Reyna Von Vett and Michelle Baldwin are heading up a new burlesque theater in Denver with the hopes to bring back the great tradition that was born in the late 1800s.
“For the first time since the 1930s, a theatre is being built specifically to house burlesque, headed up by Reyna Von Vett and Michelle Baldwin. Von Vett partook in last fall’s acclaimed Leadville or Bust — a playful romp through 1880s burlesque (she also played Tanya for two years in the Las Vegas company of Mamma Mia!). Baldwin, a.k.a. Vivienne VaVoom, is the mother of neo-burlesque in Denver and creator of one of the first neo-burlesque troupes in the US, Burlesque As It Was.
Converting the space recently known as the Black Box Cabaret in the Denver Civic Theatre (721 Santa Fe Dr.), Von Vett and Baldwin aim to bring burlesque back while paying homage to the great tradition of burlesque that began in the late 1800s and all but disappeared in the 1960s.”
Burlesque Theatre Opens 3/13 At The Denver Civic Theater
Michelle Baldwin is the author of Burlesque and the New Bump-n-Grind, which is the perfect companion to my upcoming book.
I’m FROM Denver and I’ve never done burlesque there. You hear me, Michelle? I’m coming!!
– Jo Weldon
Jo Weldon is headmistress of the award-winning New York School of Burlesque and is a regular burlesque performer. Visit burlesquedaily.blogspot.com to read her daily blog.