Orange County’s Home for Burlesque Celebrates 8 Years of Redefining the Art of Being Sexy

Lola Olvera
7 hours ago
7 min read

At Muse Burlesque shows, what shines brighter than the glitter and the gams is the creativity and authenticity of the performers.

Burlesque performer Sweetpea. Photo courtesy of Tim Hunter Photography

The red rhinestones glove comes off in tantalizingly stilted movements, gripped triumphantly in a bright red mouth that seems faintly amused by the urging of the crowd. One by one, the many pieces of the sparkling, red satin ensemble will be abandoned to reveal the tattooed body of the raven-haired dancer swaying to the whispers of Mon Laferte’s “Femme Fatale.”

And the night has only just begun.

Lily Misfit is only the third performer in Muse Burlesque’s 8 Year Anniversary and Va Va Valentine’s Celebration, a milestone of what’s become Orange County’s longest running burlesque show. Their special Valentine’s double feature presented two shows on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. with performances by Coco Lamarr and Noah Perkins, Atomic Cherry Bombs, Lily Misfit, Miss Magnolia, Elio’s Boylesque World, Moxie Gold, Candace Cane, Tito Bonito and Sweetpea.

But the steamy, sparkling evening was also the celebration of a longer 11-year partnership between The Copper Door, the subterranean, speakeasy-style nightclub nestled in Santa Ana’s Artists Village, and Muse producer Moxie Gold.

Moxie Gold, left, and the Atomic Cherry Bombs, right. Photos courtesy of Tim Hunter Photography

Known as “The Gilded Starlet of Burlesque,” Moxie Gold is a burlesque artist and producer as well as a founding member and director of the award-winning chorus girl dance troupe Atomic Cherry Bombs, and the co-founder and co-owner of the Atomic Ballroom in Irvine, which specializes in adult partner dancing, including swing, salsa, tango and ballroom dancing. Under her real name, Nikki Marvin, she is a world-famous Lindy Hop swing dancer and instructor, featured on “Dancing with the Stars,” Marvel's “Agent Carter,” and music videos for Katy Perry and Pharrell Williams.

Gold had already produced a few shows at The Copper Door when she began performing regularly at Yadi Presents, a burlesque show produced by Yadi Hurtado at The Yost Theater in Santa Ana, that also featured other soon-to-be Muse performers like Tito Bonito and Jessabelle Thunder. It was a home for burlesque for a time, until health issues stopped Hurtado from producing and the Yost underwent renovations under new proprietors. Eventually, Gold reconnected with The Copper Door to create her own monthly burlesque show.

“The community took to it pretty quickly and we built a nice following,” Gold said. “We’ve had some steady regulars over the years, which has been amazing. It just kind of grew from us all needing a home in Orange County.”

Burlesque is scarce in Orange County. Shows are scattered, mostly one-off special events, and performers often have to commute or relocate to Los Angeles to find consistent work.

“I think a lot of it has to do with how conservative Orange County is in general,” Gold said. “People are a little nervous … they don't know what it is and there is a stigma around it in general because it is stripping. But I think once people are introduced to it, especially with a show that is really inclusive of all genders and sizes and colors, I think it changes people's perspective.”

Expanding the idea of who and what gets to be sexy has been a seismic shift in burlesque for the past several years, bringing recognition to performers of different burlesque styles, experience levels, genders, skin colors, sizes and ages. Shows in Los Angeles that have been leading the way include Brown Sugar Burlesque, produced by Jessabelle Thunder and Mariah Kunkel, Cobweb Cabaret, produced by Emma Vauxdevil, and FannieTastic Events by Fanny Sinclair. Since its inception, Muse has featured not only burlesque icons but also up-and-coming performers.

PHOTO 1: Coco Lamarr. PHOTO 2: Lily Misfit. PHOTO 3: Candace Cane. Photos courtesy of Tim Hunter Photography

Lounge singer Coco Lamarr was singing at 25° in Huntington Beach when she went to her first Muse show, won an impromptu onstage competition and was personally invited back by Gold to be a special guest singer. Now, she’s one of the show’s most memorable and beloved performers, mixing a Jayne Mansfield-esque seductiveness with a firecracker sense of humor. Soaked in classic and modern jazz, soul and R&B influences, Lamarr’s show-stopping vocals are a staple of the pre-show, turning heads from the people queued up for drinks.

Joining Muse has allowed her not only to sing but also to explore her own style of burlesque, one where “you don't always have to get down to pasties and a G-string,” and instead it relies on the subtle suggestion of peeling off a glove or a stocking. She is also passionate about the importance of representation on stage and the way it empowers audience members to see performers flaunting stretch marks, cellulite and scars.

