Written by Alison Broverman. (Odeum Magazine February 2016)
It’s not every performer who gets to cycle through the grand dames of the musical stage and screen every night but, for Quinn Lemley, that’s business as usual in Burlesque To Broadway.
It’s not every performer who gets to cycle through the grand dames of the musical stage and screen every night but, for Quinn Lemley, that’s business as usual in Burlesque To Broadway.
The production is a showcase of Lemley’s musical theatre talents – she portrays everyone from Gypsy Rose Lee to Fanny Brice, performing a variety of songs from Broadway classics like “Don’t Rain On My Parade” to newer fare like “When You’ve Got It, Flaunt It” from the 2001 musical The Producers.
This isn’t Lemley’s first time embodying the “golden age” of entertainment – in the first show she created, she played Rita Hayworth, and loved it so much she decided to research more female icons from that era.
“It’s really fun, there’s a lot of thought into it,” says Lemley. “We wanted to show this journey of how women came from the 1930s into the present.”
Lemley’s interest in classic Hollywood and the American Songbook started in early childhood. “My best friend growing up was my grandma,” she says. “She lived behind me and she would play old records, the big band artists, and we’d watch all the movies and read all the biographies. So I really had an appreciation, which was unusual for people in my age group – they were listening to heavy metal, and I was loving the American Songbook!”
She still does, and it’s tough for her to pick a favourite moment from the show. “Every number is a highlight for me,” she says. “The whole concept of the show is about going after your dreams. I get to sing “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from Funny Girl, so I love doing that and the audience loves it, it’s about them.”
Another highlight is an elaborate fan dance, which required the work of a burlesque professional to learn. “We studied with Jo Weldon at the New York Burlesque School,” says Lemley. “There’s a real art to handling the fans – they’re heavy!”
The show is a crowd-pleaser, and Lemley’s favourite thing is to interact with the audience afterwards, still in one of her glamorous onstage outfits. “People stay for hours taking pics with me and the girls. [The show] lets people get in touch with their sense of humour,” she says. “Women celebrate themselves, and the men celebrate the women. It’s a great date night, but we’ve also had tons of women come in groups. They get all dressed up and it’s a night out for them.”
Lemley is so confident that audiences will love the show partly because, as she was developing Burlesque To Broadway, she showed many versions of it to audiences, and tweaked it according to their reactions. “We saw what resonated most and what touched them,” she says. “Our audiences have been incredible. You can just feel their energy, so we really shifted the numbers in the beginning, we could see what they preferred, so now we have all the best stuff.”
And she’s excited to be bringing her “best stuff” to Brampton. “I hope everyone comes out, grabs their guy and girl and boas,” she says. “We cannot wait to come to Brampton. The Rose Theatre is so beautiful, it’s a jewel. The theatre itself is going to be a great backdrop to the show.”
For more information and to purchase tickets for the show "Burlesque to Broadway" visit The Rose Theatre.
For more information and to purchase tickets for the show "Burlesque to Broadway" visit The Rose Theatre.
