friday at 9 PM and ever Saturday at 11:59 PM, with a special, final performance on Wednesday, October 31st at 9 PM. The shows this past Friday and Saturday sold out, so make sure to order your tickets ($20 – 18 and over) in advance by visiting GorillaTango.com/Zombies or by phone at 773-598-4549 now.
Boobs of the Dead: A Walking Dead Burlesque
Written and Directed by K Leo
Choreographed by Erica Reid
Costumes by Rafaela Valderrama
Featuring: Paly Flames as the CDC Official, Alexis Rex as the Sheriff, Slightly Spitfire as Southern Guy, Roxi La Rue as Old Dude, Devyn DeViante as Wife Lady, Helena Handbasket as Best Friend, Duchess Daffnie as a Burlesque Zombie Alpha and Honey Cha-Cha as Burlesque Zombie Beta.
Gorilla Tango Burlesque has locations in Chicago (1919 N. Milwaukee Ave.) and Skokie, IL (7924 Lincoln Ave.). The Skokie location is still showing Holy Bouncing Boobies!: A Batman Burlesque. The Empire Brings Sexy Back: A Star Wars Sequel will debut at the Chicago location this November.
