Burlesque (2010 American film)

Ali Rose (Christina Aguilera), whose mother passed when she was seven, moves to Los Angeles after she quits her bar job when her boss refuses to pay her. Once in L.A., she tries and fails at every audition she does until one night, she finds herself unknowingly in a burlesque club when she hears the music on the street. She finds Tess (Cher) and the dancers performing “Welcome to Burlesque” and decides to pursue a career on stage once she meets Jack (Cam Gigandet) at the club's bar. Jack refers her to Tess for an audition, but she is instantly rejected and ushered out by Sean (Stanley Tucci). Instead of leaving, Ali begins serving customers at the club as a waitress.

When Georgia (Julianne Hough) becomes pregnant, auditions are held to replace her. Ali begins her audition when everyone leaves, and after performing "Wagon Wheel Watusi", persuades Tess to allow her to become one of the club's dancers, much to the annoyance of Nikki (Kristen Bell), the lead performer and a drunk. One day Ali has to replace Nikki on stage because Nikki is too drunk to perform. Nikki sabotages the performance by turning off the music that the dancers usually lip sync to, but before the curtain is dropped down, Ali impresses everyone with her amazing singing skills. Tess immediately decides to have Ali become the main star of a whole new show at the club. It becomes increasingly popular and Ali enjoys her newfound stardom while Nikki fumes in the background. Despite the club's growing success, Tess is still unable to pay the bank the money that she owes.

One night after the club closes, Tess, worried with the club's economic prospects, sings "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me". A very jealous Nikki shows up drunk and picks a fight with her. She feels that Tess has rejected their long-term friendship for Ali. Tess, who has grown frustrated with Nikki, defends Ali and questions her gratitude for the help she has received from her during her many drunken binges. Angered, Nikki quits on the spot (before falsely claiming that she slept with Vince (Peter Gallagher) after his and Tess's honeymoon), and the altercation ends when Tess angrily retaliates by smashing the passenger side window on Nikki's convertible with a crowbar.

Meanwhile, Ali and Jack become romantically attracted to each other. However, Jack is unable to act on his growing feelings for Ali due to his engagement to his girlfriend, who is away in New York City for work as an actress; Jack is encouraged by Sean to end the engagement as Ali is a better person than his shallow fiancée. Marcus (Eric Dane) begins to become increasingly infatuated with Ali, who begins to spend time with him, making Jack jealous. At Georgia's wedding, Jack appears to call off his engagement and becomes drunk. That night, Ali and Jack sleep together, but the following morning Jack's fiancé, Natalie (Dianna Agron), unexpectedly returns from her play and finds the two in bed together, angrily insisting that she and Jack never broke up. Jack denies this, and while trying to fix things, he asks Ali to leave. Feeling heartbroken and betrayed, Ali runs to Sean for support, and learns that Sean is gay; he has just spent the night with the DJ from Georgia's wedding. While making coffee, Ali receives a call from Marcus, and Sean prompts her to go with Marcus after his phone call, while Sean and Mark the DJ (David Walton) go on a date.

While spending time with Marcus, Ali learns about "air rights", which refers to the empty space above a building and what can be done with it. Ali breaks things off with Marcus after she sees his plans to build a skyscraper on the property the club is on; Marcus protests this, asking why this suddenly makes him "the bad guy", to which Ali replies, "It doesn't, Marcus. It just makes you the wrong guy". Ali tells Tess about the predicament, and together they inform the owner (James Brolin) of the new million-dollar condos across the street; fearing the loss of business that would result from the obstruction of his prospective tenants' view, he purchases the air rights to the club's property. The resulting money is enough for Tess to buy out Vince's share (as they are divorced and he wanted out of the club), pay off the bank, and re-fashion the club to her own vision. She also makes up with Nikki, who tells Tess that she claimed she slept with Vince just to hurt her, and rehires her at the club after Nikki tells her she wants to "come home".

Ali reunites with Jack after he tells her that it's over with Natalie for good; Natalie was in denial, having cared more about her job than her relationship with Jack. After she finally earns Nikki's respect, Ali performs "Show Me How You Burlesque", written by Jack (who refused to allow Ali to listen or see his music throughout the movie due to it not being "ready") with all of the dancers on stage, much to the crowd's delight.

Steven Antin's sister Robin was a member of the modern burlesque troupe the Pussycat Dolls.[11] Circa 2002, the group performed at the Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, with multiple artists—among them Christina Aguilera—and Steven Antin directed some of these shows.[11] The first outline of the screenplay was written by Antin and Clint Culpepper, the Screen Gems' president. It was about "a girl escaping her life", showing up in a neo-burlesque club and launching a career as a performer.[11]

Cher accepted the supporting role of Tess Scali because she wanted to sing in a movie and thought this would be her last opportunity to do so.[12] While on the film set, she went on to praise co-star Christina Aguilera's acting abilities, revealing to Entertainment Tonight: "She was keeping up, and she was hot. I mean, it was, like, she was really up there. Her game is good."[12] Canadian actor Shawn Roberts, who was previously cast in another Screen Gems production Resident Evil: Afterlife, was briefly considered for the role of Jack Miller.[13]

Burlesque started shooting on November 9, 2009[5] and ended on March 3, 2010. Although director Steven Antin wrote the original screenplay, Diablo Cody (Juno) revised it uncredited.[14] It was later further revised by Susannah Grant, also uncredited.[15] Burlesque is Screen Gems' most expensive film, with the exception of the Resident Evil films, with costs of $55 million.[16]

The film marked Aguilera's film debut and Cher's first musical.

According to Joey Nolfi of Entertainment Weekly, since its release the movie "inspired everything, from drag queen revues to viral internet moments".[11] Nolfi applauded Burlesque as "a campy, niche classic".[11] In 2019, a full length Burlesque tour, based on the movie, embarked, including at British venues. It starred Farrah Moan as Ali Rose and Chad Michaels as Tess Scali.[40] The Burlesque stage musical was supposed to open at the Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey, in Autumn 2020, followed by a Broadway theatre adaptation, but the plans were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[41] The movie was also referenced in the third season of the VH1 reality show RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars.[42] In a 2020 interview Antin revealed a "hybrid television event/series", based on the movie, was under development.[11]

In January 2021, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue won the gold medal at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. During the 2020–21 season they danced to a medley of Aguilera's Burlesque songs, which included "Express".[43][44]

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