Beneath the spotlights and glittering mirror balls of Voltaire, a madam clothed in mink makes her entrance. She courts the attention of a gazing group of men in the front row, entertains the flirtatious winks of a couple to her left and proceeds to ascend her throne—a catwalk— as a heavy house track pumps out the words “Studio 54 baptized me.” Onstage, she sheds the mink and it pools around her ankles like fresh snow as dancers in skin-tight bodysuits surround her, a winsome deity of disco, worthy of their worship.
That, in a nutshell, is Belle de Nuit at Voltaire, a flashy new production running on nights when Kylie Minogue and Christina Aguilera aren’t headlining the Venetian venue. (And Jason Derulo is coming in May.)
Simply calling it a cabaret wouldn’t do it justice. A disco burlesque? Maybe. A glorified fashion party? Sure. A triumph of stagecraft, choreography and gravity-defying acrobatics with slightly hedonistic undertones? You bet.
Derek McLane, the Tony Award-winning designer who worked on Broadway’s Moulin Rouge, helped design Voltaire’s fabulous art-deco theater space, infusing it with the swanky, sexy atmosphere of a ’70s nightclub. Bathed in violet and funky fuchsia hues, the room is one hell of a set piece and a playground for the talent of Belle de Nuit.
This sprawling epic rarely leaves the catwalk, giving viewers a front-row seat to some seriously wild numbers that trickle out over an hour and a half. In one instance, two muscular acrobats strip down to their skivvies, using their concrete bodies to balance each other in a test of sheer strength, concentration and will. From the sidelines, you can see every mighty muscle and every trembling tendon, and the appreciation for what they’re able to do grows.
Music and fashion also intersect in such a cinematic way. Segments are sexily scored with a good amount of bass in mind to truly reflect that fashion-week feel. Bejeweled bodysuits, snug-tight leather, elaborate headpieces—it’s almost like raiding Grace Jones’ closet.
The Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” soundtracked one of the evening’s most playful numbers as a woman swathed in pink furs paraded around her two leashed poodle boys. Kneeling and exceptionally naughty, these “pets” had no problem thrusting their muzzles where they shouldn’t, or air-humping each other. A sharp click of her heels and the misbehaving pooches returned to perform an intense aerial rope stunt that left a few audience members speechless.
One of the evening’s best performances pushed that sexually charged envelope a bit further as a tattooed pin-up girl filmed herself on a mattress onstage. It was cinematic voyeurism at its finest, but in a cheeky twist, she moved the show out onto the catwalk, turning the camera around on the audience to see how they liked it.
A unique new addition the Strip scene, Belle de Nuit is a sort of homage to Studio 54 and that bygone era of nightclub revelry—and we’d gladly fight to get back on this guest list.
BELLE DE NUIT Wednesday -Thursday, 9:15 p.m., Sunday 8:15 p.m., $75. Voltaire, voltairelv.com.
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