SouthFlorida.com | City Link Magazine

On a quiet Sunday afternoon inside the West Palm Beach nightclub Respectable Street, a burlesque performer named Lisa Marie sits at the bar, poring over notes on a yellow legal pad while smoking long clove cigarettes. A plaid Western shirt clings to her busty form. She has a thick mane of coal-colored hair and eyes so blue they look as if they could shoot icicles. The heel of one motorcycle boot taps restlessly on the barstool, and the cuffs of her blue jeans are rolled up so thick she could hide a pack of smokes in them. A plush Gallop-N-Go Stick Pony sits on a nearby barstool, a prop for the cowgirl skit she's writing.

If Marie doesn't resemble a traditional burlesque performer, that's because she isn't. As emcee of the Palm Beach County-based Sexy Kittys, Marie is part of a movement that is attempting to update a lost and lusty art form. The troupe's tag line: "Not your grandmother's burlesque."

Dating back to the mid-1800s, burlesque often presents transformative, political satire addressing issues such as motherhood, class and gender -- all while stripping to pasties and underwear in elaborate skits and dance routines. In the early 1960s, many burlesque-friendly club owners closed the curtain on the form in favor of more-risqu� and -lucrative entertainment. But in the past decade, burlesque has enjoyed a resurgence, as evidenced by musical acts such as The Pussycat Dolls, annual events such as the New York Burlesque Festival and a successful burlesque troupe and tour presented by the alternative-porn Web site Suicidegirls.com.

Too young to recall when burlesque shows drew primarily leering, drunken men, the members of the Sexy Kittys, who range in age from 19 to 30 years old, cater to an equal number of men and women -- including Marie's mother. "My mom is so fascinated [by the troupe]," Marie explains. "In fact, I brought pictures home, and she showed her friends like, 'This is my daughter -- isn't she awesome?'

"To be in burlesque, you can't be stiff," Marie adds. "You have to have an open mind and be creative yourself. You don't need to be any certain size. We're not Vogue magazine; we're real women."

Co-founded by nightclub owner Rodney Mayo, businesswoman Donna Weinberger and her friend Chris Johnson, the Sexy Kittys are celebrating their first anniversary this month. Today, the group, which currently numbers about 10 dancers, has gathered at Respectable Street to film routines for an upcoming DVD and rehearse for a Valentine-themed breast cancer benefit show it will perform Feb. 9 at the venue.

"It was Donna's brainchild," Johnson says of the troupe. "But she asked me [to get involved] because she knew I was into pinup, burlesque and the counterculture thing."

With his small frame, shaved head and relaxed demeanor, Johnson is the troupe's only active male member, though he doesn't perform onstage. "Sometimes, I think I'm going to get my period," the Sexy Kittys producer, writer and stage manager jokes. "But it hasn't happened yet."

By day, Weinberger, whose scalp is dyed in a leopard print under a brown Mohawk, runs the graphic-design company TownTek, which creates those sometimes-annoying Internet e-vites. To her, the Sexy Kittys is just another means to express her creativity. But she takes exception when people equate the troupe's members with strippers.

"In South Florida, people are desensitized to nudity because of all the strip clubs," she argues. "That's kind of what we're up against: people who are not into the theatrical aspect [of burlesque]."

Although the performers do strip down to pasties and thongs during their routines, they often attempt to address serious issues, including domestic abuse and military life. They can also be lighthearted, as evidenced by the detective skit currently unfolding onstage. As the cameras roll, the troupe's choreographer, Brooke (who asked that her last name not be disclosed), steps from behind the curtains clad in a brown trench coat and fedora while The Pink Panther theme plays from the speakers. Her back to the audience, she pulls the coat up over her thighs and briefly reveals her G-string. She slinks across the stage with a magnifying glass and shimmies into a series of figure eights that betray her background as a professional dancer.

All the Kittys consider the group something of a sisterhood, though it has experienced a moment or two of sibling rivalry. "We've only had one catfight, and it was with a SuicideGirl," Marie says of a former troupe member. "Donna and she were fake-fighting, but it turned into a brawl. Donna had accidentally hit the girl's head on the wall, and then, the girl bit Donna's finger so hard it went through to the bone and she fainted twice." As Marie finishes the story, Weinberger wiggles her finger and admits that she still suffers residual pain from the bite.

Marie, who runs a salon in Delray Beach by day, says burlesque is just one aspect of the dancers' personalities. "We all live normal, everyday lives, and this is a time where we step out of our own boxes. This isn't our everyday life, but one night every couple of months, it is."

Brooke says the troupe allows her to exhibit not only skin but also her creativity, and the effect can be exhilarating. "There's a moment where your mind shuts off, and you're just like, 'I'm in it!' " she explains. Recently, she got so caught up in the moment that she finished the routine only to discover backstage that she had forgotten to remove her bra during the finale.

New dancer Lana has had similar experiences onstage. "I had never danced before [joining the troupe]," she says. "I'm dyslexic and clumsy, so for me it really was that thing where you finish the show and you're just like, 'Wow, what just happened?' "

The Sexy Kittys' sisterhood extends to burlesque troupes outside Florida, including The Rebelles of Asheville, N.C., and Le Scandal of New York. When the Kittys formed last year, Weinberger and the others often hit up these troupes for advice, particularly about how to build an audience.

"Our biggest goal is to put on a show, not just have girls dancing around to punk music," Johnson says. "We want to have something that touches on social issues, political issues and comedy."

Weinberger adds: "Basically, we know that sex sells, so we're using the show as a way to get the audience and then to educate and tell stories. If they catch it, that's great. If they don't, then at least they'll have a good time."

But not every idea has worked. "The Halloween show was called Loveless Love, and it was about real relationships," Weinberger recalls. "A lot of relationships are this kind of sick love, and we portrayed that in the show. I'm an extremist, and we went a little far. We even had a Jesus scene. I wanted to show that spirituality could be fun. It doesn't have to be attached to a specific religion. We had 'Spank and Pray' time, and Jesus got spanked. I would like people to realize it doesn't have to be so serious, and I think we are coming together in a spiritual sense. That's the only way people can really be creative: if they have that divine inspiration. We use religious humor as satire."

But the idea fell flat in front of the audience. "We saw people walk out," Johnson admits of that West Palm Beach show. "It was at the Cuillo Centre and there were some older people there who maybe thought it was grandma's burlesque. And when they saw that skit, that was somewhat of a low point for us."

Zac Phillips, the executive director for the Cuillo Centre for the Arts, says such a reaction is just part of show business. "I do shows every single day that people walk out on," he says. "There's nothing wrong with that." Having seen the Kittys perform a couple of times himself, he adds, "It's a great show, and I think it's an important thing for West Palm Beach."

Back at the Respectable Street rehearsal, Johnson has just returned with a foot-long beef jerky for Marie to use in the cowgirl skit. He admits it's not the kind she usually uses, but he's sure she'll be able to make some great jokes with it. And if the skit turns out to be too in-your-face for some people, so be it.

"Of course, I might see a cross in the sky one day like Bettie Page did and change my mind," Marie says, referencing the legendary pinup queen's conversion to Christianity. "But there's nothing wrong with what we're doing. It's good, clean fun."