Athens Spectacular spotlights local burlesque artists

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, burlesque shows were a regular part of nightlife in downtown Athens, with large crowds at the 40 Watt Club screaming for their favorite stars as the talented and crafty performers continued to come up with ways of removing items of clothing onstage in creative and often hilarious ways.

After premier Athens burlesque troupe Effie’s Club Follies went on indefinite hiatus in 2019, opportunities for local artists have been somewhat scarce, usually limited to guest spots at Athens Showgirl Cabaret and one-off events such as Magical Creature Cabaret, Grotesque Burlesque and LuQui Nights.

Athens Spectacular, a newly-formed “experimental cabaret” curated by local burlesque artist Vianca Champagne, is scheduled to hold its inaugural showcase at work.shop on Saturday, June 15. Champagne said the show is intended to be the first of more planned Athens Spectacular events, and the choice to have it debut during Pride Month was deliberate.

“We have an all-queer cast for this show, which is very important to me,” Champagne said. “I want queer people in the audience to feel just as safe, welcome and celebrated as the performers, because we are constantly working hard to have our time in the spotlight.”

Champagne hails from Seattle, Washington, where she grew up close to her older siblings, drag artists Kristie Champagne and Visage “Legs” LaRue. As is the case with several of the burlesque artists she would later meet in Athens, Champagne’s background is in theater, and she trained in New York before deciding where she wanted to relocate. Champagne said that she found Athens in a Google search for “fun, cheap places for young adults to live” and moved there in 2020.

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Having never experienced Athens during the years where solo burlesque artists were a fixture of the local creative class, Champagne attended events where burlesque acts were included and made friends with folks who were still active in the scene. After being booked at a few showcases, Champagne decided to create an opportunity in which they would be back in the spotlight performing neo-burlesque, a modern reinvention of the art form that began to gain notoriety in the mid-1990s.