New Times Broward-Palm Beach Calendar Editor Mickie Centrone attends and details some of the finest -- and occasionally subpar -- events from a given week. Last Thursday, she crashed the "Death Becomes Her" murder mystery show at the Green Room in Fort Lauderdale.
"It reminds me of a party in the '60s I was at," says an older gentleman in the 70s range as he stares at three lifeless bodies lying on the stage, wearing nothing but lingerie. Arthur, a winker who was sporting a collared cerulean T-shirt and a bald head, is at the "Death Becomes Her" murder mystery burlesque show because his son kidnapped him. There are six dead girls on stage now, and Arthur is howling, "Oh,
baby, yeah" on repeat -- if ever a mute button existed... Then he repeats in full seductive mode the last lyric after the last song
finished playing, "Sexuality is great." Arthur says, "Burlesque is art, but it helps if you're stoned."
Jayce, who spends his time either piercing body parts or handing out free cig coupons at local haunts near you, agrees with Arthur that sexuality is great. "I'll get boners wherever I can. One of the greatest things we get." This New Times representative cannot confirm. "Oh my God, there was so many sweet asses tonight. I'm pumped about that," Jayce goes on. So we talk about burlesque being compared to stripping. "If it's not stripping," says Jayce, "then I guess... it's burlesque. But it still moves me 6 to midnight." I then ask another man at bar: "Would you compare this to a strip club?" Federico responds, "No, not even close. I'm here with my wife, actually."
The show was well-executed. The choreography, the music (talk about the
ultimate sex mix tape), the film, the story, the performances, all made
this striptease art. This is how it went: Each dame was killed, and their murders were shown to the audience on a giant projector screen on the wall before each performance. Then one by one, they performed on stage, giving the audience a hint about their death using props such as a knife, a washing machine, a sauce pan, fire.
