More Than 70 Performers Converge on the Beachland for 8th Annual Ohio Burlesque Festival

Bunny Buxom

Thu 8/2-Sat 8/4 @ 8PM

If you were to ask the indefatigable Bella Sin, founder of the Ohio Burlesque Fest as well as Cleveland’s longest-running burlesque troupe Le Femme Mystique, what the highlights of this year’s 8th annual festival were, she’d start to rattle off names until basically she was telling you “everything.”

More than 70 acts are booked to perform over the three nights at the usual location, the Beachland Ballroom. While Thursday is dubbed the “Rock & Roll Opener,” Friday the “All-Stars” night and Saturday the “gala,” you could pretty much call each night an all-star gala that rocks and rolls.

Some of the performers will be familiar to local audiences. Slightly more than a dozen are local, including such regulars at Le Femme Mystique shows as Georgia Pearl, Bee Awkward, Samantha Echo, Noella Deville, Dottie Comma, Miss Holly Grail and Sin herself who is one of Friday night’s headliners. Others hail from all around the country: San Francisco, San Diego, Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Washington D.C., Savannah, even Canada (Montreal and Vancouver) and Panama, making the festival truly international.

Miss Holly Grail

But that’s only the beginning of the diversity that makes this event so special. It’s one of Sin’s missions and driving passions to represent as wide a spectrum of performers as possible: racial, ethnic, gender and sexual identity, body type. That diversity includes a range of performance styles, with both old-school and contemporary burlesque, graceful dance-based acts and humorous slapstick ones, acrobats and drag queens, artists who embody glamorous vintage movie stars and others whose acts contain poignant and serious messages.

The uninitiated should be prepared to have their expectations of burlesque shattered. These performers, the cream of the crop, pour time and resources into creative acts that often involve extravagant costuming, extensive props, intricate choreography and well-developed concepts like mini-plays.

Devon Ayres

A good place for the beginning to start is Thursday’s show which is less overwhelming and packed with performers than Fridays or Saturdays but still — 18 acts, including headliners, Columbus’s Devon Ayres and Minneapolis’ Tre Da’ Marc, bringing the “boylesque.” Ryan Clopton-Zymler emcees.

Comedian/college professor and author of LGBTQ Cleveland Ken Schneck emcees Friday and Saturday. He’s a familiar presence at the shows and skilled at amping up audience excitement to a fever pitch, as if the acts themselves weren’t enough. In addition to Sin, who brings the flavor of her Mexican heritage to the stage, “Violet Vamp” Nox Falls of Amarillo brings her self-dubbed “naughty body” to the stage.

Dahlia Dulce

Saturday’s show is the one for folks who just can’t get enough burlesque, with 30 acts on the bill. Headliners are New York’s Bunny Buxom (pictured, top) and Mineapolis’ Dahlia Dulce.

The evenings also feature an entrance hall packed with booths and displays from the festival sponsors which include the Maria Neil Art Project, Fears Confections, In the 216, Retro Rosie, the Alex Theater at the 9, Mi Amore Salon, Savant Gems, Destination Cleveland, Bossy Girl’s Pinup Joint, Yelp! Cleveland, Velvet Hearts, Jakprints, Expressions Fitness and Sub Par Studios. And, in recognition of the unique offering it brings to Cleveland, the OBF has been given yet another proclamation by the city.

Tickets are $20; a three-day pass is $50, which comes out to about 68 cents per performer, quite a deal!

ohioburlesque

Bella Sin

 

Cleveland, OH 44110

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