Short review: Show marred by terrible venue choice. I cannot recommend a show where 90%+ of audience cannot see it. For all the wrong reasons you'll leave saying, "I wish I could have seen more".
Venue:
I have just come back from seeing the NYC Suicide Girls Blackheart Burlesque show. Unfortunately, like the majority of attendees, I left with more frustration than joy. The major issue was a horrendous choice of venue, it was at Le Poisson Rogue. Now don't get me wrong, it's a pretty nice place, clean, and it has two bars to get drinks at. Not a big venue by any means but I think you could pack several hundred people in there for shows. The problem is that it's a venue for music and not one for visual performances. The area is essentially one big room with a slightly elevated stage in the corner, not a big stage, enough for a full typical rock band and their instruments but not too much more. The first few rows of standing room only crowd block the entire view of the stage and everything on it.
The Blackheart show was certainly un-viewable for people in the back. Clearly a huge oversight by whoever had to choose the venue because the only people who truly got to enjoy those directly next to the stage or the really tall people (who by the way apparently ALL made their way as front as possible). At most 1/3 of the people stayed until the end, many people gave up quickly in trying to watch the show over a mountain of heads. I am not a short person, I had a decently close spot and could see only bits of the show. It was extremely disappointing because time when someone was either on the floor, sitting, laying down, or bent over it was certainly impossible to see (outside of first and second row standers). A shame because I love a good booty but couldn't see any at the show. The saddest part about that is so much of the effort and hard work put in by the dancers goes completely wasted since 95% of the audience cant' see it.
The Performance:
I really liked the performance. It was fun, it was sexy, and it had a lot of energy in it. The choreography was exceptional with a fantastic mix of traditional burlesque dance, modern club dancing, and some gymnastics. The women of course are gorgeous and super sexy. I really have a lot of great things to say about the performance and the wonder ladies involved but I'm just so bummed out right now about not being able to see it in it's entirety and give them a truly accurate review.
One flaw from the dancing though was the extraordinarily high amount of reveals done on stage right. It felt like the vast majority of reveals were done stage right, leaving stage left and even the middle stage feeling left out of the fun.
My favorite dance sets:
1) Thriller
2) Planet of the Apes (Dr. Zaius) *hooray for Simpsons references*
3) Sailor Scouts
