Tuesday , March 19 2024
crazy horse paris cabaret

Cabaret/Theatre Review (Singapore): ‘Forever Crazy’ by Crazy Horse Paris

Parisian cabaret troupe Crazy Horse brings Forever Crazy to the Marina Bay Theatres courtesy of Base Entertainment Asia. The show runs from October 11-22 2017 and is rated R (18 years and above only).

Crazy Horse consists of about 12 nude performers lip-syncing and dancing to hit songs such as Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and “Oops! I Did It Again”. Some of the dances feature individual dancers, as when a top executive strips in her office. Group dances include the opening number where performers are clad in Union Jack-themed gear, a nod to the British military. The women do strip down fully in various performances, with only a tiny modesty patch protecting their genital region.

To be fully appreciated, this type of nude cabaret show calls for a far smaller and more intimate venue than a mega-big place like Marina Bay Sands Theatres, where audiences beyond perhaps 20 rows from the front can’t possibly see much of the performers’ bodies.

Two huge screens do flank the stage, to help those seated further from the action appreciate the show. Pre-recorded video clips play on those screens so those patrons can ogle something. But the screens are very distracting for those who are seated nearer the stage as the clips don’t always sync with what is happening live before your eyes. I overheard a couple of attendees complaining about this too.

Also, the show is a bit of a hit-and-miss when it comes to the individual performances. Whilst some dance numbers are energetic and exciting (such as the last number), other items are lacklustre and drab with barely any dancing and more posing and strutting, which gets repetitious and tiresome after awhile. This critic was left wishing the choreography had been better, with more focus on the dance steps and movements.

Having said that, the costumes are creative, as sexiness is juxtaposed with humour in many of the outfits, and the music is good, with popular songs remixed into more sensuous versions.

And surprisingly the best act is the one performed by the only male in the troupe. An unnamed male performer takes the stage twice: once to perform a dance number while impressively contorting his body into all sorts of shapes as if his joints were jelly, and again to perform some magic within a comedic skit. He might have gotten the most applause too – and he didn’t even have to drop his pants!

About Sharmila Melissa Yogalingam

Ex-professor, Ex-phd student, current freelance critic, writer and filmmaker.

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