BURLESQUE was a main attraction in the French Quarter from the mid-1940s through the 1960s. Bourbon Street was it’s epicenter, and it featured the largest concentration of burlesque clubs than anywhere in the U.S.  It was the home of Lilly Christine the Cat Girl, Blaze Starr, Evangeline the Oyster Girl, and countless stars of striptease.  New Orleans was also the home of jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Louis Prima, Al Hirt, and Pete Fountain.

In 1995, New Orleans was one of the first cities to participate in the modern-day burlesque revival. Stage shows featured burlesque dancers accompanied by a live jazz band, as it was done in the heyday of burlesque.  This tradition continues today.

The New Orleans Burlesque Festival was founded in 2009 to put the spotlight on classic and traditional burlesque, bringing back the glamour, humor, music, and excitement of the era. The main event is a competition in which the best burlesque dancers in the world compete for the Queen of Burlesque title. Showcases, workshops, panel discussions, and parties, round out the weekend to make this the most quality and entertaining burlesque festival today.

RICK DELAUP, a New Orleans native, is founder of the annual New Orleans Burlesque Festival, and the creator and producer of Bustout Burlesque and Boylesk. Delaup has been researching the history of New Orleans burlesque for over 15 years. He has interviewed dozens of former dancers, comics, and musicians, and has spoken on the subject at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Tennessee Williams Festival, Tease-O-Rama, Tales of the Cocktail, The Burlesque Hall of Fame, and other events.

Delaup has been involved in bringing burlesque back to the New Orleans cultural landscape since the mid-1990s, and has not stopped since. His initial interest was sparked by meeting Evangeline the Oyster Girl, and then fueled by the many burlesque dancers and performers he met since then.

Delaup has been interviewed about burlesque by many publications including the Los Angeles Times, New Orleans Times-Picayune, and for the book, Burlesque and the New Bump-n-Grind (2004). He was acknowledged in Dita Von Teese’s book, Burlesque and the Art of the Teese (2006), as well as Mr. New Orleans – The Life of a Big Easy Underworld Legend. Delaup was one of the judges, alongside Tempest Storm, at the 2006 Miss Exotic World competition in Las Vegas.

In early 2005, he created the long-running show Bustout Burlesque, which performs regularly at the House of Blues. In 2011, Travel Channel listed Bustout Burlesque as one of  the “Top 10 Burlesque Shows” worldwide. In 2012, Delaup brought an All-Star version of Bustout Burlesque to The Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas as part of Viva Las Vegas 15, the world’s largest rockabilly festival.

MATT BELL is the bandleader, guitarist, and arranger for the New Orleans Burlesque Festival, as well as the Bustout Burlesque show.  Specializing in vintage music, he harbors a fondness for collaboration with artists of theater and dance.  Matt has participated musically in groups ranging from tribal belly dance to circus, and cabaret.