High Drama: Colorado's Historic Theatres Book

My interest in striptease in the 1930s and my bigger interest in Gypsy Rose Lee is what made me pick up this book. I have a fascination with burlesque and the art of striptease during the Depression, and so I was happy to find a relatively cheap book (I picked this up in a second-hand book store) that was full of it.

Shteir doesn't disappoint. With over 80 pages of footnotes alone, she goes from the late nineteenth century right until The Pussycat Dolls of today. Her focus is primarily during the Golden Age of stripping- the late 1920s to the early 1940s. She also devotes an entire chapter to my favourite striptease artist, Gypsy Rose Lee. She presents the women involved in a favourable light; women who enjoyed their work, were good at it, and were able to make money off it until they retired (which some never did). She also focuses a little to striptease in the 1950s, with an emphasis on the adorable Candy Barr. Throughout the text, Shteir also continuously refers to Gypsy Rose Lee, Ann Corio, Sally Rand, Tempest Storm and Lili St. Cyr.

One thing I found very interesting was that the turn of the century, ballet was what introduced the art of stripping. When Francisque Hutin appeared on stage wearing tights and a loose skirt, she caused a scandal. This in itself isn't worth writing home about, but I found it interesting how Shteir stated this is what caused everything to evolve from.

I gave this book a three out of five due to the amount of information within. However, in terms of interest it sustained for me, I'd give it more of a two out of five. It was difficult to sustain interest. I would have liked more of a history to the leading ladies Shteir presents, and their life before stripping. She occasionally refers to their life pre-stripping, but never fully establishes their personalities beyond their working life. Shteir also briefly discusses burlesque and neoburlesque, but never fully develops her ideas. I found it surprising she never referred to Dita Von Teese.

Despite this, it's a very informative book, and worth a read if you have an interest in stripping and striptease.