The ladies of Burlesque As It Was. Photo courtesy of Michelle Baldwin.

The lovely artists of Denver’s Burlesque As It Was — which is celebrating ten years this summer — have moved over from downtown’s cozy but limiting Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret to the Soiled Dove Underground — and they brought a new show with them.

“Springtime in Paris: A Night at the Moulin Rouge” adds just the right neo-burlesque touch to familiar French imagery (maids, the can-can) while introducing new host Big Mama Red. We spoke with Burlesque As It Was founder Michelle Baldwin, a.k.a. Vivienne VaVoom, in advance of Saturday’s premiere show.

What was the inspiration behind the show?

I attended a show at the Moulin Rouge when I was in Paris and while it was basically like a classic Vegas showgirl show, just in French, I was still in love with the costumes and the sense of history the place had, and wanted to recreate a bit of that here.

Has Burlesque As It Was performed this type of revue before?

We’ve done French themed shows before, but this time I wanted to bring more of that historic French cabaret sense into the show — so there’s lots of big headdresses, and Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker both make appearances in the show. As folks walk in the door French cabaret music will be playing and we’ll all be wandering around in costume, making the audience really feel like they’ve stepped across the ocean and back in time.

Has BAIW performed at the Soiled Dove in the past, and if so, how is it different from other clubs the troupe has played?

This is our first show at the Dove and we’re ecstatic. The biggest difference is the quality of the sound and lights. It’s like working in a high-end theater and the options are endless. We’ve been working with the tech folks to come up with spectacular sights and sounds to go along with our acts, plus we’ve got a new emcee, Big Mama Red who sings and has live accompaniment, and they’re very excited about the plush sound system at the Dove.

What do you hope the average club-goer will walk away with from this show?

Everyone gets something different from our shows — for older folks it evokes memory and nostalgia, for younger folks it’s a glittery, classy spectacle, and there’s just not much of that around these days. We usually have a lot of women in the audience, partially because they love the glamour and the costumes, but also because none of the women in the show look anything like the stereotypical camera ready model types you see promoted in modern media.

We’re all shapes and sizes and the audience still find us sexy, and women love to see that — to hear a room full of people hooting and hollering for a woman that looks like them.

This summer BAIW celebrates its tenth anniversary. What have been some of the biggest challenges and successes of that time period? Did you think you’d be around ten years later?

I can’t believe it’s already been a decade since I started this little troupe! We’ve had the chance to perform in L.A., NYC, San Fran, New Orleans, Las Vegas — all over! Right now I have the best lineup of performers that I’ve ever had and the biggest challenge over the years has been building that lineup.

As someone who started out with little theater experience, it took a lot of dealing with (and dealing with getting rid of) some questionable talents over the years to get to the point I’m at now. Everyone in the troupe now is fabulous and dedicated and very low drama, I’m so lucky!

It’s been an amazing journey growing as a performer myself. In February I was awarded ‘Most Classic’ at the Boston Burlesque Expo and I just found out yesterday that I was selected as one of 15 performers competing for the title of Miss Exotic World — the biggest competition in burlesque! Fifteen out of 200-plus applicants! Unbelievable!

Anything you want to add about this show or BAIW in general?

When I put on my first show in ‘98, I did it just so I could see a big burlesque show, never intending to make a (nearly full time) hobby out of it. But I got a lot of encouragement and help to continue on, and now I love it and can’t imagine my life without it. Burlesque is such a gorgeous art form and it makes me so happy! And I started teaching lessons almost two years ago to spread some of that happiness!

Check out Burlesque As It Was online for more information on Saturday’s show.

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