ENTERTAINMENT
The University Daily KANSAN
January 31, 1984 Page 6
Male burlesque acts are more than just a tease
Sandi Moles/KANSAN
Brad Shaw, a Kansas City, Mo., male burlesque dancer, attempts to capture a dance partner with his tie. Shaw was one of three male dancers performing Thursday night at the Pladium, 901 Mississippi St.
By MELISSA BAUMAN Staff Reporter
Although male burlesque was once criticized as a sex show, it has evolved into a flamboyant show where special effects, elaborate costumes and choreography are the norm, not the exception.
"I've never really looked at it as a sex show," said Jerry Coetux, a Topeka male dancer. "I've always looked at it as a lady's night out without having to worry about a man coming up and hitting on her. They're out having good, clean fun."
THE SHOWS RESEMBLE a Broadway show more than an off-Broadway strip joint, said Ray League, part-owner of the Pladium.
"What do you want to see?" the announcer asked.
Suki Willison, a Topека agent for about 30 male dancers, agreed.
"Skin!" a crowd of 200 whistling and screaming females yelled.
Women just don't want men to come out and take their clothes off. They want a show, she
The sounds of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" began pounding into the women's ears while eerie white smoke began filling the dance floor. Then, a handsome blond dancer in a tuxedo began to strip off his suit piece by piece, revealing an impressive display of muscles.
Male strip shows began getting popular in eastern Kansas about 1979. Willson began managing male models with a show called "The Model Shop," and he modeled clothes from Tooneka shops. The women
THIS SCENE IS MALE burlesque at its best. It visits Lawrence about every six weeks at the Pladium, 901 Mississippi St.
SHE SAID THE male dancers began wearing costumes to reflect the music and the dancers wore G-strings or briefs instead of swim trunks. "The girls seemed like to that a lot better," she said.
The emphasis on modeling waked when the audience demanded to see more.
bought the clothes off the dancing male models until they wore only their swim trunks.
Dave Gwing, a Kansas City, Kan., dancer for 11 years, said that he began as a go-go-dancer but his image had changed over the years. He considered a go-go-dancer but a male exotic dancer.
Although good looks and an athletic body are important to a successful male dancer, most of those involved in male burlesque shows agree that dancing ability is now more important than
Willison said that the quality of the dancing had improved and that shows were more professional than they were originally. She said many dancers took ballet and dance lessons and some were beginning to break dance — a form of athletic dancing.
Although watching a man undress is not exactly nonsexual some barely try to prevent it.
League said that he required the dancers to leave immediately after the performance.
"He's not there as a sex object for the woman," he said. "He is there to perform just as an actor is to perform on stage. I'm mainly concerned with not making this a whorehouse."
League also said that many of his dancers would not take tips.
WILLISON ALSO SAID that when the dancers remained in the bar the mystique of the dancer suffered.
Gowing said that sometimes problems occurred when the dancers stayed after the
performance because they threatened many male eggs.
"A lot of guys already have problems dancing anyway, and after the girls watch the show, it'a a challenge when they go in to meet a girl," Gowing said.
Another trend in male burlesque has been toward more elaborate costumes. Contest often appears as a Boy Scout. Gowing, whose stage name is Centaur, dresses as a skirt or shoes and
League said that costumes have changed much since the Pladium began its male burlesque shows in 1979.
"FOR A WHILE most of the guys were wearing basic street clothes or a tuxedo. The dancers that I’ve got have extremely elaborate customers; we’re a Broadway show kind of thing."
Growing that when the Village People were popular the costumes ranged more toward everyday attire.
"Now it's a lot more sequins and Spandex pants" he said.
Just as male burlesque had changed, so had the crowd's reaction. Women had become less
"When there's a group of women in a place and there's male dancers, once they let loose they can be just as wild, if not wilder, than a group of men watching female dancers," he said.
But despite the higher quality shows, male barrister is not as popular as the woman when it first arrives.
Gowing said the reason male burlesque shows suffered a slight decline in popularity was because the novelty had worn off and they had become more accepted.
