Piper’s Playhouse, at Crown Melbourne

Champagne with hot sauce in the hedonistic spirit of Montmartre is all the go at Piper’s Playhouse at Crown Melbourne after hours.

Accompanied by an alluring soundtrack – part French, part English – sultry performers steam up the night in an intimate burlesque cabaret show.

It is a good-natured walk on the wild side. 

Three 20-minute acts showcase seven entertainers, including the maître d’, with ample time for champers and nibbles in between.

The piece de resistance of the latter is an oh so morish chocolate shoey with berries.

But while the stomach is being satiated, the mind is carried to forbidden places as the artistes strut, pout, cavort and cajole.

The experience starts with a warm greeting from some of the performers, before a few twists and turns, ahead of entering the Playhouse proper.

Along the way there are four peep holes through which you can view some saucy finger puppetry.

Next up, a few confession booths, in which you can reveal your long-held secrets. 

In that space too, behind a gilded frame (like that around an historic painting) is Becky Bubble, who – as the name suggests – sparks wonder from soap film.

Piper’s Playhouse itself is a hive of activity.

It is a venue featuring many small round tables, chairs and table lamps, and a stage up front, where a three-piece band is playing. 

Then, there is a second, central, showpiece, round stage that rotates, which is where most of the action takes place.

That is located in the midst of patrons, so everything feels up close and personal.

After a brief introduction from the maître d’, Valerie Hex, the artistic director of award-winning cabaret company YUMMY, drag star Jimi the Kween enters.

Not backward in coming forward, she is statuesque, fearless and potent, her high energy pop vocals setting the tone.

Next up is Diesel Darling, Miss Burlesque Australia 2020–21, all feathers and front, who has a lot more up her sleeve.

Becky Bubble can not only blow bubbles at will, but she can create smoke and play with fire.

The moustachioed Naz Alexander is an acrobat extraordinaire, who balances precariously on a slew of champagne flutes.

After the first interval, time and again, contortionist Soliana Ersie folds herself in half.

Sebastian Rideaux (Mr Marmalade) elevates sleight of hand by producing card after card from thin air and making each disappear or turn into a shower of confetti.

Fire eating and sword swallowing is also part of Diesel Darling’s repertoire.

Valerie Hex returns with a risqué bagel routine and Jimi the Kween slips into skintight red plastic.

Another break, before, Diesel Darling solicits audience help (to much mirth) to lift her into an imposingly large champagne glass, in which she bathes. Ooh ah. La, la, la.

The acrobat is up to more of his tricks, the maître d’ reads out some of our true confessions and drag royalty is back, alongside a rotating piano. 

Piper’s Playhouse makes for such a fun evening out. Revel in the flamboyance and spectacle. It is a perfect date night for the broadminded or to share with friends.

And the moment the show ends, another fine entertainer, Trevor Jones, takes to the rotating stage to play audience-led favourites on a red piano.

Think Let Me Entertain You, Bennie and the Jets and I Go to Rio, for starters.

To book for Piper’s Playhouse, go to https://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/bars/pipers-playhouse