Skagway celebrated the shoulder season by showing some shoulder, and a whole lot more. The town’s homegrown burlesque company reunited for one hot night. 

The Rude and Nude Revue, a burlesque group known for unwrapping on stage, wrapped their third international tour on March 2. It began in Whitehorse for Rendezvous, shimmied to Skagway and Haines on Feb. 26 and 27, and ended in Juneau March 2.

Rude and Nude describe themselves as a variety troupe and artist collective. Like their dances, their music ranged from sweet to sassy.

The Skagway show at The Days of ‘98 Theater was a homecoming for the troupe, which started at the Red Onion Saloon in 2016. A Skagway tradition, most audience members knew what to expect. Emcee Kelsey Riker teased the uninitiated.

“Did you know you were coming to a burlesque show tonight?” Riker asked. “We have one yes and one no. Welcome. You’re about to see a lot more of us.”

The theater is not heated in the winter, which meant performers had to sizzle. And by the look of joy on patrons’ faces, they were successful. Countless crumpled dollar bills flew towards the stage, with a few elegantly folded into airplanes. A variety of body types graced the stage, including two men. After the show, several women in the audience commented that they felt more confident to wear their swimsuits.

Two different acts with a hotdog and a shrimp might make it difficult for observers to consume either without thinking of Nude and Rude. The band, BTB (listeners will have to look up the full name), reinforced the nautical theme and flooded listeners with nostalgia.

Skagwegians were ecstatic to see local residents Infinity Divinity (Johanna Evans) and Spruce (Tim Sislo) perform.

Co-producer Evans, who works with children as part of her day job, said there is no disconnect between her two worlds.

“…I did think about it,” Evans said. “I was like, will we get pushback? You know, will people be upset that I participated with this and I also work with our children? I kind of anticipate it because we live in the world that we do. But, I also think it’s important to do these things to destigmatize them. We are adults. We are allowed to do like, art. Because I don’t view it as an extremely sexual thing – that is not what burlesque is. It is the art of the conceal and the reveal. It is the art of storytelling. And that is, I think, what Nude and Rude does really well, is we are storytellers.” 

The Skagway audience hopes they’ll come back next year, and tell another story.