Burlesque ‘Toledo’ gets fresh again

Casual clubbers are forgiven in advance if they think they’ve entered a night-life wormhole lately. Burlesque and gritty blues-and-jazz-influenced music are back in vogue all over town, perhaps as a result of a faltering economy that harks back to the Depression era.

Consequently, some Angelenos are taking a fresh look at long-running, music-and-burlesque experience “The Toledo Show,” which plays tonight by special arrangement at Hollywood nightclub-restaurant hybrid the Kress. Partly responsible for the new popularity is a movie opening Friday in limited nationwide release, “Dark Streets,” which features the soul cabaret’s frontman, Toledo Christopher Dimon (a.k.a. Toledo Diamond).

“We never went away,” said Dimon before his long-standing weekly gig at Santa Monica venue Harvelle’s on Sunday. His “Toledo Show” played all over Los Angeles for the better part of the last decade before settling in the small 4th Street lounge the last five years.

“But we’ve evolved,” the husky-voiced ringleader said with a laugh.

Andrea Balen, one of “Dark Streets’ ” producers, said Dimon, though not a professional actor, was a natural pick for the role of Prince in the film, which is sold as a sort of noirish, soul-infused version of “Moulin Rouge!”

“Once we met Toledo, we stopped auditioning people,” Balen said before the Sunday show (the film’s female lead, Bijou Phillips, also performed with the “Toledo Show” band Sunday and is expected to sing again tonight at the Kress). “He was perfect.”

However, it’s fans of the real Prince who might enjoy “The Toledo Show,” which is sex-soaked and funky, with dancers bumping and grinding up against audience members.

“It’s artistic and different,” said Jackie O’Neill, 34, in Sunday night’s crowd. “You can see live music all over L.A., but you can’t always see a real show.”

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c harlie.amter@latimes.com

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‘The Toledo Show’

Where: The Kress, 6608 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood (enter through the back of the club via Schrader Boulevard through the parking lot).

When: 10 tonight (show starts at 11)

Price: No cover if “Dark Streets” is mentioned at door before 10:30 p.m. (mind the dress code).

Contact: (323) 785-5000; www.thetoledoshow.com