The Brag

Here’s a chance to see some international burlesque royalty live on stage: Miss Polly Rae and her Hurly Burly Girlys are bringing their acclaimed stage show from London’s West End to Sydney this January. The “non-stop pop erotic cabaret” features the all-singing, all-dancing Miss Polly and six Girlys, putting the vamp in re-vamp as they cover recent and classic pop from MJ to Rihanna; the show is as gorgeous to look at as the ladies, under the keen eye of director William Baker (the man responsible for Kylie’s gold hotpants and Britney’s Circus tour design).

What is your pre-burlesque background? Prior to discovering burlesque I was a beauty therapist and worked on cruise ships and cosmetic counters for several years.

How did you first get into the scene? It was a very random move into the world of burlesque! I had always wanted to be an entertainer but never found the right path or had the guts to go into it full throttle and because I hadn’t had any formal training I was put off. 7 years ago though I had got to the point where my attitude became ‘if you don’t try you will never know’ so I quit a job in a department store in pursuit of fulfilling my dream. I took classes I singing and dancing, I sang in bars and at weddings, went to auditions and even did Bollywood dancing but nothing really stuck until I discovered a burlesque course at the dance studio. I was besotted with the art form instantly, as an artist it was so perfect for me. It was an opportunity to create something fun and unique using the skills that I already had so with a group of friends I put a troupe together, we did our first show at a cabaret club in London in April 2006, 6 years later I am working with the creative team of my dreams and doing the show in Sydney. It’s amazing!

How did your beauty-bar days help with the performance side of things? Training in make-up and hair has certainly done me a lot of favours as did the Bollywood dancing. As with, Burlesque, Bollywood is all about character, personality and facial expressions so that is where I learned to ‘give good face’!

The global neo-burlesque scene is thriving and incredibly diverse – where do you and the Hurly Burly Gurlys sit within this spectrum? The show is classic and neo burlesque, circus, variety, pop, vaudeville and comedy. It’s hard to describe it but think Gypsy Rose Lee meets Lady Gaga, Crazy Horse meets Madonna – an erotic pop cabaret show.

What are your signature routines? My favourite is a song called ‘It’s Not About The Tits’, which was written by Terry Ronald and Steve Anderson. Inspired by a monologue by Gypsy Rose Lee, it is a hilarious skit about an interaction with a window cleaner who is curious to know what it is like to be a ‘stripper’. This act culminates with a classic fan dance, which is my signature piece. Another stand out moment in the show is a performance by the Hurly Burly Girlys to a fantastic rearrangement (by our Musical Director Steve Anderson) of ‘Physical’ by Olivia Newton John. The girls sing the song on fitness balls complete with sweat-bands and Adidas nipple pasties. The choreography by Australia’s very own Ashley Wallen is genius.

Who are you performance inspirations? Madonna, Gypsy Rose Lee and Jessica Rabbit.

And where do you draw costume inspiration from? We take inspiration and influence from so many places; burlesque, vaudevillian and Berlin cabaret, the worlds of erotica from fetish to pin up, from the originals Betty Page, Gypsy Rose Lee, Lily St Cyr to Lady Gaga and Madonna, Fellini films characters from history etc. Me and my amazing director William Baker (best known for his work with Kylie Minogue) share the same vision and are consistently inspired by the same things.

An Evening With Miss Polly Rae And The Hurly Burly Girlys runs from January 5-15 at the Factory Theatre, Enmore.