Dita Von Teese—the undisputed modern queen of burlesque—debuted her new residency, A Jubilant Revue, last Thursday. Staged at the Horseshoe Las Vegas’s iconic Jubilee Theater, the 75-minute show is a stylish homage to Jubilee!, one of Vegas’s most famous revue shows on the Strip and the last showgirl production of its kind, which ran from 1981 to 2016. “I was a huge fan of the Jubilee!,” says Von Teese. “I used to come to it all the time when I would come to Vegas. I loved the extravagance and opulence—the feathers and rhinestones. I mean, the costume budget alone was equivalent to $12 million!”
To pay homage to the original Jubilee! show, Von Teese incorporates some of its original showgirl costumes and set pieces into her production, alongside entirely new choreography, numbers, and designs. Among the original costumes are pieces by Bob Mackie and Pete Menefee. “They were just locked up downstairs [in the Jubilee Theater], and I was like, ‘Can I use them?’” says Von Teese. “I thought it was a great time to be able to show them off again.” To make them feel more her, however, Von Teese added sensual details such as Swarovski crystal pasties—a more burlesque touch than a showgirl one. “I don’t fit into the showgirl [archetype],” says Von Teese. “There are a lot of parameters that have been around the showgirl for a decade, and I’m excited about liberating that and showing the costumes—which were usually reserved for very tall, thin women—in a different way.”