Perfect matches are hard to find but when it happens it is pure magic. Well my friends, we are lucky to have one of those perfect matches now playing in Chicago. La Soirée, which has been described as an international cabaret/variety show, has found its perfect match right here in Chicago under the magnificent tent of the Riverfront Theatre.

Bawdy, brash and brilliant, La Soirée is a spectacular evening of sexy, adrenalin pumping jubilation! Describing what La Soirée is can be difficult because it embodies almost every form of theatricality into the production. Grand opera, musical theatre, circus, vaudeville, dance, inprov and acrobatics are all expertly integrated into the show which separates La Soirée from any of it's would be contemporaries.

La Soirée, which just won the 2012 London Cabaret Award (Best One-Off Production), was created by Brett Haylock, Mark Rubinstein and Mick Perrin for Just for Laughs Live which debuted inLondonin October of 2010. Rubinstein and Perrin birthed the prior La Clique, for which some the current acts previously appeared. As many of the most unique productions begin, the genesis was at fringe festival, this one being in Edinburgh in 2004.

La Soirée, currently on an international tour, opens with baritone opera diva Le Gateau Chocolat, delivering the magnificent aria "Nessun Dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot" in pure La Cagelle fashion (earning a standing ovation the evening I attended the performance). From there we are presented with a variety of acts, including Denis Lock and Hamish McCann (The English Gents) showing us the beauty, grace and strength of the human body through balance; New York's Bret Pfister (Adam Lambert with a killer body), using a floating hoop for an aerial ballet; Musician and anatomically gifted Amy G doing things with a Kazoo that would make the ping pong girl in Pricilla Queen of The Desert envious; Comedian Mooky (Mooky Cornish) gives Carol Burnett's Nora Desmond a run for her money; Susannah Martinez does a good old fashioned striptease (without the tease); Yulia Pykhtina gives us an unbelievable hula hoop routine and the hilarious Nate Cooper begs the question Barbara Streisand poses in Funny Girl, "Can I roller skate?

The crème de la crème of the evening is gymnast David O'Mer (The Bath Man) who uses a bath tub to create one of the most exotic and sexually charged routines ever to be seen. Whether you identify as gay, straight or anywhere in-between, Mr. O'Mer projects pure sex appeal. His physicality and control coupled with the dangerous aspect of being wet and slippery while raising and lowering himself on ropes is utterly jaw dropping.

There is another quality of La Soirée that must also be mentioned and that quality is an intangible. More than the spectacle of the various acts, La Soirée is a show that is extremely touching and works its way into every fiber of your body. It is that rarity of rarities that I dare to say, La Soirée is pure perfection.

La Soirée plays through August 5th. at the Riverfront Theater, 650 W. Chicago Ave. Tickets are $39-$85 and can be purchased by visiting www.riverfronttheater.com; and through Ticketmaster, www.ticketmaster.com or 888.556.9484.

Parking is located onChicago Avenue, next door to venue with direct access to show. Additional parking is located at 811 N. Larabee and 950 N. Kingsbury.

La Soirée is recommended for Mature Audience.

Bret Pfister

 
 

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