We are starting November with a bang and could there be a bigger bang than the glitter-drenched, artificial and exaggerated melodrama that is Showgirls!
Showgirls was released in 1995 and stars Saved By the Bell alumni, Elizabeth Berkley, as wannabe, Las Vegas showgirl, Nomi Malone. Nomi tumbles in to Las Vegas, hitching a ride with a sketchy truck driver who steals all her worldly possessions and leaves her stranded outside the glittering, neon lights of the Stardust Casino. Just when it looks like Nomi is all out of luck, she is picked up by naive, ray of sunshine, Molly Abrams (Gina Ravera). Molly is a costumer for Goddess, the resident show at the Stardust Casino and she takes Nomi along with her to watch the show from backstage. Here Nomi meets the show’s star and her later nemesis: Cristal Connors.
There is much sexual tension and some angsty choreographic sequences to demonstrate the power struggle of lust vs. stardom but ultimately through sheer determination, several shouty, fast-paced audition sequences and a big push down the stairs… Nomi’s star rises and she completes the transformation from stripper to showgirl. Success! But the course of showbiz never did run smooth and after a star-studded party, in which Molly is attacked by her celebrity crush, Andrew Carver (William Shockley), Nomi swears revenge. With her past quickly catching up with her (doesn’t it always?), Nomi beats Andrew Carver within an inch of his life, makes amends with Cristal and flees town, heading to Los Angeles with the same driver who dropped her off- we love a full circle moment!
The film was a commercial and critical flop, which if you have been reading this blog for long enough means it is perfect Midnight fodder. It sits in the same category as another cult classic and Midnight Culture fave: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. The story even follows the same beats: naive performers come to the big city, lose themselves in the wake of success and it all ends in violence and lots of fake blood. The acting is hammy and the plot is melodramatic, with every day interactions dripping in intensity and conflict; I mean I’ve never seen someone respond to being asked where they’re from by chucking their entire dinner across a table.
Showgirls had a battle with the critics, it consistently ranks as ‘one of the worst films ever made’ but despite terrible box office figures, the home video release was incredibly successful and it is actually one of MGM’s top 20 all-time bestsellers. It has spawned an ‘unofficial’ Showgirls musical, inspired an acting challenge: Showsquirrels on Season 2 of RuPaul’s Drag Race and is famously Michelle Visage’s favourite film! Which can only lead to one conclusion: Showgirls is the ultimate Midnight Movie!
Elizabeth Berkley has spoken at length about the impact this film had on her career and that it has taken a long time for her to embrace and celebrate her part in Showgirls. In fact there is a whole documentary: You Don’t Nomi, about Showgirls‘ redemption arc from critical flop to cult classic. The documentary is currently available to rent on Amazon Prime and is a must-watch for fans of the movie.
The film is camp, it is cult and it is a complete Vegas, mega-dream. Here are some of my favourite so bad, it’s good aspects of the film:
Nomi’s Dancing
The movie hinges on the fact that Nomi is a good dancer, in fact for the plot to work at all it has to be believable that when Nomi dances she is magnetic with natural talent and star quality. Unfortunately, Berkley’s dancing in the film is a… choice. Her signature style is thrashing around with her hands opened wide and her eyes closed, supposedly lost in the music. The second unfortunate thing is that the first person in the film to spot her scripted ‘natural talent’ is, James (Glenn Plummer) another ‘dancer’ who can’t dance and who thinks it’s a good idea to showcase his ‘groundbreaking, emotional contemporary’ dance piece in a strip club! An honourable mention must go to Nomi’s ‘floppy fish’ which makes an appearance in the club and then later on in a swimming pool (I’ll let you spot those yourself) but the final unfortunate choice is the cringey panting and groaning audio that has been left in to demonstrate how hard Nomi is working as she throws her leg in the air or launches into a jump or lift. If the sweat doesn’t tell you she’s working hard those pants definitely will!
An honourable mention also must go to this rehearsal scene. It is truly incredible how in one moment you can be drilling technically demanding piqué turns and in the next be screaming ‘Thrust It’ while a dancer clings to her kitten heels for dear life and thrusts her hips in your face.
Gaye the choreographer
Gaye must be the most enthusiastic choreographer/dance captain on the Vegas strip. We all know that choreographer that speaks in vowels and counts rather than words but Gaye takes it to another level, joining in with the routine when she feels like it and taking herself out to call the counts or just make noises of encouragement. She is a woman on a mission, she has no time, she spends the whole film revving up the cast, running them from the dressing room to the stage and back again, throwing out a couple of counts of eight in an audition or rehearsal and needing the dancers to pick it up now, now, now!
I want a sequel all about Gaye and what it takes to be a groundbreaking choreographer and powerhouse presence behind the scenes of the Stardust Casino. I want to know how she speaks when she gets home and doesn’t need to throw her voice across a vast stage, I want to know what she’s like in the quiet moment right before sleep finds her. I see you Gaye, and I appreciate you.
Goddess: The Show
If Nomi being a good dancer is one pilar of the film, the other pilar is that Goddess, the resident show at the Stardust Casino is the best show in Vegas and that playing the lead is a coveted role reserved for celebrities like Madonna, Janet Jackson or Cristal Connors. Again, it is hard to get on board with that idea when Goddess is an entirely topless dance show and the audience never really know what it is about. I’ve tried to work out the basic plot, mapping the costumes to the sections of the show we see.
The Opening Number
The show opens with the birth of the ‘goddess’ as the star of the show emerges from a volcano. The ensemble in gold lamé tunics and trousers, who have already done a full pas de deux in the first five minutes of the show slip out of their clothes and the choreography continues to a driving beat. It all looks a little Barbarella.
The Romantic Mid-Point
The next scene seems to be some sort of goddess bridal scene. The cast are in soft, romantic white costumes and dance a sweeping pas de deux that feels like a celestial celebration of love all with that same slightly sci-fi feel but with a lot more glitter.
The Fierce, Leather Climax
The final section of the show we see is a leather, motorbike led, BDSM style number. The cast wear black bob wigs, leather jackets and thigh high boots and the goddess is lowered onto the stage seemingly by a crank that is being churned by the male ensemble.
One of my favourite things in a dance movie is when you see the choreography being ‘rehearsed’ in one scene and then see the same sections of choreography as part of the whole ‘performance’ later on. I love spotting the sections we saw being rehearsed earlier, and the sexually-charged power play choreography danced by Nomi and Cristal in this scene is one we definitely saw being prepared earlier. Then after some dramatically unprofessional fighting on stage and with Gaye telling everyone to ‘Go! Go! Go!’, Nomi pushes Cristal down the stairs from the stage back to the dressing room and ascends her throne as the new star of the space age romantic epic that we now know as: Goddess.
My only other question is how do the cast manage the huge costume, make-up and wig changes that happen in the show?
Costume and styling
Showgirls has a gorgeous, glamorous mid ’90’s aesthetic. Nomi may not be the best dancer but she can absolutely beat her face to airbrushed perfection and turn a look. From thigh high boots and mini skirts, leather jackets and high waisted jeans and of course that ‘Ver-Sayce’ dress, Nomi’s got style. The Goddess costume and make up is stunning, like an homage to iconic designed Bob Mackie, the costume includes: a nude bodystocking covered in glitter, glittery eyeliner and heaps of bronzer and the iconic glitter glue hair strips feeding back into the highest ponytail. It’s 24 carat, stagey perfection.
Showgirls is a film like no other. It is melodrama performed with total sincerity, it is a dance movie where every dance sequence makes you cringe a little bit, it is a sexually-charged glittery Vegas fever dream. It is Midnight Culture perfection!
Midnight Culture 