La Soirée
La Soirée has also announced seasons in Montreal, Canada; Chicago, USA; and an extensive Australian tour that reached Darwin, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide in 2012 and 2013.
In September 2013, it was announced that La Soirée would be opening a season at the Union Square Theatre in New York City, commencing 29 October 2013,[14] for which it won an Off Broadway Alliance Award in the category of Best Unique Theatrical Experience.
[21] The cast for this London season included previous La Clique artists Yulia Pykhtina, The English Gents, Mooky, Le Gateau Chocolat, Katharine Arnold, Hugo Desmarais, Chris & Iris and Mario, Queen of the Circus.
[23] The cast also included artists Nate Cooper, Paul Capsis, Omar Cortes, Up & Over It and comedian David Armand, all of whom were performing in a La Soirée season for the first time.
Following its Australian debut as La Soirée at the Sydney Opera House, the producers announced that the show would return to the Adelaide Fringe Festival in 2012, performing in The Garden of Unearthly Delights.
The cast of the Adelaide season included Mooky, David O’Mer, Captain Frodo, The English Gents, Susannah Martinez, Le Gateau Chocolat, Yulia Pykhtina and Mario, Queen of the Circus.
The cast included Mario, Queen of the Circus, Amy G, Yulia Pykhtina, Mooky, Susannah Martinez, The English Gents, Captain Frodo, Miss Behave and David O’Mer.
"[33] The Critics' Choice section of the same magazine noted "the freakishly talented folk from 'La Clique' are back in a plush new South Bank tent and the line up, with old acts doing new tricks, and some new faces, is better than ever.
"[45] In Boyz (magazine), Joseph Cattell commented: "Funny and surprisingly touching, La Soirée is not only testament to the breathtaking beauty and strength of the human body, but proof that freaks really do have all the fun.
"[41] Evening Standard′s Fiona Mountford commented: "The exuberant international stars of last year's award-winning entertainment La Clique are not the sorts to be down in the dumps for long, which is why their sparkling new show, celebrating the ongoing revival of the variety/cabaret genre, is just the thing to combat the gloom.
"[39] The Daily Telegraph′s Charles Spencer echoed this sentiment: "Mixing good humour and glamour with a thrilling frisson of danger, La Soirée offers a wonderfully warm and welcoming refuge from the cold, scary world outside.
[24] After its press night on 28 November 2011, Time Out's Abigail Lelliott rated La Soirée five stars, calling it "endearing and exhilarating, pure adrenalin-fuelled entertainment at its best.
"[51] In a glowing review, Mark Shenton of The Stage claimed that "this ever-morphing smorgasbord of cabaret delights is pure pleasure, achieving a scintillating combination of dash and daring, sexy and silly, and wicked and witty.
"[55] Brian Logan of The Guardian again rewarded La Soirée with a four-star review, claiming that "as it returns for Christmas with a handful of new acts, there is no diminishing in the quality of the show that provided such a sassy, delinquent thrill on the South Bank last year" and that "the gasp factor is as lungbustingly high as ever.
"[53] In comparing The Roundhouse season to the previous one at the South Bank, Chortle's Steve Bennett wrote that "the variety line-up offers a well-judged mix of old favourites and new delights, all remaining true to the burlesque ethos and so ensuring another decadently stylish and daringly entertaining night out.
[57] The Sydney Morning Herald’s review noted that "La Soirée’s cast shines, treating showmanship and an earthy connection with the audience with as much importance as the acrobatic, comedy and variety skills.
[65] Mark Shenton wrote in The Stage that "burlesque has undergone something of a resurgence in the last few years, and La Clique/La Soirée have been a pioneering exponent of packaging it as something hip, accessible and intensely theatrical.
"[66] In The Sunday Times, Stephen Armstrong writes: "Burlesque is striding into the mainstream, heels high, arms akimbo and nipple-tasselled chest thrust firmly forward.
In 2008, the alternative variety show La Clique, which featured Ursula Martinez's subversive, pyrotechnic striptease among endearingly eccentric circus acts, won a Laurence Olivier Award and ran for nine months at the Hippodrome, London before smashing box-office records at The Roundhouse.
