Revisiting Lili's Burlesque Revue

As you all know, the Sex-Kittens visited Lili's Burlesque Revue back in July. This last Friday night was a special occasion. John Gordon was in Minneapolis and it was his birthday. Could I let John visit the Twin Cities and not take him to Lili's Burlesque Revue? Of course not! Could I let this opportunity pass to celebrate his birthday? Of course not!

As we were sitting beneath the infamous (this became a joke with the Sex-Kittens -- and Libby even tried one) “Moose Drool Beer” sign outside the bar next to Lili’s Billy the Jack spotted us, gallantly kissed my hand, and invited us into the showroom.

In the intervening months, Nadine Dubois has only got better. She flirts with the audience. She banters. I tried to claim to be a burlesque “virgin” but she caught me! She lets us know that we are to get rid of our inhibitions and urge on the performers. After all, if we don’t appreciate the talents of the lovely ladies, they just might not treat us. Of course Frenchy, Travis Merchant and Tom Lewandowski are still the excellent house band. This night we were treated to the talents of Lady Luck, Jean Bardot, and Sweetpea. Kiki LaBelle was this evening’s chanteuse. She came into the audience, sat on laps, including John's, and wrapped her boa around him. We were also treated to the talents of Robert Dante and his "whip tease". During the intermission he did a short show outside displaying whips that were too dangerous to use inside. His rhythm and the crack of the whips is a very exciting sound.

Nadine still amazes me with her second act opening. She sings to just the drumming of Frenchy. The interaction of her voice and the music of his drums is incredible. Lady Luck treated us to a charleston strip and Jean Bardot presented us with the classy lady who goes bad. And Nadine has added a new delight to her performance: Nadine does an extremely sensual strip. Sweetpea still amazes audiences with her first act closing of managing to strip while keeping a hula hoop moving. I still can’t figure out how she does it. Sweetpea was also premiering a new act on this night. John was absolutely taken with the nimbleness of her new act, which included splits.

I must say, though, that John was the hit of the evening. Just before Sweetpea’s closing, Nadine called all those with special celebration on stage. Had I made arrangements in advance? You can bet on it. And Nadine promised me they would call out the "big guns." And she did! Besides John, there was another birthday celebration and an anniversary. All four were called on stage. They were contestants in a shimmy contest. The guy can shimmy! He can shake it both above and below. And he was egged on by both the performers and audience. After the show, I was in the rest room and overheard a couple of the women exclaiming how good the older guy was.

Following the show, we got an opportunity to talk with Nadine. They will shortly be moving to a larger room that will hold 150 people (just across the hall). The room was filled Friday night and I am happy that they are growing as an entertainment venue in the Twin Cities. John said it’s too bad they can’t travel to England. He thinks they would be a hit there.