THE SENSUOUS WOMAN – A SHOW REVIEW
BY LELLA
On Wednesday, April 19, 2006, comedian- activist-turned- belly dancer Margaret Cho kicked off the debut show of her new live monthly variety show, “The Sensuous Woman,” at El Cid Restaurant in Hollywood, California. Co-produced by Iris Berry and Miss Ava, the Sensuous Woman is heavy on belly dance and burlesque performers, and will not only feature new acts every month, but each event also serves as a benefit for a worthy cause- this month the price of admission went to Habitat For Humanity, who are busy building and re-building houses in Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.
El Cid Restaurant, which usually features a dinner Flamenco show and Jillina’s Sahalah Dancers, is a Hollywood landmark, and its perfectly preserved early-Sixties, Spanish-themed décor, heavy on the red velvet drapery, was the perfect vintage-looking location for the show about to unfold.
The evening began with Margaret herself doing an intro and her trademark cutting-edge comedy, followed by a stellar line-up of women, from nationally-known Oriental dancers to the performers from acclaimed burlesque shows like The Velvet Hammer and Lucha Va Voom, whose founder Ursulina was the first dancer. Up next was Princess Farhana, and partner Brian Chic, who did a precision bullwhip act, “Lipstick And Lashes,” featuring the pair as a master and his naughty dancing slave girl. The audience gasped as Chic cracked the veils off Princess Farhana’s body with his whip. He whipped her around the abdomen and neck and she spun out of it effortlessly. Dancer Penny Starr, Jr. did a ski-bunny striptease on crutches that were completely covered with Swarovski crystals…later, the crowd found out that she really DID have a broken leg! She was followed by outrageous comedian Bruce Daniels. A couple of belly dancers then tried their hand at burlesque: Jamilla, a featured dancer at LA’s Dar Maghreb, performed a cute retro number, as did Palmdale, CA-based dancer Sedona, who brought the house down with a naughty nurse strip-tease under the stage moniker Renee Du Jour. Margaret Cho came back and did a burlesque-influenced act with two huge Cobras (ok, they weren’t real, just cleverly manipulated puppets) that managed to be sexy and funny at the same time. One of the last performers to hit the stage was Rachel Lazarus -Soto of Devadasi and Blue Damsel, who did a stunning Geisha Girl number, complete with precision fan-work and a scarlet kimono.
El Cid was totally sold out, with many luminaries present. Not only were there a few tables full of people from Comedy Central Network, but among the standing-room-only crowd were Oriental dance troupe Leela and Salmome Jihad, Margaret’s husband LA-based artist Al Ridenour, burlesque star Venus DeMille, MECDA officer Politti Ashcraft, and Bellydance Superstar Sonia with Miles Copeland in tow! The Sensuous Woman was everything the name implies- fun, hot, sexy and sensual- well worth the price of admission! It will run on the third Wednesday of every month at least through September, and is well worth checking out if you are ever in the LA Area. For more info, go to www.myspace.com/thesensuouswoman or www.margaretcho.com