Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

I’ve just acquired some new books, so I have to step up the reviewing. At the moment I have more than a dozen books to review — and some of them are the ones that have been in the library the longest!

“Woman to Woman: Ann Corio and the Rehabilitation of American Burlesque.” by Julie N. Vogt, PhD (2010).

I met Julie Uberblonde at the Great Burlesque Exposition of 2010 and we chatted about her doctoral dissertation about Ann Corio. She had some strong opinions about some popularly held beliefs of burlesque history. I was hopeful that she would eventually publish her dissertation as a book for more general audiences. It was a shock to learn that she died this past December. So, it was a little bittersweet to read her dissertation, knowing that there are so few academically researched books on burlesque.

Her main topic is on the creation of Ann Corio’s style of burlesque as a brand and marketing it to women. However, she also uses Ann Corio as a focus to delve into a critical study of burlesque, as a performance art and as a business. Along the way, she provides a review of the existing literature and she dispels some burlesque myths, a number of which Ann Corio appears to have created.

There’s a lot of information and some excellent research, but I’ll be honest — despite the topic, it’s still a doctoral dissertation and parts of it get a bit thick with academese. I’m pretty fluent in academese, so I was able to mine the gold. And there’s a lot of it.

Dr. Vogt’s death was a terrible loss for her family, friends, and students, and also for the study of burlesque.

Dear Constant Reader,

The highlight of the costume exhibit I’m curating at the West End Museum is several costumes worn by Ann Corio in her show This Was Burlesque, courtesy of her niece. In preparation for creating wall text, I’ve been rereading the book that accompanied the show. It seemed like high time to review it. A special thanks to my friends Teresa & Jeff who gave us this autographed copy one New Year’s Eve.

This Was Burlesque by Ann Corio (1968).

Ann Corio was one of the biggest burlesque stars in the Golden Age of Burlesque, especially in Boston. She played the Old Howard frequently and was much beloved of Harvard students. She claimed other colleges referred to her as “Harvard’s baby”, but she was definitely known as “Her Majesty, The Queen”. After her career in burlesque she turned to acting on stage and in B-movies, but just couldn’t forget about burlesque.

In 1962 she and her partner Michael Iannucci opened This Was Burlesque in New York City. A retrospective of comedy, striptease, and chorus girls, it ultimately played all over the country for almost 30 years. It was filmed by HBO in the 70’s, but the VHS tapes are hard to find.

Fortunately, we have Miss Corio’s book. She writes a light history of burlesque as one who was there through most of it. She perpetuates some burlesque myths and creates some new ones, but this is hardly an academic tome. She presented burlesque as cleanly and gently as possible to an audience who wanted something a little naughty, but not too threatening.

The book is illustrated with photographs from her show and as well as historical burlesque performances. There’s a strong emphasis on comics, especially ones who started in burlesque and went on to fame in film and television. She includes a number of scripts for comic sketches.

The book is out of print, but can be found at used book dealers without too much difficulty.

Dear Constant Reader,

I must confess: today’s book is not actually about burlesque. I’m justifying its inclusion here because it’s partially about the Ziegfeld Follies from which many a burlesque show took inspiration and to which a few burlesque performers graduated. You may ask why I’m skipping over the dozens of unreviewed burlesque books on my bookshelf. I received this one from the publisher in exchange for a review and as long as I was reviewing it already, I would kindly share it with you.

Lillian Lorraine: The Life and Times of a Ziegfeld Diva by Nils Hanson (2011).

A trunk full of memorabilia sparked Nils Hanson’s interest in beautiful Lillian Lorraine. The trunk belonged to his mother, Lillian’s companion and confidant, and he remembered meeting the diva once when he was just a boy. He wanted learn more about the star who shone so brightly and now had faded from memory.

As a pretty teenager at the turn of the century, Lillian Lorraine was plucked from the chorus by Florenz Ziegfeld to be one of his Follies stars and his mistress. Her tragic story was sadly not uncommon: early stardom, fast living, messy romances, alcoholism, poverty, death in obscurity. She was so scandalous that the Ziegfeld Club, dedicated to preserving the history of the Follies, removed her from their records.

The book is illustrated with promotional photos of Lillian, covers of sheet music bearing her image, personal snapshots, as well as other Ziegfeld related pictures. It’s filled with personal accounts of those who knew her. The Ziegfeld Club, despite initial reluctance, was helpful in his quest for information and he was able to interview former Follies girls who knew her.

It’s a good resource for fans of the golden age of the Follies and the early days of Hollywood. Lillian Lorraine’s story may be tragic, but there are many inspiring details in the book. And nothing is more inspiring than the research Mr. Hanson did to bring her life back to light.

Dear Constant Reader,

If you could only read one book on this history of burlesque, this is the one I’d recommend.

Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show by Rachel Shteir (2004).

Ms. Shteir looks at the entire history of burlesque in America and its foreign influences. She begins with the earliest days — minstrel shows, travesties and tableaux vivants — and the introduction of the striptease. She continues through the golden age, the decline, and finally the introduction of the topless (and more) club. There’s a little bit about the burlesque revival at the end.

The endnotes are extensive and reveal an academic bibliography. The book may originally have been her Ph.D. dissertation, but it’s quite readable. Illustrations sprinkled throughout.

UPDATE: Use with caution. There is unreliable information in this book.

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Wednesday and that means a book review!

Candy Barr: The Small-Town Texas Runaway Who Became a Darling of the Mob and the Queen of Las Vegas Burlesque by Ted Schwarz (2008).

Candy Barr’s story is not a pretty one. Born Juanita Slusher in rural Texas, she suffered abuse from a young age. As a teenager, she ran away to Dallas, hoping only for a job and the chance to dance. Instead she found herself forced into prostitution and porn. Bright, beautiful, and a talented dancer, she managed not to be crushed by her horrible situation and escaped to become a headlining burlesque dancer. There were a few shining years as a star in Las Vegas and Los Angeles before forces beyond her control again tried to bring her low. She seemed destined never to have a quiet life.

Because Candy/Juanita was alive while the book was being written (she died in 2005), it is full of quotes and memories direct from the source. The author does tend to play the martyr card a little too much. He often portrays the dancer as a naive innocent, caught up in a vast conspiracy to destroy her. The chronology is occasionally hard to follow as the author sometimes jumps ahead or back to provide a better flow to the story.

Her story is one of survival against terrible odds rather than one of glamour and glitter. The descriptions of her dancing will make you wish you were one of the lucky ones in the audience.