TOLEDO – Many forms of dance performance have toed the line between art and smut, but none compare to burlesque. The midwest’s love-hate relationship with the glamorous and sultry shows has resulted in crowds of performers moving in and out of cities, and with venues going in and out of business. Toledo is no exception.
Burlesque has a storied home in the Glass City. Most famously, it was host to Town Hall Burlesque Theatre, a venue operational in the late 1960s. Madamed and founded by Rose La Rose, an accomplished burlesque performer who earned her fame at the infamous New York venue Minsky’s, Town Hall was classy.
However, its original intention of creating luxury shows, like Minsky’s, was short-lived. Soon, adult films made their way into the theatre, its purpose changed, and it was demolished in 1968.
Today, burlesque shows are hard to come by in the city. The Collingwood Arts Center is changing that. The arts center recently hosted a speakeasy event, advertising burlesque performers. I witnessed a packed house, with multi-genre burlesque performances and the brooding atmosphere of a speakeasy.
The arts center plans to make the event an annual occurrence, a silver lining for performers like Morris and Worley, both of whom seek to land in more venues around the Toledo area. But can the negative assumptions about burlesque be changed? Jess thinks so.
The Victorian building has a lived-in atmosphere, transporting us to another time as I was led down a long, dark hallway in the basement of the Collingwood. Within an entirely black room, decorated in a classic burlesque theatre motif, there was a cash bar and Al Capone’s Vault (stacked with lottery tickets for a lucky winner).
Ruby Jade, Ada Atomic and Gina Arnez took the stage and wowed the audience with bumps, grinds and reveals. The audience generously handed out tips and wooed at their moves.
Jess Worley said the only place she’s seen burlesque performed in Toledo is the Collingwood Arts Center at the Speakeasy event. “It was incredible and I love the venue.”
The Toledo native has been a burlesque performer since 2021, though her performances have been restricted to Detroit because of the lack of demand for the art in our city. It’s been her mission to establish it here.
Worley has performed her routines at venues, like Detroit’s Northern Lights Lounge, Planet Ant and Blue Dodge Lounge. She has described her acts as fitting into two genres.
“I do a lot of classic, glamorous burlesque, but I do more nerdlesque recently,” she said. Nerdlesque refers to performers dressed as glamorized characters whose routines are filled with comedic tease and suggestion.
Worley’s version had the crowd rolling. Donning a token Guy Fieri flaming button up, wig and mustache, she flaunts on top of a giant, plush cheeseburger to a great track.
“My friend mashed the songs together for me, a hip-hop song called ‘Guy Fieri’ and ‘Cherry Pie,’ of course,” Worley said.
If anyone takes props and costuming seriously, it’s burlesque performers. Worley’s cheeseburger prop made from a large ottoman was lovingly crafted by her and her dad on Father’s Day.
The performers at the Speakeasy were no different.
Gene Morris, whose stage persona, Gina Arnez, dons a sparkling boa, said he wouldn’t call himself a burlesque performer. “I’m more of a female impersonator. When I started, people started telling me I reminded them of Liza Minelli, so I began doing her cabaret numbers.”
Morris is a Collingwood Arts Center advocate and has performed at several of their fundraising events. Although the act’s debut was on the main stage, this was the first performance of Gina’s in the underground theatre. “It was a really well-organized event and a lot of fun. The attendance was the best I’ve seen, the room was packed.”
Gina Arnez, winner of Mrs. Amateur Great Lakes 1999, has been dancing around Toledo for some time.
“I’m originally from Morgantown, West Va. I moved to Toledo in ’94 for a job. I met my current husband, David, when I moved up here, and we’ve been together for 30 years now – married 11. We used to go to Caesar’s Show Bar all the time for a night out and I said well, I’d like to try that. I was 36 at the time and that’s kind of late to start performing, but he encouraged me to do so.
“When I’m on stage a lot of people don’t recognize me. When I’m not presenting as Gina, I’m quiet and reserved. When I’m on stage as Gina, I’m a completely changed person,” he explained.
“Burlesque has a bad reputation; a majority of people associate it with strippers. Yes, but it’s an art form. It’s not for the male gaze – it’s for the female gaze. I don’t make my costumes for the men. I make them for the girls, gays and theys. It’s about rebellion and protest, this is my body and I’m going to show it how I want to.”
The crowds at the Collingwood Arts Center’s Speakeasy event are a testament to the demand of bringing burlesque back to Toledo. Although we may never see another exclusively burlesque venue like Town Hall, venues like the arts center are vital, living hubs for these forms of expression.
