“The Big Reveal,” Jim Thorpe First Annual Burlesque Festival, Saturday, March 27, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Mauch Chunk Opera House (14 West Broadway, Jim Thorpe). Tickets: $28. Info: www.mauchchunkoperahouse.com, www.jimthorpeburlesque.com, 570.325.0249
One of the biggest misconceptions about burlesque is that, to some, the art form is often thought of as a form of stripping. However, if you talk to Michelle Gallagher, co-producer of “The Big Reveal” — Jim Thorpe’s First Annual Burlesque Festival — you will hear a different story.
“It’s an exotic art form that welcomes all shapes, colors, sizes and ages,” Gallagher explains. “It makes you think, and it makes you laugh.”
Joined by fellow producers Tara Kubas and Brooke AuBuchon, Gallagher — who as a child preformed on stage at the Mauch Chunk Opera House in local play productions — has worked hard with her colleagues in recent months with the hopes of making the upcoming burlesque festival a success.
“The most important part about the festival,” AuBuchon adds, “is that the ticket sales from the show benefit the preservation and renovation of the Mauch Chunk Opera House.”
“The Big Reveal” is a weekend-long event. With the help of local merchants, it will take place at various locations throughout Jim Thorpe’s downtown. AuBuchon, who will host the event as “Madame Corsetiere,” hopes the extra attention the event yields will help bring extra revenue to Jim Thorpe’s downtown in a time that is “not-so-great.”
Festivities will begin Friday night at 8 p.m. at Pepper Jack’s (located at 41 Broadway) for a meet and greet, and will end Sunday at the Mauch Chunk Ballroom for the “Burlesque Bizarre” — an event hosting vintage clothing vendors, artwork and risqu� lingerie. In between, those attending can also take classes in cabaret and magic.
The Mauch Chunk Opera House, where the main event will be located, is one of America’s oldest vaudeville theaters. Opened in 1881, the opera house was a regular stop on the vaudeville circuit and has hosted legendary performers such as Al Jolsen, W.C. Fields and Mae West. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, burlesque evolved as a working-class alternative to upper-class entertainment. Its popularity was fueled by exposing Victorian-era sexual taboos. However, the good times would not last. By the early 1930s, Burlesque began to fade in the collective consciousness as new forms of entertainment — and sexuality — emerged. Burlesque morphed into the striptease, while the more interesting artistic and creative aspects of the show disappeared.
However, by the mid-1990s a neo-burlesque revival was beginning to blossom with a new generation of performers such as Dita Von Teese leading the way. A major motion picture entitled “Burlesque” starring Cher and Christine Aguilera, is set to debut in November.
The performers in Jim Thorpe this weekend hope to keep the show contemporary while maintaining some of more the original elements. “These performers have taken the spirit of old-school burlesque and made it relevant by bringing in topics which are current today,” Gallagher explains.
With talent from Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Canada and elsewhere, the producers insist on originality and creativity. There will also be a local performer from Jim Thorpe joining the others on stage. “We are really excited to have found her,” Gallagher said. “She will be doing a politically motivated performance about war and peace as a tribute to our soldiers.”
Yet, according to Kubas, not everyone can do burlesque tastefully.
“It is really a celebration of the female form,” she says. “They are making a statement about the world around them and about themselves.”
When asked about the difference between burlesque and stripping, AuBuchon added, “It is not what you see. It is what you don’t see.”
Retrolovely.com, a magazine that is holding a pinup contest to determine which girl will be featured in its maiden issue in late March, will announce the winner of the contest at “The Big Reveal” this weekend. According to Gallagher, it is a move designed to cross-promote the publication and the festival.
“I love Jim Thorpe,” Kubas says, “so anything we can do to bring in more people, and business, and money to this town is fantastic.”
Although the outcome of the festival remains to be seen, Gallagher, Kubas and AuBuchon have been receiving widespread support within the community. After appearing in the recent St. Patrick’s Day Parade and getting more than 200 hits a day on social media sites like Facebook and MySpace, hopes run high as these women prepare for the festival.
“Everything has come together so seamlessly,” Gallagher explains. “We want to make it a sold-out show. We want to put butts in these seats.”
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