"At first there was a big reaction." Contents said. "I don't think it is ever going to get that hard."
'Buddy' had great promise but went pfffft
Sometimes I look forward to a movie so much that I feel a sense of loss when it doesn't live up to my expectations. "The Buddy System" made me feel that way.
The movie stars Susan Sarandon and Richard Dreyfuss, both of whom are great acting talents. But in this movie, they do nothing more than walk through their roles.
The quality of the movie is inconsistent as some scenes remain on the low level of a television movie, while others reach a higher point that makes it clear that the movie had the potential to be something special. It makes me sad that "The Buddy System" turned out to be nothing more than a predictable romantic comedy.
Sarandon plays Emily Price, a single mother raising a 10-year-old boy. Timmy, played by
BRUCE
FREY
Kansan Film Critic
William Wheaton. She has set up a false address in a better school district so Timmy can get a good education. The school security guard, Joe McNabb, discovers the scheme and confronts Emily.
However, he grows fond of Timmy and the two become best friends. It also comes as no surprise that Emily and Denison also become good friends. Or are they more than that?
But Sarandon doesn't seem sure of herself with Dreyfus. They look at each other uneasily, as if they were in a fight.
TODAY
Fortunately, she has the talent to save some scenes that would otherwise be unsalvageable. For example, when she is talking with her preoccuious son, who says clever things, Sarandon gives her lines so convincingly that we accept the scene.
SING WITH KU Collegium Musicum at 4:30 p.m. in 328 Murphy. Anyone interested in singing
Dreyfuss has made this movie before, but it starred Marsha Mason, the boy was a girl, and it was called "The Goodbye Girl." I think he realizes this and maybe he feels a little trapped by it. His performance is strongly reminiscent of that film and it almost reaches a level of "But unlike "The Goodbye Girl" neither Sarandon nor Dreyfuss is given enough to work with.
TAU SIGA DANCE CLUB will meet at 7 p.m. in 242 Robinson Center.
"The Buddy System" isn't all bad. It would be nice to hate it, but I don't. Jean Stapleton is excellent as Sarandon's mother. And the film has a beautiful moving camera shot of Dreyfuss in a rowboat with his dog as they drift quietly and philosophize about love.
"The Buddy System" has its nice moments and just writing about the rowboat scene makes me smile. But it never develops into anything better than mediocry.
CAMPUS CRUSADE for Christ will meet at 7 p.m. in the Big Eight Room of the Kansas Union,
"CHAMPIONS!" will meet at 7 p.m. in the Trail Room of the Kansas Union.
ON CAMPUS
"NOT ONLY STRANGERS," a workshop and a film on dating relationships, will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Regionalist Room of the Kansas Union.
INVISIBLE IN AMERICA, the prints of Marion Palfi, will be on display in the Kansas Union gallery until Feb. 14.
Rob Leonard, Lawrence senior, and Eric Fladung, Overland Park senior, enjoy a drink while they watch music videos on one of four screens at Gammon's nightclub. Gammon's recently added the video screens following a popular nationwide trend in video bars.
Cunthia Pistill/KANSAN
Latest nightclub trend joins sight and sound
By PHIL ENGLISH Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
The dance floor is packed with bodies dancing to the latest Top 40 music hits. Faces glow from the blue, green and red, flashing neon lights above, but something is different.
No one is looking at their dance partners, and instead their heads are coked awkwardly.
The couples are not ignoring each other. They're experiencing the latest trend in dance music - video bars - and can be found at a local nightclub, Gammons H., 10 W. 23rd
Four video screens, all within eye range of each other, enhance the inside decor of the club. Videos of current popular music artists are plaved nightly.
"It wasn't a risk at all to change the club around," said Doug Brown, club manager. "We saw that the demand for video bars was growing and we didn't want to get pushed on wayside."
