New Burlesque, Old Venue

The Folly Theater’s history goes way, way back to the early 20th century, when it was called the Standard Theater and operated as a burlesque and vaudeville house. Nobody’s really sorry that vaudeville is dead — if it weren’t, we’d have to wrestle it to the ground and strangle it just for its tradition of minstrelsy. But women are awesome, so we’re generally OK with the burlesque revival. “Burlesque was happenin’ back in the ’70s. But the Folly turned into more of a strip joint than a burlesque house. And then it shut down,” says Marisa McKay, Burlesque Downtown Underground’s producing artistic director. At 8 p.m., BDU returns burlesque to the Folly Theater (300 West 12th Street, 816-474-4444) for the first time since the 1970s with the appropriately named Burlesque Revival at the Folly. Besides the burlesque performers, entertainment includes aerial acrobatic troupe Voler—Thieves of Flight, burlesque comedian Lucky Deluxe and music by Alacartoona. Tickets cost $15 to $52 through Ticketmaster. For more information, see follytheater.com.— Chris Packham

Sat., July 10, 2010