Manhattan Strip Clubs: Operetta Burlesque!, The Slipper Room, New York

Opéra Français de New York made its daring debut with a production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette back in 1988. Since then the company has mustered over 30 productions, some fully staged, some not so fully, most stylish. The prime guardian of Gallic virtue has been the conductor Yves Abel.
Although still listed as music director, Abel was significantly absent on Friday when the Francophiles embarked on an intriguing camping trip to the Lower East Side.
Labelled Operetta Burlesque!, the event was billed as a “musical review that combines traditional burlesque with timeless classics of French operetta”. Good – or maybe bad – enough.
The locale was a relatively seedy dive called The Slipper Room, normally a mecca for boozers who savour cabaret acts and old-fashioned strippers (wholesome teasers who favour pasties and G-strings). No problem. After all, Jacques Offenbach himself held forth amid the demi-mondaines of his Théâtre des Bouffes Parisiens. Vulgarity can be its own reward.

See the full article from “Financial Times”

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