Waxie Moon

By: Robert O'Neill
In-House Review - Jul 27 2012

Born in Southern California, Marc Kenison (better known as the titular Waxie Moon) attended a performing arts high school and moved to New York shortly after his graduation. Once there, he made a success of himself as a professional dancer.

Marc studied at Julliard, worked with numerous prestigious theatre companies (some of which he founded), produced, directed, acted and even performed for Bill and Hillary Clinton during their time in office. Though he became an authority on modern dance, the stress and demands of that particular field soon grew tiresome and he found himself looking for a more effortlessly fun outlet for his talent. The answer came in the form of burlesque ? or "boylesque," as it's referred in this exciting new documentary.

Director Wes Hurley includes live performances, behind-the-scenes footage from photo shoots and interviews with countless funny and charismatic male and female performers who share some of their stories and explain the role that burlesque plays in their lives. All of them express great admiration for Marc and his alter ego. As Waxie Moon, Marc is able to showcase a perfect androgynous balance ? brilliantly capturing and playing with various aspects of femininity, but maintaining his masculinity at all times (the always-present mustache helps). It's also very interesting to see how he is able to win over diverse crowds without betraying his brazen dissection of sexuality and gender.

By: burlyboy

Saw this a while back in NYC at a film festival. What a great film! Funny, quirky, entertaining, academic, silly and profound all at once. Waxie is a revelation indeed. I hope to see him perform live one day. I was lucky to see Dirty Martini and Tigger who are featured in this documentary. I'm buying two copies - one for myself and one for a friend who loves burlesque.

By: Amos Lassen

Waxie Moon, a classically trained dancer decided to give the world a burlesque a try and became an instant sensation. Here is the story of his journey. The film uses footage from Waxie's performances and interviews with burlesque stars, theater people and fans and we see how Waxie used burlesque to challenge notions of sexuality, gender and performance art.
What is amazing is Waxie's placidity whether he is in a chorus line, plays a slave or does a fan dance and the expressions on his face are priceless. The film gives us a look at the burlesque scene in Seattle as well as gender. Waxie is a man who will wear any costume be it for a man or a woman and what Waxie does, he calls "boylesque". He had been convinced by stripper Dirty Martini to try burlesque and Waxie fell in love with it.
Waxie is Marc Kenison and it is through him that we learn about burlesque. The film is filled with performances and it is so very gay. Waxie bends gender and that is not easy for a very tall guy with a moustache. He has been regarded as one of the most fearless and colorful people in the word of burlesque.