Review: House of Allure at The Black Box, Birmingham

House of Allure – a Birmingham-based burlesque and cabaret group – returned to the Black Box theatre for their second show at the newly-opened venue on Saturday 15th June 2024 for a spectacular pride special.

The show opened with a feathery and fabulous homage to the LGBTQ+ classic film, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from Dominus Von Vexo accompanied by the evening’s host, Locques La Roux; who did an amazing job of engaging the audience, introducing each new act, and altogether keeping the show moving throughout the night. Plus, what pride show is complete without a unicorn performing Lady Gaga?

Locques La Roux

House of Allure mother, Dominus Von Vexo treated the audience not only to a Priscilla homage but also a camp pirate performance, danced alongside Tristan Treble's live vocals,  and gave us a memorable ending with a sparkling Madonna closing number.

Dominus Von Vexo

The evening also saw performances from: Cielle Joelle who, Dearest Reader, was the gossip of the Ton embodying Bridgerton’s Queen Charlotte as well as performing a RuPaul medley, drag king, Tristan Treble who took us to the cabaret with outstanding live vocals, Coco Deville who was filthy/gorgeous in her performances, and Amarise whose Tina Turner performance was ‘simply the best’.  The show even saw a fan-tastic flashmob from House of Allure’s dance class members.

Cielle Joelle as Queen Charlotte

Tristan Treble

Amarise as Tina Turner

Meanwhile, Mimi Mariama acted as stage manager, and to paraphrase 1968’s The Queen and Flawless Sabrina, if you do “the age-old drag trick of taking off the duster and letting it fall,” Mimi will be there to collect it.

If you missed this glittering, fun, camp and entertaining cabaret show, then you’re in luck; House of Allure will return to The Birmingham Black Box in November (tickets not yet on sale).

The venue:

The Black Box Theatre in the Jewellery Quarter (19 Harford Street, Birmingham) is a new hub for a diverse range of shows and performances. The venue’s roof lets in a lot of natural light, especially in June, and it offers a large space for seating which was arranged at tables (each of which accommodated two people), the venue lends itself perfectly to the ‘Kit Kat Club’ style of seating for cabaret and burlesque. While the well-sized stage also provided plenty of space for performers to move during their numbers, and even space to accommodate additional dancers. The space as a whole does still need a little more TLC, in particular the bathrooms, (however, these were clean), and the bar that could certainly offer more choices, but I am excited to see how The Black Box will continue to grow and flourish in the future.