Viva Dallas Burlesque

Viva Dallas Burlesque is a fantastic way to end your week! Watch lovely, talented, sexy ladies (and a few gentlemen sometimes) work their magic on stage and work the crowd into a frenzy. Hoot, holler, and generally show your well-​deserved appreciation for the performers as they tease and tantalize, dance and strip, and make the audience beg for more. I love that the heart and soul that these performers pour into their art leaps off the stage. The production value is high, and the setting couldn’t be better: the Lakewood is an absolute treasure of a theatre.
Sometimes you’ll see good, old-​fashioned striptease, with boas, gloves, and garters. Sometimes you’ll see thoughtful and provocative social commentary to go along with the tease. And sometimes the numbers are so clever and well thought out you’ll bust a gut laughing as you admire the amazingness of it all. Some of the performers do not fit the modern restrictions of «sexy», and that’s what makes it all the more fantastic. The hosts are adept at keeping the audiences entertained while the stage kittens clean up after one act and set the stage for the next. Whether you’re new to burlesque or a long-​time fan, you should check out Viva Dallas Burlesque!

Okay, when it comes to burlesque, I’m what you call a stripper connoisseur aka The Stripper Hipster. Okay, lets get real, I’m not that cool, but I do know burlesque! Seriously, I love this art form and Viva Dallas always does it right. And let me say for the record that although I give tens where tens are due and give side-​eye when it is needed, Bob J, darlin’ side-​eye is needed very strongly, but thanks to you I found out that I can actually do a review after it popped up in my recent reviews feed.
For the record, yes, Viva hires dancers of all shapes, races, ages, and genders. If you are looking for a place of exclusionary practices then this is not the show for you. I love Viva shows because they celebrate sexuality and hilarity is all of its wonderful variety as long as it is done classy and with a wink and smile. This is what keeps me coming back time and time again. I know there is room for me and it is awesome to know that respect, love, and amazing talent will be served up on a consistent basis.
One of the first things you will notice about their shows is the location itself. If you have not been to the historic Lakewood before then you are in for a real treat. The building is beautiful and the staff is super friendly. You also have the option of filtering into two of the connecting bars besides getting your drinks there by one of the awesome bartenders (that always makes my drinks stiff– thank you very much). As you are waiting for the show (before and during intermission), you have the opportunity to smooze with the performers, shop with local vendors, and mingle with others who are there to blow off some steam after a hard week at work. The show is set up with VIP tables in the front, GA seats on the sides and in the balcony, and «fancy, I don’t have to sit my shit on the floor» tables in the center section. The great thing is that there is never a bad seat in the house.
Viva also scores very high when it comes to the national, international, and local talent that hits the stage along with great production values. They are also the ONLY production in Dallas that has a showgirls team that creates new numbers (at least I’ve never seen one repeated) for every show, and they do the 1^st and 3^rd Friday of every month. That is some serious dedication.
So hats off! Whether you are a burlesque virgin or a worn out heffa like me, you will have fun and it is definitely somewhere you can bring others to have a blast. And no Unilocal additional business tips, this show is NOT good for kids (yes, that actually is the question at the bottom of the page). LOL!

I’m consistently amazed at some of the talent we can access in our own backyard. Viva Dallas Burlesque was one of those moments. We had a very fun evening, full of impressive performances.
In all, 7 lovely ladies plus our host entertained us by dancing — in the air, on a pole and on the ground. If you haven’t been to burlesque before, this isn’t some scandalous strip joint that objectifies women. This is true art that celebrates the female body in all shapes and forms. The dances manage to blend intelligence, imagination and humor.
Overall, I loved my experience and hope to be back. The only thing keeping it from 5 stars was that I felt like the experience was unnecessarily dragged out to make you think you were getting a 2 hour show, when you really got maybe 1 hour. It started 15 minutes late and took an excessive 30 minute intermission. There were 10 acts all in all (7 ladies, with 3 performing twice). However, about as much time was spent with the (hilarious) host vamping and calling attention to birthdays between bits. Sometime it was needed, as the stage was getting prepped for the next act, other times it wasn’t.
Personally, I would have enjoyed it even more if they’d just gone non-​stop and made quicker changes between scenes, rather than dragging it out.

Time never permits me to attend this show as much as I would like but I caught their sci-​fi theme night back in 2012 and it was an enjoyable evening! The ladies are all wonderful performers and the Lakewood Theater is the best theater space in Dallas, in my humble opinion.

