Burlesque the Musical is enjoying sold-out performances in Manchester where it runs until Saturday 29 June, and we went along to see the spectacle for ourselves. Following an unprecedented sold-out season at Manchester Opera House, producers of the World Premiere of Burlesque the Musical have announced that the theatre production will return to Manchester later this year.
Discover a club like no other… a place beneath the city lights where the sequins sparkle, seduction shimmers, and a life can change in the flick of a feather boa.
When Ali heads to New York in search of her mother, she finds herself drawn into a dazzling underground world where the beat of the music and the heat of the dance moves will change her life forever. Among this unlikely family of misfits, dreamers and schemers, Ali will unwittingly find her real voice, discover her talent, and find where she really, truly belongs.
The stage show takes the beloved film’s plot, and sprinkles it with a West End wonder (except we’re in Manchester), taking it to the next, decadent level. Taking a leaf out of Hamilton‘s book, the Burlesque production makes good use of a huge rotating stage, rising and sinking throughout the show, cranking everything up a notch… literally.
The legendary Todrick Hall plays Sean extremely convincingly, and is the beating heart of the performance. Together with protagonist Ali, played by the amazingly talented Jess Folley, the pair create an electric atmosphere making it very hard to not sing along with Folley’s awe-inspiring voice.
On-set props and set dressing capture New York perfectly, moving and dancing just as much as the cast, pulling every single audience member into the story. Perhaps most importantly of all, Burlesque the Musical leaves you with the all-consuming desire to see a burlesque show for real − after all, that’s what the show’s all about.
The first ever stage adaptation of Steven Antin’s crowd-pleasing musical sensation, Burlesque, which starred Christina Aguilera, Cher, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci will be back again at Manchester Opera House in October alongside its Scottish Premiere in Glasgow in September, prior to a West End transfer.
You can grab tickets for the autumn run of Burlesque the Musical in Manchester here.