From Patrick White Award Winner Jackie Smith, and the creators of the world’s most provocative varieties, twenty times awarded burlesque art legends Finucane & Smith, comes the true lies tale of the wildest showgirl of the nineteenth century, Lola Montez.

Draped in couture lace, breathtaking storytelling, jaw-dropping dance and a death scene or six, Finucane & Smith’s Lola is a wildly contemporary intimate spectacle steeped in Australian history and the extraordinary lives & freedom of one of the world’s most adventurous women. 

In 1855, Lola Montez, the wildest showgirl of the known world, toured Australia and its goldfields. The scandal is legend. She horsewhipped the editor of the Ballarat Times (for a bad review). Swung down mine-shafts on a single rope with champagne in hand. Escaped arrest dressed only in her jewels. Showered with gold nuggets and insults. Her erotic Spider Dance was “the most libertinish and indelicate performance that could be given on the public stage” (Sydney Morning Herald 1855).

Starring triple Best Actress Award winner and direct descendant of Lola Montez, Miss Caroline Lee and her Luscious Lolettes, bollywood bellydance goddess Raksha Parsnani, glass-shattering diva Piera Dennerstein and Parisian club kitten Iva Rosebud (plus guest wildgirls drop in across the season … transcendent diva Mama Alto, burlesque star Maple Rose & more!).

Directed by international Queen of Provocative Variety Moira Finucane, who cannot wait to bring Lola to Marvellous Melbourne:

“We’ve always wanted to bring Lola to Melbourne; she toured the goldfields to rave reviews in 2018,

a costume malfunction in Ballarat raised the bar forever, we changed the warnings to include nudity, and a national tour was in the bag!

Lola’s tour was killed off by COVID, her prospects shattered by a dagger to the heart of indie funding, still Lola refuses to die!

Melbourne, Lola has wanted you for 5 years, and she intends to have YOU!

With the support of the stunning City of Stonnington Lola lives again!” said Director Moira Finucane

About Finucane & Smith | Internationally renowned for their arresting mix of provocation and entertainment, the house of Finucane & Smith Unlimited creates Intimate Theatrical Spectacles – cabaret, drama, beyond-genre variety, installations and immersive works – hijacking myriad art forms, engaging unique and extraordinary artists and pecking the eyes out of old style entertainment genres to create indelible visions of humanity, hope, and a shared future.
Finucane & Smith have been an Australian first as they’ve toured the world: from Australia’s longest regional tour since the goldrush to their ground-breaking presentations & commissions in Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, China, Japan, Eastern & Western Europe. Presented in 19 countries they’ve have won critical acclaim in 13 languages, and have won 23 theatre awards across genres and countries.