Page Two T
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Wednesday, February 23, 1972
Uncovering the strippers in Detroit
By MARTY PORTER
The Burlies are all closing
down. Yes, you heard me. Those
same theatres that kept our
fathers busy on free afterndons,
that produced some of this
centuries greatest comics, and
that were once labeled as "Amer-
ica's only true art form are be-
ing run out of town by those
sleezy-modern-day topless wait-
resses and stag films.
Of course the purist w o u 1 d
say that the burlesque died a
l-ng time ago, along with the
G-string, but this still marks
the end of an era; the end of
an American institution no mat-
ter how much it has changed. I
remember nostalgic tales of W.
C. Fields juggling plates on
sticks and of that lovely Anne
Coriostrutting elegantly, pur-
ring innuendoes, and making
millions dribble with every jolt
Gypsy Rose Lee
of hx pelvis. It was with the
intent .of paying homage to a
dying art, the art of the strip
tease, that I decided to go to
the National Burlesk Theatre in
Detroit. It was reputed to be
the last true burlesque show in
town and was advertised as
such:
LIVE AND ON STAGE
IN PERSON
MISS CHILI PEPPER
for men with tired blood
*Added Attraction
Jack Hayes and Frenchie
Continuous daily 10 A.M. to
* 12: midnight
See all the girls on the
illuminated run way
The ad was accompanied by a
licentiously posed, unclad, Dale
Evansish stripper.
Sandwiched in between vacant
stores, peep shows and b a r s,
stands- the. National Burlesk
Theatre. Its bright red neon sign
lights up the otherwise dark and
deserted street. I quickly paid
my three dollars and slid into
the theatre. I could, imagine the
"good old days" when the thea-
tre was clean and busy. Today it
is run- down and pervaded by a
foul odor.
I asked for the manager and
was directed upstairs where I
was greeted by cigar smoke and
a beer belly pertruding from the
corpulant frame of Mr. Clark
the theatre manager.
"The-burlesque isn't dying, it
is on its way back. The movies
are gaining a lot of ground but
they are not here to stay. I am
trying to bring back the good
old days of burlesque. You are
probably too young to :emember
them," he said.
No sooner did my mouth open
with a second question than he'
added, 'Listen kid, I'm busy,
I'll try- to be around all eve-
ning, go down and enjoy the
show." I noticed the string of
pictures of his kids and wife
that lined his desk. I wondered
what his kids told their friends
that their father did for a liv-
ing. With this idea in mind I
entered the near barren thea-
tre.
The only customers sat in the
front few rows. My eyes rose
from the bald heads in the front
row to the bare bottom on stage.
ly silent audience began to re-
spond.
"Give us more Frenchie," yel-
led a voice.
She was playing peek-a-boo
with the glaring eyes of the front
row. Her long finger nails trac-
ed the lines of her legs as she
motioned an invitation to t h e
audience. No where was there
the imagination, the humor (ex-
cept if you consider imitating
a man masturbating humor),
nor the grace, that had charac-
terized the strippers from Gypsy
Rose Lee to Blaze Starr.
"That a girlFrenchie," some-
one yelled. Someone was ob-
viously enjoying her act and
she smiled and responded with a
final spread of her legs.
Frenchie snuck to the corner
of the stage where she began to
torment an old man who was
clutching his coat to his lap.
She would give him his very-
own-special peek and he would
lunge for a grab. This was not
the tease but the taunt. She was
torturing this pathetic old man.
His final lunge was accompanied
with a loud and futile grunt. The
stripped laughed as she slid
across the lighted run way. The
heads of the front row fan club
sunk low to get an unobstruct-
ed view. -
"Thank you ladies and gentle-
men;" squawked a broken voice
behind a mike. "The National
Burlesk Theatre would like to
remind you that on March 10
we will be proud to present Miss
Busty Russell, size 56, seeing is
believing."
Some man let loose an afbig-
uous, loud cry of relief. T h e
thought of a woman with such
bovine characteristics turned my
stomach as the rest of the show
unraveled.
Raw sides of beef with dubious
names such as 'Vanilla Wafer",
and "Modesty Blaze" paraded
across the stage; sprawling bit-
ing air (this common action was
supposed to be sensuous), ca-
ressing their naked limbs, mo-
tioning towards the goo-goo ey-
ed varicose veined constituency,
sliding fingers, wiggling bottoms
and clutching breasts. I won-
dered what had happened to Miss
Chili Pepper. Maybe she would
put some life in a so far dull
and unerotic show. The stippers
continued to waddle, and writhe
to some wretched music.
INTERMISSION.
I decided that this would be
the best time to ask Mr. Clark
some more questions.
"Business isn't bad," he said.
"Detroit is like a ghost town
at night, but are are doing OK.
Our crowd is usually kids and
single men during the week and
couples on weekend." W h e n
asked what steps he is taking
to bring back life to the bur-
lesque, he answered, 'If you no-
ticed the billing, I have brought
in a comedy act, just like the
old Minsky days . . . go down
and take a look."
On came Jack Hayes and
Frenchie the codemy team. Jack
was a pruned, worn out, left
over from the old burlesque days.
He still wore the sloppy shoes,
polka dot coat outfit that char-
acterized the old burlesque com-
edians. Unfortunately his mater-
ial was crude, unimaginative and
of the general caliber of sixth
grade bathroom jokes. T h e y
were filled with "tee-hee" sex-
ual insinuations and scatological
references.
