"Burlesque Alice" turns Triple Door into a Wonderland

Dancing mushrooms? Living candelabras? A furniture-clawing Cheshire Cat wearing little but his grin?

In "Through the Looking Glass: The Burlesque Alice in Wonderland," burlesque producers Lily Verlaine and Jasper McCann are at it again, topping their holiday show, "Lands of the Sweet: The Burlesque Nutcracker."

"Alice" offers wittier routines, smarter dancing and a marginal downplay of the nudity factor that suggests that less is more when it's delivered with this much sass. (Don't worry — there are still some whirling-pasties moments.)

Burlesque regulars — Waxie Moon, Kitten La Rue, Miss Indigo Blue, Ben DeLaCreme and more — join in the fun. Highlights include a taloned Jabberwocky in silhouette (Babette La Fave) and a many-footed, hookah-smoking caterpillar (Verlaine, with help) who transforms, between acts one and two, into a beautiful, disrobing butterfly dancing on artful pointe.

McCann, as a flirtatious White Rabbit emcee ("I've a warren just for you!"), is great fun too. But it's the lavish costumes by Verlaine, Jamie Stratton, Daniel Hellman and It's Mark Mitchell that really steal the show.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com