Go & Do: “Cirque de Ole!” at Lannie’s

Go & Do: “Cirque de Ole!” at Lannie’s
by John Wenzel on August 7, 2008

Tijuana SweetCakes leads “Cirque de Ole!” at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret through Sept. 26. Photo from lannies.com.

If “Cirque de Ole!” sounds like a Latin musical revue with a showy, burlesque edge, well… that’s because it is (dang, you’re smart). Running at 11 p.m. on Friday nights through Sept. 26, the variety show is led by Kim Franco’s Tijuana SweetCakes, a veritable cabaret supergroup with Dario Rosa on guitar and others familiar to the nightclub revival scene.

Like some mix of Calexico, DeVotchKa and your neighbor’s garage band, SweetCakes presents a “unique mishmash of old timey blues, Latin, country, lounge and mariachi” to get you on your feet. “It’s a show AND a band,” host venue Lannie’s declares on its website, “as in costumes, schtick, humor, puppets, rapport with audience, (and a) burlesque dancer or two.”

Sounds like a sensory overload. Who’s in?