Centennial tribute to Seattle-born Gypsy Rose Lee

The Palomar, the Pantages, the Orpheum, the Showbox, the Admiral.

Those are some of the Seattle theaters where Louise Hovick, the future Gypsy Rose Lee, performed as a child — before going home at night to West Seattle.

Yes, the burlesque legend was born, raised and began her stage career here. In honor of what would have been her 100th birthday (she died in 1970), the Seattle impresario who goes by Paula the Swedish Housewife is throwing quite the bash at the Triple Door Saturday.

As anyone knows who's seen "Gypsy," the musical based on her life, Louise was initially outshone by her younger sister June. The rivalry between them started at Professor Douglas's Dancing School in downtown Seattle — pretty much the only formal education they had.

Seattle audiences can get their own education on Lee with "The Gypsy Rose Lee Centennial Celebration," featuring local burlesque stars Catherine D'Lish, Lily Verlaine and Miss Inga Ingénue, plus the Swedish Housewife herself, in a tribute to "Gypsy and her style of performance." Billed as "a multimedia presentation of Song, Dance, Film and Literature," it should be a curious mix of the titillating and the archival.

New York's Miss Astrid Van Voomer, who wears an eye-patch and not much else, hosts the event. Sarah Rudinoff, a Seattle stage-musical veteran with a powerhouse voice, will read from Karen Abbott's new biography, "American Rose — A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee." Seventy-seven-year-old Joan Arline, the "Sexquire Girl" who's still performing her striptease routine in the exact same dress she wore as a Las Vegas headliner in the 1950s, will reprise her Gypsy Rose Lee-inspired act, "The Seven Approaches to a Man."

"The Gypsy Rose Lee Centennial Celebration" is, in part, a benefit for Las Vegas' Burlesque Hall of Fame, where some of Lee's artifacts are kept. Hall of Fame director Dixie Evans (the one-time "Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque") and its executive producer, Laura Herbert, will be in attendance, talking about their future plans for the museum.

Local drummer Michael Musburger is assembling the live score for the show, drawing his selections from the Swedish Housewife's "Burly Music Library," while Seattle cabaret star Nick Garrison will create a Gypsy-esque tableau vivant. A video about Lee by film-director Deirdre Timmons ("A Wink and a Smile") provides the crowning touch.

What's the enduring appeal of Gypsy Rose Lee?

A quick search through YouTube will take you to her appearance in the 1943 film, "Stage Door Canteen," where she's charm incarnate as she performs her droll routine, "The Psychology of a Stripteaser." It's her chatter rather than her (minimal) clothing-removal that's such a tease.

Author Abbott, in a letter posted on Amazon.com, reveals what drew her to her subject: "My grandmother used to tell me stories about growing up during the Great Depression, and she once related a tale about a cousin who saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform in 1935. 'She took a full fifteen minutes to peel off a single glove,' the cousin said, 'and she was so damned good at it I would've gladly given her fifteen more.' "

Seattle's burlesque performers may not be able to drag it out quite that artfully — but they're sure to bring some style and humor to their homage.

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com