Burlesque gets biblical

by Jessica Del Curto

Daily Lobo

If you combine the Bible and burlesque in the same sentence, people may get angry, said Frankie Flores.

But this weekend's performance does just that, and Flores has a stage full of women in bustiers ready to show how bad the ladies of the Bible can really be.

"It's a satirical look at the women's role in the Bible," he said.

He said women of the Bible are portrayed in a negative light.

"If they're bad, let's at least make them fun," he said.

The show focuses on several stories in the Bible, including the one of Adam and Eve, Samson and Delilah, and Jezebel.

The few men in the show all play characters that are subjugated by stronger, dominant women.

Zachary Rice plays Adam, and he is seduced by Eve to eat the forbidden apple. The dance is done to Madonna's "Hanky Panky."

Rice said he did the show because he thought it was inventive, and he likes the idea of women dominating the men in the play.

"Maybe because I was in the Army, but I'm kind of sick of the machismo that was around me," he said.

He said before Flores approached him about the show, he didn't know what burlesque was. When he began doing research, he learned men aren't typically in the shows.

Rice is a Christian, but he said the show will not be offensive to people.

"There's a difference between being disrespectful and having fun with it," he said.

Flores agrees. Although he isn't religious, he considers himself spiritual, and has researched all types of religions.

"Religions fascinate me, and I do respect them," he said.

Flores had the idea to do a burlesque version of the Bible for years.

"I'm a really big fan of burlesque," he said.

But he prefers the shows from the golden age of burlesque, starting in the late '30s, when dancers like Gypsy Rose Lee and Tempest Storm were in their prime. He said he hasn't been too impressed with the burlesque shows that have come to Albuquerque.

"The problem I always had with them was that they took it to a very sleazy place," he said.

His show isn't about that, he said.

"We show less skin than most people show in a public pool."

Collette Hill plays Eve in the show. In one scene she gets seduced and is mounted by the devil - who is a woman - then Eve tempts Adam by sitting on his lap and dancing erotically around him in a bra and hot pants.

Hill said her parents will definitely be coming to the show. She said the show isn't degrading - rather, it's about having confidence and a sense of humor.

"It's very tongue-in-cheek," she said. "We're playing with the idea of original sin and it being a woman's fault."

She considers herself a feminist but said she isn't trying to make a statement about feminism by doing the play.

"I don't think anyone is trying to change the interpretation of the Bible," she said. "It's about having fun with yourself and your sexuality."