“(People) just think they're seeing somebody, you know, twerk with tassels attached to their butt,” she said. “It's very funny in that moment and exhilarating and like, woo! But the thing that's happening underneath the skin is somebody got up and did something wild, something super vulnerable. They got naked in front of a bunch of strangers. And they were able to do it with a smile and they were able to do it and show them: I feel great about where I am. I'm sexy as fuck.”

Gold agrees that burlesque is often a more joyful and confidence-boosting experience than people may think, largely because she sees it fueled by “the female gaze.”

“Yes, it's sexy and it can be raunchy and it can be all of the things,” she said. “But at the same time, I think there's a freedom that comes along with it, that when people view it for the first time and they see those performers completely in their power, I think it ends up being more inspiring and exciting, then it is scary.”

PHOTO 1: Elio's Boylesque World. PHOTO 2: Tito Bonito. Photos courtesy of Tim Hunter Photography

Making Room for Male Performers

Women are certainly at the forefront of burlesque but men and non-binary performers have been making their mark in the industry as well. Muse’s mixed-gender audience has enthusiastically received performers like Jake Dupree, a non-binary dancer currently cast in Burlesque the Musical in the United Kingdom, and of course, Muse’s longtime host Bonito, who performs as The Cuban Missile Crisis — or, as he jokingly refers to himself, the “Human Midlife Crisis.” Draped in an enormous, serpent-like green boa, he teased the crowd with his signature feigned innocence and playful innuendo, before rewarding everyone with the sight of glittering green tassels placed jauntily over not only his nipples but also his rear end.

“You can absolutely put tassels on your butt because butts are non-binary,” he quipped afterwards.

It was Bonito who introduced Elio Martinez, a creative director and performer from Puerto Rico, to Muse about three years ago, inspiring him to begin performing burlesque. Prior to this, Martinez had appeared on “Mira Quien Baila,” the Latino version of “Dancing with the Stars,” after which his career really took off, and he ended up touring internationally with Dita von Teese, the world-famous “Queen of Burlesque” herself.

At the Valentine’s show, Martinez, now known as Elio’s Boylesque World, stole the show with his high-drama, high-energy dancing and multiple, stunning costume changes. He had been working almost non-stop for two weeks to perfect the intricate bedazzling of his red and black bolero jacket, and the tie, belt and pants accents. His performance was meant to show the interconnectedness and cross-influence of different cultures through dance, starting off with flamenco, representing Spanish culture, and ending with belly dancing, representing Arabic cultures.

“I wanted to create something (about) today's situation (that) we have, especially with immigration,” he said. “It's really sensitive to me, the subject, because even though we have divisions by countries and that's what our system has created for us, I do believe we have the power and the freedom to move around … I wanted to show we are all in the same mix of cultures and nobody is actually (one) pure thing.”

The Muse Burlesque company. Photo courtesy of Tim Hunter Photography

He believes that when it comes to men exploring and expressing their sensuality, it starts with addressing inner conflicts, opening themselves up to new things — like burlesque shows — and using the arts as a medium of self-discovery.

“I think for a man to actually express their sexuality, he has to go deeply and bring out any frustration,” he said. “First of all, understand that frustration, from where it comes, and then target the way they can explore their own selves … I think the world needs more of the arts and discovering yourself means to see a little bit of: What can I do differently? …. Burlesque has been my outlet to bring out all the things that maybe I cannot (express) when I'm performing for other artists because (as a solo performer) it's my creativity that is going into the stage. It's nobody else's project.”

When he’s not performing as Elio’s Boylesque World, Martinez runs Evolution Fitness and Dance in Santa Ana, a dance studio which emphasizes holistic coaching in bodily awareness, presence and self-confidence. At Atomic Ballroom in Irvine, Gold also looks beyond just dance instruction, building community relationships with after-hours social dancing every day of the week.

Anaheim resident Riley Gallagher has been going to the Atomic Ballroom for swing dancing for 10 years. He first came to a Muse show last Halloween, and returned for the Valentine’s show, purchasing a VIP table for him, his partner and friends, where they enjoyed perks like welcome shots, champagne and chocolate covered strawberries.

“It's a lot of fun seeing everyone up there performing,” he said. “I like the space a lot. It's very ... queer-friendly, open-minded. The shows are always really good too, all the performers are really talented. I really enjoy all the outfits and costumes that go into it and the showmanship.”

Many Muse visitors are regulars, but building a larger audience has been more difficult. Although shows sold out every month post-pandemic, it became harder to fill seats in the past couple years, leading Gold to cut back from doing shows every month, so she could focus her energy on Atomic Ballroom and performing in other shows.

“I still want to keep Muse around for the local community,” she said, emphasizing that as long as her passion project continues to break even, it will continue to be a home for burlesque in Santa Ana. She’s confident that even if Muse should one day be no more, there will always be a new person to carry the burlesque torch forward: “Something else will pop up.”