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By Caroline Spivack<\/p>\n
Brooklyn Daily<\/p>\n
These clothes were gone in 60 seconds!<\/p>\n
Coney Island celebrated the illustrious acting career of Nicolas Cage (inset) with a burlesque strip-tease tribute that brought \u201cthe big knife\u201d to the Boardwalk at Coney Island USA on Sept. 1. Performers came clad as characters from their favorite Cage films for \u201cBurlesque Uncaged,\u201d a night of nearly-nude entertainment as outrageous as its subject. The show was a national treasure, said a producer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just as fun, crazy, and ridiculous as we hoped. There were a lot of hair pieces and fake chest hair,\u201d said show co-producer Neil O\u2019Fortune. \u201cThe over arching theme was sort of raw, unbridled enthusiasm for a man who\u2019s known for mega-acting, and the performers really brought that out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The risque revue paid homage to the actor\u2019s career \u2014 roles such as the \u201990s action heroes of \u201cCon Air\u201d and \u201cFace Off,\u201d the men who charmed us in \u201cMoonstruck\u201d and \u201cRaising Arizona,\u201d and the absurd character punching women in a bear suit in \u201cThe Wicker Man.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burlesque favorites including Cheeky Lane, Evelyn Vinyl, and Stockholm Filly dazzled with skits choreographed to audio clips of the actor and with more conceptual performances such as Madame Rosebud pouring paint on her barely clothed body. The act referenced a scene in one of Cage\u2019s more obscure films \u201cZandalee,\u201d in which he strips down to shorts and rubs paint all over his body while screaming.<\/p>\n
Scenes like that are why the producers focused on the wild-at-heart actor, said O\u2019Fortune.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is notorious for being outrageous and is always completely watchable, even if it\u2019s just really terrible,\u201d said O\u2019Fortune. \u201cHe\u2019s always incredibly entertaining and so 1,000-percent committed to his roles.\u201d<\/p>\n
The show concluded a three-year burlesque trilogy that centered on Hollywood royalty. Produced by Bastard Keith and Neil O\u2019Fortune the trio of shows began with a striptease tribute to Burt Reynolds in 2014 and continued with a show dedicated to Sean Connery in 2015.<\/p>\n
Reach reporter Caroline Spivack at cspivack@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260\u20132517. Follow her on Twitter @carolinespivack.<\/p>\n
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