The local burlesque group is known to celebrate the holidays with more sugar and spice than your typical seasonal affair. That includes “little sprinkles of striptease” as part of the risqué theatrical performances this time of year, according to Rhinettes owner Ashley Morgan Monroe.
“It’s super fun. We take classic Christmas songs that are normally in Christmas movies or are staples for Christmas and give them a burlesque edge,” she says. “A little striptease. A little comic relief. A little storytelling.”
The first chance to see what Monroe, who performs as Miss Monroe, is talking about is on Saturday, December 14, at HQ during the third annual Twelve Ho’s of Christmas show.
“The Twelve Ho’s is just hilarious,” Monroe says, adding that each act is tailored to the individual performer who auditioned to be a part of it. “I try to work with new people and all bodies to embrace burlesque.”
Burlesque performer La Pomme De Terre is back for this year's holiday extravaganza.
Courtesy of the Rhinettes
But there are two more opportunities to celebrate with Monroe — on Friday, December 20, and Saturday, December 21, during The Rhinettes Present: Holiday Extravaganza at Buntport Theater. The yearly show includes the troupe’s thirteen dancers; along with Monroe, the Rhinettes are Palisade, Ana Pedestal, Devyn Deluxx, Jeane Sai Whaa, Kenny G, La Pomme De Terre, Lady Electra, Lulu Bell, Miss GinJa, Sparrow Spitfire, Tuft Teateaze and Vixen Von Nessa.
“This year we have so many pieces. We have an Elf piece that is 'White Christmas,' in the sense that it’s bumpity-bump-bump Christmas — not white Christmas like the snow, like the other form of snow,” Monroe explains. “We have Mr. and Mrs. Claus doing an ‘I hate Christmas’ song, because they’re sick of Christmas. Then the story is all told by Santa’s mistress, so everybody can get her point of view. We have a little evil squirrel that’s going around. We have a woman that’s getting horny from snow.”
Talk about visions of sugar plums dancing in your head.
“There’s just so many things you can take from Christmas,” she continues. “We have Jack Frost doing the classic Jack Frost going into Nelly’s ‘Hot In Herre.’ There’s a lot of juxtaposition in burlesque and turning Christmas on its head.”
If you’ve never been to a burlesque show, tips are encouraged.
“You can make it rain. Make it obnoxious. We love that,” Monroe says. “Expect to have a ton of fun. I love to talk to the audience. I love to make people laugh. You’ll never hear a Christmas song the same way ever again. It’s all about learning how to enjoy yourself and love your body where it’s at.”
After thirteen years in Brooklyn, where she honed her craft, Monroe moved to Denver eight years ago, eventually forming the Rhinettes four years ago, after meeting her fellow performers at Tease Studio in RiNo.
“I was always inspired by the Rockettes, so I was like, ‘Oh, rhinestones and RiNo, Rhinettes.’ We tend to use so many rhinestones in burlesque, so it made it sound like what we actually do,” she explains. “I wanted to give kudos to RiNo for having housed our group first, too.”
Today the Rhinettes rehearse in Monroe’s home near DU, but the group is still growing.
“We’re doing shows all over town, and I’m really proud of the strength that we’ve gotten in our number,” she continues. “We started with a bigger group, then we went down in numbers, and now we’re back up to where we started because we’re getting more gigs.”
Other than the annual events, including fall and spring performances, the Rhinettes have appeared at the Mile High Burlesque Fest, as well as Denver PrideFest twice in the past three years.
“That was so much fun,” Monroe says. “It’s just really important to us, because we have a lot of nonbinary and queer people in our group. We like to take all year, not just Pride Month, to celebrate them.”
A Pilates instructor by day, Monroe is celebrating twenty years as a burlesque artist. While the lifelong dancer fell into the art form unintentionally after graduating from California’s Chico State University, what she found in burlesque, which covers “boylesque” and drag, was a diverse and welcoming community.
“This was the first art form as a dancer where everyone was accepted and it was all-inclusive. and I really loved that and embraced that, and it helped heal me from all this trauma in dance,” she says, adding that the Denver burlesque scene is “really accepting and powerful.”
“We like to say in burlesque that everybody can do burlesque,” Monroe concludes. “I feel like our group has really shown that and really pushed the boundaries of what one group can do.”
12 Ho's of Christmas, 6 p.m. Saturday, December 14, HQ, 60 South Broadway; tickets are $20. The Rhinettes Present: Holiday Extravaganza, 7 p.m. Friday, December 20, and Saturday, December 21, Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan Street; tickets are $29-$40.