Brown said cities, such as Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles, served as the test market for new ideas in night club entertainment and film. "I saw that something big was hancenow" and saw that something big was hancenow
"The East Coast has experienced the video bar idea for several years now," he said. "And last year, there was a video bar explosion on the West Coast — especially in the
CLINT HUGHES, THE corporate entertainment director for McFaddin Ventures of Dallas, handles some of the largest chains of video bars in the country, including bars in Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, Tenn., and Tampa, Fla. He said that video music bars gave another dimension to the regular alcohol serving bars.
"Video bars could actually fail, if they are handled incorrectly," he said. "The big
problem would be video burn out, where a person gets so sick of a certain video, he
"The only thing you can do is offer a wide selection of different videos, as well as entertain the audience with original ideas of your own."
STEVE STEPHENSON, MANAGER of Sgt.
Presidents of the North, 813 New Hampshire
St., said he did not expect the video bites to be
newborn
it really only gives a person a chance to sit and veg-out in front of a TV all night. Stephenson said.
Four years ago, Sgt. Preston opened with a large screen television inside. Although the television is used primarily for sports viewing, MTV—must电视—is shown in room 148. When you enter the floor, Stephenson said, there was very little response to the combination.
However, Brown said that music videos were strictly for people who wanted to dance with the band.
Part of the club's attraction is that the videos are not the same as the MTV playlist.
“When I saw what was happening, I knew that it wouldn't be just another fad,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before they pop up all over.”
ALTHOUGH THE ADDITION of the videos was very costly for the nightclub, Brown said that the weeknight crowds had picked up considerably.
"Before the videos, we brought in about 150 to 300 people on a regular weeknight," he said. "Now, there are anywhere from 300 to 400."
"People come into the club and dance or they drink or they stare at the walls." he said "Now the videos provide a form of enterance for the dancers, the dancers, the drinkers and the starers."
Independent label recordings help regional bands generate following
By PHIL ENGLISH Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
Every rock 'n' roll band has had the dream of one day being discovered by a large recording company and dubbed as the next supergroup.
In the past year, the sale of records cut by local or regional bands has picked up, said Steve Wilson, manager of Kief's Discount Records, 2100 W. 21st St. Most of the sales Wilson said are from his own recordings and EPs, which are seven-inch extended play records, and from playing live in the area.
Although Lawrence has never had a supergroup, some local bands are cutting independent label records.
JASON AND THE Nashville Scorchers, The Embarrassment, the Morells and Thumbs, all bands that released a 12-inch recording last year, fared the best in total sales — selling more than 200 copies in one store, because of the local following, he said.
Wilson himself is a member of the Lawrence band Thumbs. The band has had success around Lawrence and the Kansas City area by working with the larger, independent record distributors.
"Without the help of a distributor, the record wouldn't make it past Kansas City." Wilson said. "If they think that a band is worth the trouble, they will spread the records all over."
"Unless you have a 12-inch record, with
re said that in 1880, the band Get Smart,
released an EP, titled "Words Move," that failed
to sell well — even when the band was at the
height of its popularity.
In late 1863, the Blue Ridim Band's "Restless Spirit" album was the largest selling record by a local band in Kieff's history - selling well more than 400 copies. Wilson said.
half-way decent graphics and a good sound quality, the record will be hard selling."
BUT WILSON ADDED that "if an album is packaged attractively, it will be much more easily accepted by the public."
The reggae-tinged band had a very large following in Lawrence, but their follow-up single and EP were financially unsuccessful, he said.
SAUL, TUCKER, Pennylane Records and Tapes distributor in Kansas City, Mo., said the majority of Lawrence bands don't sell well in Kansas City...
"None of the local or regional bands receive very much radio air play, outside of KJHK, so there is a relatively small response to their recordings." Wilson said.
"The most outstanding sellers were the bands that play frequently in the area," he said. "Bands like the Embarrassment, Thumbs and Woolly well, because they have developed an audience."
Wilson said that he was happy with the sales in Lawrence but that the rest of the country was disappointing.
disappointing:
"I think it's great that my band got good reviews in many magazines, but that doesn't always mean great sales," he said.
BLOOM COUNTY
BY BERKE BREATHED