For those that are close to me, you might have heard me mention a burlesque show is in town, the Empire Strips Back, and this weekend I had the chance to go and watch said show. Here’s a review of it, kinda.
First thing first, the sound guy deserves to be shot and quartered. The bass is cranked way too high for the speakers at the innovation theater u can hear it peaking out and becoming garbled for some of the songs.
The songs were somewhat disappointing. For a nerd attracting show, u’d think they will put in some actual efforts to get a few original pieces that reflect the Star Wars theme. Instead it just has, like, 90s to 2000s pop slop for the most part. It was funny that the only song that caught my attention was a “Rage against the machine” cover during the intermission, and “sabotage” by the Beastie Boys by the end.
As for the show itself, I am not a connoisseur of burlesque shows so I can’t really give it an accurate rate. I am not big into theatre either, so this is kinda problematic. But here goes nothing.
Structure. For a parody of a movie, u’d think it has more structure, but instead it’s just a bunch of individual pieces and an MC in-between to stall the crowd so that the crew have time to prep the set pieces. Idk what I was expecting but I was thinking like family guy parodies more.
Also, I was extremely upset when he asked what’s ur favorite star wars character and I screamed “99” — and he did not acknowledge me. Mfw everyone just doing Jar Jar or Luke. Only the real fans know the clone troopers.
The dances are alright. Besides one scene, I think this can definitely be made into a PG13 show. Idk what I was expecting, but it was kinda luke-warm.
The set and stage leaves much to desire. I think they had, like, maybe three? I feel like I’ve seen some of our club productions w better set pieces overall. Like, these set pieces are done professionally, sure, but it doesn’t help that it’s the only set piece on stage. Piss city might have amateur sets, but at least it fills the stage. The rest of the dances essentially just had lights to back them up for strip back. I think wee village had more props than the strip back, tho I guess it kinda makes sense since the production value isn’t the main attraction here?
Anyways, I guess I’m just saying that in comparison, piss town was more worth its money than this show, and some of u know I have some strong feelings about the plot of it. But I guess, in a way, I have to give strip back a break, since the last time this show toured was in 2019. Idk what happened in these few years between, but I guess they probably had some setbacks. I wish I saw them in their prime so I can give a fairer assessment in a way.
Bonus review from gf: “没腹肌的男人光膀子一律属于耍流氓” which roughly translates to “girls were hot, the Asian guy that did han solo was not ripped enough to be that confident w his shirt off.”
