What Is Tease-O-Rama?
The dictionary defines burlesque as "a witty and mocking celebration of vaudeville entertainment" — a wry, tongue-in-cheek performance with a little sex appeal thrown in. There was a time when stripteasers were starlets: bawdy yet refined, these glamour girls strutted across the stages of the most opulent theatres in America draped in sequins and furs, making headlines on par with Hollywood sirens and driving fleets of Cadillacs dyed to match their poodles. The sexy thrill of their performances was rivaled only by the kind of talent and showmanship that’s sadly long gone from the grinding strip shows of today.
From the sleazy bump n'grind of New York City’s first burlesque theatre, Minsky's Winter Garden on the Lower East Side, to the exemplar of the undraped live female form as art — Florenz Ziegfeld's 'Follies' — burlesque always offered a little something for everyone. The new burlesque incorporates playful eroticism, comic theatre and performance art — dressed to the nines in fabulous and fanciful costumes — to join the glamour of the past with the energy of the present. Since 2001, Tease-O-Rama has been bringing new and old burlesque performers together for one blowout weekend! Tease-O-Rama is keeping the saucy showmanship alive for a new generation of ardent fans with a bawdy history lesson that's not to be missed.
Tease-O-Rama takes you back to the days when the tease outweighed the sleaze — when Blaze Starr, Tempest Storm and Lili St. Cyr shocked, titillated and teased theatres packed with sophisticated ladies and gentlemen in evening dress.
