Cabaret can be very tricky- and Historical Hotties doesn't make it easy for itself. As someone who doesn't usually gravitate towards ensemble productions, or specifically burlesque endeavors, Historical Hotties was starting with a disadvantage with me from the get go. 

With that being said, labelling their show as a cabaret is a bit of a disservice. This is a play revue with more vignettes than anything else. The idea behind this is genius: A woman struggling with the frustrations of the modern world and the GD patriarchy is visited by the spirit of boss women everywhere and shown loving tributes to some of the most powerful and impactful women everywhere. Subvert sexual qualities with education. Sex-a-me street if you will. 

Each performer aside from the main two invokes a famous female figure who broke the mold in some way. Some you'd expect to see, and others that you may have never heard of. I'm not an uneducated person, and was still impressed by some of their choices who I wasn't familiar with. It's great to see such a variety of paragon women portrayed in creative ways. 

The acts themselves are mostly top notch and you never quite knew what to expect. With a modern dance Marie Curie being one of my favorites, the show also featured some fantastic strip tease, songs and witty dialogue that had me laughing. 

(speaking of hilarious dialogue - check out Actual Chaos)

I will say that there may be one too many flavours in the box. One or two of the pieces come as a tonal whiplash to what happens before and while I love the vingettes themselves, (Flanders Fields for the win! Go Canada!) it can be a bit jarring for the audience. Not enough to detract, but certainly not what I was expecting. 

I want to highlight Katie especially who gets to not only showcase her vocal talents, comedic chops and effortless charisma it but also her body as canvas which ties into her character. Kudos to this show for their celebration of body positivity, queerness and inclusivity. Overall this show is an excellent and fun package well worth a visit from the Fringe Faithful. 

PROS: 

• Great dialogue and framing device! 
• The stripteases were sexy, fun, and beautiful
• Great singing and fun numbers (Post modern jukebox cover of Jason Derulo? yes please!)  
• Some of the best modern dance I've seen at Fringe
• AMAZING choices for female heroines throughout history

CONS: 

• Some performers seem more visibly uncomfortable onstage and could benefit from interacting more within the group
• Audience sing-a-long (my greatest fear) 
• More cues from performers to know when the audience can cheer, and get riled up would go a long way