Jack: I gotta go Frenchie.
Frenchie: Why Jack?
Jack: I just discovered exlax
is not a candy.
Mixed applause from the aud-
ience.
The entire routine revolved
around the theme of -Frenchie
and her magic dildo,
"Bet you are not that big,"
laughed a voice -from the aud-
ience.
This moldy act was delivered
with the proficiency of comics
that infiltrated the Ted Mack
Comedy Hour for so many years.
"The sad thing about t h i s
crowd is that they actually think
DIAL 5-6290
ENDING THURSDAY
SHOWS AT:
1:15-3:45-6:15-8:50
FEATURE AT:
1 :30-4:00-6:30-9:00
>. .
, -
HEn
0IRFAE
this routine is funny," whisper-
ed Jack.
I guessed that this was the
best time to ask one of the
strippers s o m e questions and
walked to the dressing room
where I soon spotted Frenchie,
fully dresed and still toting her
platinum blonde wig. Her face
was iced with think pink powd-
er and each of her features was
outlined like a Roualt watercol-
or with dark black grease. Be-
fore she could slip away I asked
her is'-she considered herself to
be an artist in the tradition of
Gypsy Rose Lee, Margie Hart
and company. She answered with
a brisk, 'yes," as she rushed
to the street.
I guess she deserves to make
as much money as she can be-
tween shows and who was I to
interrupt her. I suddenly heard a
deep voice yell, "What do you
think you are doing here?"
Without turning around I rush-
ed into hiding in the dark thea-
tre. To my surprise they were
showing adult movies.
I sat confused for a few min-
utes, recalling Mr. Clark stat-
ing that the movies were on the
way out and that he wanted to
clas this theatre up a bit. I
resigned myself to my fate and
sat around and watched an hour
of sordid sex play. The first film
was rather simple in plot. Girl
has trouble removing her pink
tights, Girls has trouble remov-
tights over her feet, Girl finally
gets off tights, Girl starts to in-
vestigate the many mysteries of
the female form. The dialogue
was extremely simple - it con-
sisted mainly of assorted grunts
and groans.
The second film was in better
condition had greater plot depth,
and was more of a cinematic
challenge. It was about a hus-
band and wife who start their
morning with sex, fill their day
with sex and end their day with
sex.
The husband seduces bis secre-
tary (or did she seduce him? Oh,
well, it really doesn't matter),
while his wife is galavanting
with a group of lesbians who
induce her to work and sell her
well formed body with silicone
treated breasts after being ad-
dicted to and tripping on t h e
"killer weed." But all's fun in a
days work and hubby and mom-
my return to each others arms
in an elliptical ending.
When the movies vere over
I decided to make a last val-
iant attempt to find that mys-
terious and still absent M i s s
Chilli Pepper. I entered through
the dressing room door and was
immediately accosted by that
some deep voice, "I thought I
told you to scram." I had seen
enough of the Burlies and quick-
ly decided this would be the
appropriate time to leave.
S* * *
I had seen the Burlies with
its strippers, comedian a n d
adult films. It was nothing but
a program of depravity catering
to the pathetic minds of unde-
manding men. I hadn't see Miss
Chili Pepper nor had I seen the
dying institution which had been
my intent. Any similarity be-
tween the show that was present-
ed at the National Burlesk Thea-
tre and the traditional burlesque
is coincidental. And any a t -
tempt to revive the burlesque
is either an excuse to rational-
ize live and crudy nudity or
mere necramancy. The Burlies
are Dead. Sing: Requiscant in
Pacem.
US
9
$1.50
The
3rd and *
3final dITHSWHAT YOUlID K
week! TI ~SI?!&C
"I THOUGHT IT WAS TERRIFIC
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JERRI McCAULEY, star shimmy-shaker in the 1920's
CLUB 21
The best place in Ann Arbor to
a. meet somebody interesting
b. dance
c. drink
d. all of the above
Band: SALMAGUNDI
Pace: Huron 3 room, CAMPUS INN
Time: 9:00-12:30 p.m
THURSDAY, FEB. 24
FREE BEER, drinks $1.00
cover charge: girls $2.00, guys $2.50
Ring
with
A
Golden
Ed & Peny
Trickett
MON. THRU FRI.
7 8:30 . 10
SAT. & SUN.
5:30 0 7:00
8:30 & 10 P.M.
"A LOT OF FANCY WORDS
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FIND OUT YOURSELF
WHY EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT-
<:,' A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE STORY
.1bgeIhe!
George & Gerry
Armstrong
Ruth Meyer
Barry O'Neill
Joe Hickerson
Sandy & Caroline
Paton.
I
Box Offices Open at 6:30
From the Director of "Fanny Hill" & "I, A Woman" and
the Stars of "Therese and Isabelle"-The Modern Mak-
ing of Emile Zola's Materpiece
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INFORMATION 761.4700
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plus "EUGEN IE
$1-3 PREVIEW TONIGHT!
"A DELIGHTFUL COMEDY!"
(Geo. White-Head, Eugene O'Neill Foundation)
8:00 4 PERFORMANCES 2:30
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The Story of Her Journey Into Perversion
FRI.-SAT.-SUN.
PAUL NEWMAN HENRY FONDA
"Sometimes a Great Notion" (PG)
SHIRLEY MACLAINE SAMMY DAVIS JR.
"Sweet Charity" (G)
JOANNE WOODWARD GEORGE C. SCOTT
"They Might Be Giants" (G)
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