Step inside the big top for a taste of the Barbary Coast in Vau de Vire’s lavish burlesque circus in Oakland
“What are you all lined up for?”
“Woooooah.”
“Is this, like, Cirque du Soleil or something?”
Just a few of the musings shared by bewildered passers-by with me or my fellow visitors to the Vau de Vire Society’s latest production, as we eagerly awaited entrance into the Tortona Big Top. This behemoth 12,000 Italian circus tent is where Vau de Vire, the company best known for their annual Edwardian Ball, has erected their latest show: smack-dab in the middle of Downtown Oakland. (This is the latest location for the annual production, which has previously called both San Francisco and Alameda Point home). Certainly, the Soiled Dove has made an impression on the Bay Area, even without having stepped inside.
For the gaggle of patrons, many of whom arrive costumed in lavish period attire (or at least some simulacrum thereof), the anachronistic sight of the old fashioned circus tent amidst the traffic lights and construction of Telegraph Avenue is only the first clue that their experience with the Soiled Dove will be anything but typical. Throughout the evening, old traditions meet modern sensibilities, clashing and melding into something wholly unique and altogether exhilarating.
Immediately upon entering the tent, I’m transported to the Barbary Coast, the legendary red light district of turn-of-the-century San Francisco. It’s at once evocative of the Gold Rush era, while being entirely unique — the Yerba Buena that never was and always will be…
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I settle in for that most time-honored of dramaturgical traditions, dinner theater, but it’s quickly clear the experience will be anything but traditional. As I work my way across the venue, I sample the multitude of enjoyable hors d’oeuvres passed to me by cast members fully invested in character and clad in their finest turn of the century burlesque. As the audience mingles and nibbles, the cast works its way to the stage, and several acrobats, dancers, and stunt artists perform as the talented Casa Nosa Strings play throughout dinner. The evening proceeds with a four course dinner from Work of Art catering, including a particularly delicious heirloom tomato salad course, as well as a cash bar. It’s worth noting, while tickets can be bought for the performance only, several acts do perform during dinner and are not repeated during the main show. An unofficial survey of the space revealed a mostly full tent for dinner, and those who opt for the performance-only ticket may find their options for seating somewhat limited.
As the s’more custard dessert was cleared, the main act began. The Jazz Mafia took to bandstand and a spectacle of burlesque, acrobatics, and dance began to play out all around us. While a large portion of the action takes place on the main center stage, performers could be found on a raised platform at the center of the tent, on staircases, dangling from the ceiling, and even on the bar. A second elevated stage housed the band, though it was no surprise to find musicians appearing throughout the tent, and a third platform was decorated as a Gilded Age bordello, home to the eponymous “soiled doves.”
As the Jazz Mafia tore the roof off the venue with a stunningly effective mix of jazz and hip hop, so too did the performers seamlessly blend traditional elements of Victorian and American burlesque with a more modern sensibility. Though the audience is free to interact with cast members who double as servers during the cocktail and meal time, and several opportunities for selfies/photos can be found within the tent, the main experience itself is not participatory or evocative of audience agency. The spectacle takes place in the round, engulfing the audience — the theater constantly buzzing with musical, circus, and dance performances. Suffused among the dazzling array of aerialists, contortionists, dancers, there was no shortage of traditional bawdy burlesque performances, vaudeville-infused numbers, and a welcome blend of camp, drag, and queer sensibilities. The emcees and their microphones were frequently beleaguered by technical issues, but it did little to distract from the parade of acrobats, “hot Amish goths,” sharpshooters, rapping priests, bearded ladies, and can-can dancers.
The show’s true strength is in its connection with its location. The Bay Area has, of late, played host to a growing number of performances and experiences that draw on its deep, heretofore untapped, well often tawdry and scandalous history. The Gold Rush and the Barbary Coast often seem like footnotes in the history of the story of a city more often defined by hippies and hipsters, or by tech industry booms and busts, but they’re foundational elements of its history. While the experience found under the big top is by no means historically accurate, and while any city can and has told stories of the Wild West, it feels at home here.
As the evening nears its end (a stunning four hours after I’d arrived, though it feels like less), the entire space fills with performers for a vivacious, memorable finale. As the raucous electric violin duel draws to a close, just as quickly as it began, the evening of “experimental exotica on the Barbary Coast” is over, and we file our way out of the tent and back into the present.
And, as I gush about the experience the next day, my coworker’s eyes light up, “Oh! Is that what that giant tent downtown is?!”
The Soiled Dove is playing on Fridays and Saturdays through November 30 (except Thanksgiving) at 1911 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, CA, and will return in 2019. Tickets are $137 for dinner and show or $59 for show only. They can be purchased at TheSoiledDove.com
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