Fangs For The Memories: Le Vampyre Cabaret @ AllWays Lounge
Review by James Hebert

Le Vampyre Cabaret is a horror/comedy (hormedy?) show hosted and produced by the duo Stanley Roy and Tsarina Magdalena Hellfire. It is a show of two acts featuring “live songs, lively storytelling, and good ole fashioned stripping!” 

Tonight’s show takes place in the Twilight Room, a venue arranged to be a more traditional cabaret space in the rear of the AllWays Lounge. The stage itself is set to resemble a Victorian salon, replete with velvet curtains and couches, candles, literature, and representative creatures of the night. As the music begins, the crowd is treated to their first performer: the show’s resident ‘Human.’ 

In lieu of a stage kitten, this show has a performer identified as The Human, and The Human is rarely the same performer twice. Tonight’s Human is Hellin Heels, and she looks fully Donna Reed incarnate as she primly tidies the stage in preparation for what’s to come. Cornflower blue dress, immaculate white apron, perfectly pinned hair, and just enough lipstick to highlight a brilliant smile make us grateful that she’s present in full technicolor. 
Our host and hostess enter, baring high-quality fangs as they grin at us and bid us all, “Good morning!” They go on to introduce themselves and the show. 
Stanley Roy is a singer, songwriter, and an expert storyteller. Every part of his apparel is representative of the show that he and his co-producer have put together: splendid, gothic high-fashion consisting of a frock coat, multiple lace cravats piled atop one another, silk stockings… and absolutely no trousers to conceal the rich crimson banana hammock he so blatantly sports. 
His companion is the perfect pairing; Tsarina Hellfire is the dark and mysterious yin to Stanley’s bright and lively yang. Tsarina is a singer and performer comfortable in her occult persona. Where Stanley’s antics will make the audience laugh and compete for volume as they cheer, Tsarina’s haunting songs and dark-eyed glares will have you still and silent, forgetting every other sight and sound but her, until you find yourself hopelessly lost in her music and movements.  
The show is peppered with a full cast of performers, the fanged and festive paraded through the stage to illustrate masterful performances that push the limits of what’s accepted or understood to be burlesque. Tonight’s cast features Ariana Amour, Vivi Noir, and the previously mentioned Human, Hellin Heels. 
Vivi Noir performs with a knowing grin, stalking through the audience with the slow grace of a panther, building upon a thickening sense of anticipation as a cover of Every Breath You Take appropriately fills the theater. The act is a slow burn that doesn’t shy away from getting up close and personal with the audience, displaying a playful familiarity with the crowd not dissimilar to a spider cruelly welcoming flies to her web.    
Ariana Amour makes her entrance, appearing chaste and prayerful in the wedding white of Lucy Westenra straight off the screen of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. She begins with lines featured in Coppola’s cinematic offering of that tale, from inviting and pleading through to hissing and cackling. The music begins, Meg Myers’ Desire, and with the music, Ariana guides you through a deep exploration of the concept of temptation. Her performance showcases glamour in addition to an impressive, precise choreography. 
Between performances, Hellin Heels has been doing her human best to clear the stage of brassieres, gloves, corsets, and dollar-bill detritus. Her efforts are appreciated by the performers, but bloodthirsty hedonists can only be kept at bay for so long. The conclusion of the first act coincides with the conclusion of Hellin Heels’ mortal life. She is ambushed and feasted upon by the unholy fiends on-stage, who slake their thirst on her vital fluids. 
The second act descends more deeply into the debaucherous. The performances continue to keep a cadence mingling the comedic and the sensual. Stanley Roy regales us with a dramatic reading of a classic tale about a monster and his fears. Tsarina’s second act performance is a consistent testament to the power of her presence. It’s easy to imagine Tsarina Hellfire as a creature from generations past; spoken of only in whispers, her name accompanied by religious gestures to ward off evil. It is impossible to deny that she is anything less than magical. 
The entire cast thankfully returns to the stage, obliging the guests with the more, more they’ve wished to have. This return includes Hellin Heels, whose murder seems to have caused a transformation from living to undead. True to traditional vampire tales, her turning has seemingly expanded her sense of awareness, amplified every sensation, and possessed her of a lustful, wanton energy. The sultry sound of Twin Temple’s I’m Wicked creeps out of the speakers as Hellin demonstrates the truth to the song through her performance. The 50’s housewife is gone, and in her place is a woman whose husband would certainly not want sleeping in a separate bed. 
Le Vampyre Cabaret is an exceptional display of talent that remains consistent in its high-quality, daring performances. The producers set a high bar for show quality and this is evident in every detail. Whether you’re a New Orleans local, or just passing through, I highly recommend that you gather some friends  - safety in numbers, though; vampires are dangerous!

Le Vampyre Cabaret runs most months at AllWays Lounge. For dates and ticketing information, click here

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