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9 Comments

culture

Dinner With a Side of (S)ass

At Les Coquettes dinner cabaret, pastries and pasties can both be enjoyed. And are.

By • Photos by Corbin Smith


“This is a professional theatre company, but it’s not like a Mirvish show. We’re gonna show you our tits!”

So began the second installment of Les Coquettes burlesque troupe’s Speakeasy dinner theatre series on Monday night, housed in the exposed-brick fortress of Little Italy’s Revival bar. It seemed appropriate that the event be held there, in a century-old former Baptist church. The sage old space served well for an evening of scintillating song and dance, lending architectural dignity to what mistress of ceremonies La Minouche (a.k.a. Les Coquettes’ artistic director Catherine Skinner) cheekily dubbed “our combination of dinner and titty.” And at tickets up to $85 a pop, both dinner and titty deserve to be packaged in a classy setting.

Of course, there’s nothing inherently unclassy about burlesque, despite what some of the more prudish among us may presume about the performance art.

Striptease is certainly a centrepiece of any burlesque show worth its salt—or its sequins—and Les Coquettes prove that showing some skin takes real artistry. The women and men who took to the stage are solid performers with undeniable song and dance chops; cabaret patrons may come for the scantily clad dancers, but they will certainly stay for the talent.

The 90-minute show that followed executive chef Christopher Woods’ expertly prepared menu (and it should be mentioned that Christopher Woods once cooked for Morgan Freeman) included singing, dancing, and even aerial acrobatics; not bad for a weekday night on the town. Special musical guest Big Rude Jake, a bluesy 1940s throwback on acoustic guitar, warmed up the crowd before and between dance numbers, which included meticulously executed routines running the gamut from sexy tango to sultry ballet.

But sexy and sultry never turned sleazy, which is the beauty of burlesque done right. In an art form more about the tease than the strip, the draw is in the nuance. And Les Coquettes have (pardon the double entendre) nailed it.

Comments

  • LadyMac

    The music, food, and Les Coquettes were all incredible!

  • Neifile

    Do not go to this show. The woman who runs it rips on people she hires to do design work for her. The show is trashy at best.

    • Minouche

      As Neifile has clearly stated, this show is NOT for babies. It’s recommended for adults only, of course.

    • Sjfbarnett

      Other than Les Coquettes being a fabulously put-together show, with amazing choreography and attention to detail, I’ve found everyone in the troupe professional and fun to work for. Learn how to treat your clients and they will learn how to treat you.

    • http://twitter.com/JamesWoodsMusic James Woods

      I’ve been to a couple of Coquettes shows, and they’re a class act: sexy, funny, and original. I frequently recommend them to other grown-ups. :)

  • Walteratyourservice

    I have seen anumber of Les Coquettes shows, and enjoyed them all, the hard work and rehearsal are all evident in the quality of the work. I have also had occasion to work with the company, helping put together the events outside of the show, and have always been treated with respect. But then I believe you get what you give!

  • MrsMcCullagh

    As a self proclaimed Les Coquette Enthusiast…I have been to a number of shows and thoroughly enjoyed every single one! Minouche, your Mistress of Ceremonies is witty, inviting, captivating, and sexy-as-all-get-out! The women of the troop are talented beyond words and never cease to amaze me and my husband with their every growing bag of tricks! And the man props….OHHHHHH the Man Props! Handsome and Manly…with just a touch of their very own kind of sASS! I can’t say enough about these hard working ladies and gentlemen. You must see a show!!!

  • lilone

    I can’t say enough about the Fabulous evening spent at Les Coquettes Speakeasy!! the venue was beautiful, food expertly prepared and delicious, Hostess, La Minouche was stunning, funny and captivating, the performers were professional, talented, and presented the perfect mix of fun and sensuous that all ended too soon for me.

  • TheBeaver

    The issue with this show is not in the professionalism or the participants, rather in the people who run the show. The service at the shows are terrible as they hire untrained wait staff that bumble around, dropping dishes and clattering plates. From an industry point of view, the service side is run poorly at best, and I am pretty sure that that 99% of the wait staff cannot hold more then one plate, also seems that who ever is calling orders in the kitchen is an amateur at best.

    If these people are serious about putting on the perfect show they should really hire people who know what they are doing, I imagine this sort of “speakeasy” show lasting maybe another couple of months, its a limited audience in Toronto for this type of show, The Coquette shows ust to be something special, now its just another bad Toronto show with no imagination or guile behind it.

    I will refrain as well from going into the perversion of the people that run the show, they lead questionable lifestyles, but I will leave that for another day.