 | Opens April 23, 2010 at the Quad Cinema in New York City Burlesque acts were America's most popular form of live entertainment in the first half of the 20th century. After the 1960s, The art of burlesque became vilified and misunderstood, and was largely left out of our cultural history. By telling the intimate and surprising stories from its golden age through the women (and men!) who lived it, Behind the Burly Q reveals the true story of burlesque, even as it experiences a new renaissance. Although its origins derive from France, Great Britain and Greece, burlesque became a wildly popular American form of art that thrived in the early to mid part of the 20th century. Because of the sexual innuendo and the barely-there costumes it has largely been left out of the history books. In the 1840s burlesque was applied to a wide range of comedic plays that entertained the lower and middle classes in Great Britain. Coming to America, burlesque evolved into shows performed by scantily-clad beauties. It thrived, appealing to the masses of working class people who weekly stormed the theatres to see troupes like The British Blondes, a bevy of beauties dressed in tights. Burlesque poked fun at the upper classes, at sex, and at what people were willing to do in the pursuit of obtaining sex. By the 1920s the old burlesque circuits closed and strip tease was introduced to offer something vaudeville and film did not. During the Great Depression, for a dime a man could fall into a big ... |