Emerald Theatre -until 28 September 2025
Reviewed by Claire Roderick
3***
The Emerald Theatre opens with a crowd-pleasing burlesque extravaganza directed by the legendary Dita Von Teese. With dining options and plentiful bars, the audience can enjoy pre-show live acts and after-show partying through the night.
Unfortunately, rather than a host and a parade of acts, Diamonds and Dust has a framing device of tough Western gal Miss Kitty LeRoy telling the story of her life – multiple husbands, saloons and the capricious Lady Luck. Faye Tozer does her best with the turgid and repetitive book in the role, but this is the weakest part of the show, even with the help of Kitty’s deadly cool card slingers (Lady Lydia and Zoë Marshall) and the appearance of the acts comes as a relief. Tozer thankfully gets to sing and dance in a few numbers and shows her true charisma.
Themed acts relating to events in Kitty LeRoy’s life are where the show sparks to life. Creator and director Tosca Rivola shines as she whips up a storm with a captive audience member and performs on the Cyr wheel with slick nonchalance. Zinzile Tshuma dazzles as the Diamond Dame with stunning aerial work on a saddle above the stage. Manny Tsakanika swings from the chandelier oozing charisma and Candace Cane, Isabelle Bosher, Bethany Chan, Sienna Walker, Nico Wirachman and Cristian Liberti dance up a storm and are all a joy to watch.
The burlesque routines are all coquettishly slick with Matt Nicholson’s choreography full of humour and spectacle. The costumes are gorgeous: with Jenny Packham’s couture designs, footwear from Christian Louboutin, wigs, hair and makeup by Sam Cox and millinery from Hood London the cast are dressed to the nines. Dita Von Teese’s appearances as Lady Luck are the highlights of the show. Whether dressed as a raunchy cowgirl or in a gown straight out of an old school MGM musical, she is absolutely breathtaking and has the audience in the palm of her hands. Her cowgirl routine on a bucking bronco/pink chez longue hybrid is worth the ticket price alone. And that is the major problem with the show – if there were more acts and less of Kitty LeRoy’s narration, this could be a brilliant production. Diamonds and Dust is an ideal show for a fun-filled night out with a chance to see superstars of burlesque.