Have a merry XXX-mas!
The striptease superstars of the Wassabasco burlesque crew will stage a one-time-only performance of “A ’70s Christmas Carol” at the Bell House in Gowanus on Dec. 4. The show will feature all the familiar characters from the classic Charles Dickens novella, but doing a bump and grind, says the show’s director.
“I like to think of our scripted shows as musicals, but instead of a song and dance there’s a strip number,” said Nasty Canasta, who will also take the lead as a sexy Ebenezer Scrooge.
The characters will be portrayed by the company’s burlesque girls — and one boylesque performer — including a notably adult Tiny Tim, played by Sydni Deveraux.
The casting is not the only difference separating Wassabasco’s adaptation from the not-nearly-as-steamy original. The cabaret conversion ditches the original’s 19th Century setting for the 1970s, and the office of Scrooge’s unscrupulous money-lending enterprise has been tossed in favor of an equally unsavory nightclub.
The story kicks off with bevy of beauts looking to call it a night and head home for the holidays, but miserly nightclub owner Scrooge won’t let her girls take off before they take it off, said Canasta.
“Scrooge doesn’t care if it’s Christmas tomorrow, they still have to dance,” said the Park Slop performer.
But over the course of one eventful Christmas Eve, Scrooge is visited by three sexy specters representing past, present, and future, all costumed appropriately — with the Ghost of Christmas Future is dressed in an early ’90s outfit.
“They’re past, present, and future appropriate for the 1970s,” said Canasta.
The polyester-era setting lends itself to some outrageous outfits, and helps the show stand out from other holiday burlesque shows, which tend to lean heavily on “Nutcracker” and Santa themes.
“It’s such a wonderful, horrible visual time period that everything goes,” said Canasta. “I think a lot of Christmas shows are all red and green, and everyone is dressed as Santa and elves, and we’re going to offer something that’s a bit different.”
Also a bit different is Scrooge’s revelation at the climax of Wassabasco’s Christmas classic, after the spirits have restored her faith in simple pleasures.
“She learns to let her hair down and take her bra off,” Canasta explained.
“A ’70s Christmas Carol” at the Bell House [149 Seventh St. between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus, (718) 643–6510, www.thebe
