Review: Teeth, tits and tease at the Hurly Burly Show

The Hurly Burly Show brings something, fresh, sexy and glamorous to the West End, with hilarious theatrical moments and jaw-dropping costumes throughout.

Burlesque has been rising in popularity since the 1990s and is now pretty well established – especially in London. The Hurly Burly Show bravely brings this slightly taboo art form out from the small niche clubs of Soho into the bright lights of the West End (OK, geographically very close, but 100 miles away when it comes to your standard West End musical).

Hurly Burly draws on perhaps the most popular form of burlesque naughtiness. The vibe is very much 1930s/40s jazz and blues and the sexiest bits of old-school Hollywood glam. In a nutshell, it’s about tits, teeth and the tease. The way the girls take their clothes off is far more important and far more interesting than the fact that they’re taking anything off at all.

The only male of the cast is the foxy Spencer Day, a hunky Utah-born crooner with an impressive background of jazz singing and songwriting. The Hurly Burly Show is his West End debut, and besides an understandably nervous start with the opening number, his freshness, sincerity and naturally captivating voice is a true pleasure throughout. When he speaks as well as when he sings. I’d go to see him in anything.

The undisputed (and rightly so) ‘Queen of Burlesque’, Miss Polly Rae, is often centre-stage in this production. Her presence is unmistakable – sexy, fun, naughty, with a great voice and faultless rapport with the audience.

Other highlights include a slapstick balloon popping striptease dance, a sex kitten-come-fire-eater-come-contortionist and a good dose of pop mash-ups – from Kylie to Madonna to Pet Shop Boys and Rihanna. These joyful musical numbers give Hurly Burly a great contemporary kick. A ‘naughty nun’ scene with a fabulously delivered jazzed-up, slowed-down version of ‘It’s a Sin’ from Polly, and a stunningly delivered Marie Antoinette scene complete with guillotine will give you plenty to write home about.

However the highs of this racy musical journey aren’t as plentiful as they could be, with a fair sprinkling of dull moments throughout. Some bits just don’t quite get the laughs, and with so many nipple tassels on show, sometimes the ‘tease’ gets a bit boring.

But this is a ‘review show’ – the scenes are separate and each one is a story on its own. Although this means Hurly Burly lacks a plot and story, it isn’t really meant to have one. With so many separate scenes, some are bound to be better than others.

When Hurly Burly delivers (which is often) it more than makes up for the bits that don’t quite work. With so much bare female flesh on show you’d be excused for thinking this was a show to entice armies of heterosexual lads to the theatre. Far from it. The mixture of retro, camp, sexy and kitsch will surely give this production a strong gay and lesbian following.

The Hurly Burly Show is at The Garrick Theatre until May 1st 2011