Where do you find good burlesque in Fort Worth? The answer is «Dallas.»
My wife and I have been to a number of nice burlesque shows on our side of the county line, but to get outstanding burlesque, we’ve had to go to Dallas, and the Viva Dallas Burlesque is about our favorite. They’re consistently fun, talented and sexy, from the troupe performers to the special guests. It’s a bit of a jog for us from Cowtown, but well worth the trip every couple of months.

It’s funny that I was just thinking about all of the wonderful shows that I have seen performed as part of the Dallas Viva Burlesque series and there was only one that I did not care for and that happens to be the one that Brett S. reviewed. HOWEVER, I have been a regular customer for over a year and almost always feel that I get my money’s worth Fridays at the Lakewood (OK, that night with the Corpus girls was a huge aberration)
The shows feature more than just plain burlesque. I know that for some the idea of women taking off their clothes is merely all it takes to elicit a smile but Viva Dallas creates really has some inventive theme nights. Each month is something different. I just attended the Fairy Tales show and it was really inventive. I can’t wait for the next Cirque themed one with the hilarious Violet O’Hara as host. In other words, Viva gives you variety and laughs with your pasties.
If you are looking to liven up your Friday nights, grab a sexy loved one and head to the Lakewood. Sit in a beautiful old theater, sip a well-​mixed cocktail and be prepared to hoot and holler along with some of Texas’ top talent, all for a reasonable price. It will certainly spice up those old routine date nights!

It’s kind of a shame to see that Brett S only gave Viva Dallas Burlesque two stars even though he says that he thought the performers were «fabulous».
As one of the «professional photographers» that Brett S mentioned above, I’d like to clarify a few things:
1. The photography policy is intended to make the shows more enjoyable for the audience; not everyone understands that flashes popping all around during the course of a two hour show can be a little distracting.
If there’s one thing that I can tell you about all of the burlesque producers & performers in Dallas, it’s that they love photographs; if you’d like to shoot a show, contact them ahead of time and ask.
2. Patti Le Plae Safe. Patti is indeed the MC of Viva Dallas Burlesque, she is also one of the hostesses of Dallas Gay Bingo, as well as Miss Gay America 1995. While it may seem that Patti is driving the show, I assure that she isn’t. Any MC will tell you that their main purpose is to keep the show flowing no matter what is happening behind the scenes.
If Brett was disturbed by the fact the MC for Viva Dallas is a drag queen, that’s fine, but please only speak for yourself, not the rest of the audience for the one show that you attended, let alone the dozen or more that you haven’t.
Now, as I stated above, I am one of the photographers that regularly attends and shoots Viva Dallas Burlesque, and as such I can understand that there might be a sense that I’m biased; I assure you that I am not.
In addition to Viva Dallas, I shoot most of the other burlesque events in the Dallas /​Ft Worth area as well, and consider all of the local producers to be close personal friends.
Dallas is extremely lucky in that we have a burlesque scene that many other major metropolitan areas are jealous of, there’s a show type for everyone, even people who like drag queens as MCs.

The Viva Dallas Burlesque show plays the first Friday night of each month. Local as well as touring burlesque troupes perform their routines to the cheering and supportive audience. Basically each dance routine begins with a cute dancer who wiggles and sheds clothing, gloves, ribbons, and feather boas until they end up with little else than pastie covered boobies. What’s not to love, right? My hat goes off to all of the dancers who put many hours if not years perfecting their routines. This particular night featured the After Dark Revue from Corpus Cristi Texas and they did a fabulous job of entertaining.
As for the Lakewood Theater itself; this place is gorgeous! Built in 1938, this art deco masterpiece just oozes character. There aren’t many theaters like this one left anymore and I really hope it can stick around for a long time to come.
Now for the less than perfect part of the evening. As a pinup photographer, I was looking forward to getting a few great shots of the dancers and their elaborate costumes. Just as the show is starting, the emcee announces that no photography is allowed as they have their own ‘professional photographers’. Well a damn lot of good that does me. If they had posted a sign at the ticket booth stating that no photography was allowed then I could have made a decision on whether I wanted to spend the 24 bucks a ticket to attend the show. As for the emcee, ‘Patti’ is a tall dude in drag with a big blonde wig and skimpy dress. Her schtick between dance acts is to wander around the audience fawning over the good looking guys, feeling their muscles, embarrassing them, and insinuating what she would like to do to them. This is all fun and entertaining for about 5 minutes, then it gets old quick. The audience is ready for more dancing, stripping, and bewbs and Patti just goes on and on. A lot. There was more of Patti than burlesque. Perhaps they should rename this event the Patti Plae Safe show featuring a little burlesque. With the popularity of burlesque right now, there are ample opportunities to catch some great acts and I would recommend the other events over this one. Would I attend this particular event again? No.