Schlong and dance, tits and arse, Blanc de Blanc is a champagne themed burlesque that's basic as a beer hall.The Studio at the Sydney Opera House has been transformed into a tacky Tiv, a faux facsimile of a Moulin Rouge for a show that plays more like a Rooty Hill RSL hen's night than a presentation at this venerable venue.
Bubbles and fizz, blue jokes and objects pulled out of fannies, sets the tone of the show punctuated by fizz of the physical type.
Show opens with the strains of Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and a spotlit ritual of pouring a glass of champagne by pseudo suave sleazy French speaking MC, Monsieur Romeo. He has a sidekick, Spencer, unsophisticated but quite a mover and less coy about getting his tackle out.
Romeo modestly keeps his knickers on as he retires to the Jucuzzi to indulge his love of bubbles, but not before he hosts a suggestive opening of a champagne bottle with a female audience member.
All this frippery and fill cannot dull the thrill of the physical bravura of Masha, acrobat and aerialist who does a limber act with a lobby luggage trolley, puts herself through the hoops, and gets wet and wild in an aquatic erotic duet.
And contortionist, Shun, makes like a human pretzel with some pretty impressive implications.
Blanc de Blanc is a cocktail of the supple and unsubtle – at intermission your champagne flute may be serviced by a strap-on champagne bottle. At base it's a celebration of human anatomy, its form and function and physique, the sensual and the sexual, hedonism and discipline.
A tricky tacky guilty pleasure.
Strut & Fret Production
BLANC DE BLANC
Directed by Scott Maidment
Venue: Studio | Sydney Opera House
Dates: 7 January – 28 February 2016
Tickets: From $69
Bookings: sydneyoperahouse.com/blanc | 9250 7777
