November 25, 2002- In the middle of 1998, Michelle Baldwin threw a burlesque bash at the Bluebird Theatre that surprisingly sold out.

While drawing a crowd to her first show turned out to be a snap, finding performers wasn't nearly as easy. Being in a burlesque show meant acting sexy and showing a little skin. So she hit the strip clubs, where she found plenty of candidates who, like most other Gen-Xers her age, needed to be educated.

"There was a girl who had the whole Bettie Page look with the bangs and the dark hair," recalled Baldwin, 29, who goes by the stage name Vivienne Va-Voom and founded the local troupe Burlesque as it Was. "I told her, 'OK, I want you to be our Bettie Page,' and she said, 'Who's Bettie Page?"'

The dancer had copied the look off another stripper. And while there are still some unfamiliar with Bettie Page, the world-famous pin-up model with those bangs, and while there are still some unaware that burlesque is the silly 'n' sexy striptease art that found its start in the '20s, today's show-going public is more burlesque savvy than it was in 1998.

Dita von Teese, this month's Playboy cover model, knows all about burlesque and Page. In fact, she partly modeled her raven-colored hair and her playful pin-up attitude after the famous Page. (Von Teese is naturally a platinum blond). Von Teese will perform at the Burlesque XXX(mas) revue on Friday and Saturday at the Gothic Theatre, and her current media omnipresence has many hailing her as the 17-inch-waisted torchbearer bringing burlesque back to prominence.

"Burlesque is going to make a comeback if Hugh Hefner has anything to do with it," said Gary Cole, Playboy's director of photography. "He really loves this stuff. He's the one who really turned us onto Dita."

Although Hef still plays a large part in the magazine's production, it's rare that he suggests a cover model, Cole said. But von Teese isn't just any other Playboy model, and this month's cover isn't just any other glossy eye candy. As opposed to the typical Playboy cover (light backing and blond/light-brunette/red-headed model),
it's von Teese wearing all-black lingerie, a sinister smirk and a single white rose behind her ear set against a stark black backdrop.

"I feel like my cover goes against everything Playboy stands for," said von Teese. "I'm obviously not the girl next door, and the light skin and black hair is definitely a departure for Playboy."

Von Teese's inside pictorial includes shots of her in burlesque-y nether-garments and even uses props from her show, including a classic carousel horse and a giant steel-stemmed, acrylic-lipped martini glass she bathes in with a giant olive-sponge.

"She's definitely not typical (for a Playboy covergirl)," said Cole.

Von Teese had appeared in different Playboy publications (and online, where boyfriend Marilyn Manson conducted the photo shoot), but this cover spot - on the heralded Gala Christmas Issue no less - is her first appearance in the magazine. And that is a sure sign of a coy-yet-leggy resurgence.

"Burlesque is definitely making a huge comeback," said von Teese, who headlined a burlesque festival at Denver's Ogden Theatre in September that drew in 700-plus.

"You know the end result, it's going to be her in pasties and a g-string, but she plays with you and you're mesmerized by her," said promoter Jerri Theil of Nobody in Particular Presents. "You can tell she loves being on that stage."

In addition to this weekend's shows, Theil is planning a 12-date mid-2003 North American burlesque tour with von Teese and co-headliner Catherine D'Lish.

"There are certainly a lot more girls jumping on the burlesque bandwagon," said D'Lish. "Troupes are popping up everywhere, and it's great because they're all having so much fun doing it."

Baldwin of Burlesque as it Was saw the move toward burlesque as a collective movement.

"It was one of those crazy, collective subconscious things where all the sudden, (burlesque) was on all of our minds," said Baldwin.

Added D'Lish: ``People's aesthetic is changing more toward a greater appreciation of things that are more glamorous and interesting.''

---------------------------------- Bawdy Burlesque

What: Burlesque XXX(mas), a Christmas revue featuring Dita von
Teese, Catherine D'Lish, Kitten on the Keys, Hot Pink Feathers,
Cantankerous Lollies and Burlesque as it Was.

When: 8 p.m. Friday and 9 p.m. Saturday

Where: Gothic Theatre, Englewood

Tickets: $20 at TicketWeb; visit www.ticketweb.com or call
866-468-7621