Turning Up the Heat

A handful of women in flowing button-down dresses from the 1940s and ‘50s dance to a sultry blues tune. For a minute it feels like a USO show; the Andrew Sisters could be waiting in the wings.

But when the next song begins, the same women emerge from behind a changing screen in teddies with garter belts, fishnet stockings, bustiers and silk robes. Bye-bye June Cleaver, hello Gypsy Rose.

Welcome to Girlesque--a sexy, burlesque-style revue at Moonlight on the Boulevard in Sherman Oaks. The show is one of the Las Vegas-style revues that the supper club has featured in the last month in an attempt to diversify its entertainment lineup and its middle-aged clientele.

Like many clubs, Moonlight has ridden the wave of swing and big band for the last several years and has long been a popular spot for dining and dancing to the tunes of yesteryear. But all good things must come to an end, and according to those at Moonlight, big band has come and gone yet again.

“It was time to try something new and fresh,” said Lynetta Quidd, Moonlight’s entertainment coordinator. “This show has a fresh appeal and it’s hipper.”

Indeed, the new shows are more avant-garde than the Latin jazz and big band nights that were once mainstays. But that’s the kind of entertainment that traditionally has worked in Sherman Oaks, and it’s unclear whether the glitzy revues can make it here.

Thus far, one of the shows--a French follies-type revue called La Nuit Parisenne--has been canceled. Only time will tell whether Girlesque and Virtually Reality--Sunday’s female-impersonator show--can survive in this suburban community and attract scenesters from the other side of the hill.

Quidd thinks they can.

“The people of Sherman Oaks are the ones who go to the theater and the plays, so they’re the ones looking for something more sophisticated,” said Quidd. “I think they’ll respond well.”

No doubt some shows will work and others won’t. The club is still keeping some of its old lineup, reserving Wednesdays for swing, Thursdays and Saturdays for live jazz and one Tuesday a month for big band.

Meanwhile, it’s clear that Girlesque has appeal. The seven-member troupe puts on a show they call a 1990s version of burlesque. They’ve played the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip and Dragonfly in Hollywood, and are booked at Moonlight at least through March.

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“At first we wondered if we walked into a strip club,” said Gladys Ledesman, who wandered in with pal Wendy Napolitano for a moms’ night out. “When we realized it wasn’t, we got into it and it was kinda cool.”

Another couple thought they were coming to see female impersonators, but liked the show all the same and plan to come back Sunday for Virtually Reality.

“I thought they were supposed to be men so I was caught a little off guard, but I still liked it,” said Susan, 54, who didn’t want to use her last name. “It was very erotic, but very classy.”

BE THERE

Moonlight on the Boulevard, 13730 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. (818) 788-2000. All ages to dine; 21 and over in the bar. Girlesque, Thursday at 8 and 10 p.m., $7 cover; Virtually Reality, Sunday at 6 and 8:30 p.m., $10 cover. Cover varies. Full menu. Dress code enforced.