Ok, burlesque is not normally on display within the National Park System.
But there was at least one instance, back in 2007 when Alcatraz Prison at Golden Gate National Recreation Area came across as a cabaret hall.
The dancers from the Vau de Vire Society were part of performance art staged in the prison infirmary in conjunction with a Toyota party for Scion owners. The at times risque nature of the party understandably raised some questions about the appropriateness of the setting.
After all, the prison has a long, storied history, one not particularly full of uplifting events. Indeed, among those incarcerated there were 19 members of the Hopi Tribe because they refused to be "Americanized."
You can read more about the Toyota event in this story from the Traveler's archives, and watch the following YouTube video to see more from the event.
Comments
Hmmm. Well it certainly brings up an interesting twist in my mind. Last week I was talking to some folks from Hilton Corp. about the hotel business. I have been a HHonors Diamond member for many years and am greatly satisfied with the Hilton brand. I asked why Hilton does not embark on a venture into the lodgings within the National Park System. Quite frankly, I don't think Xanterra does a good job. Having stayed at the Yosemite Falls Lodge last summer, I think there is a lot that Hilton could do with that property while maintaining the spirit of the Park and their current desire to bring it back to nature by razing the Lodge.
This article also prompted a similar thought. Why doesn't Hollywood lend a hand? Why is their influence so powerful in politics and charities yet nearly non-existent in our NPS? Perhaps Ken Burns could recruite some A-listers to put their money and muscle behind the NPS and help make up the serious deficit in the budget, bring delinquent projects up to date, and build some lodging worthy of the grand masters of the past. I know many of the celebrities are big environmentalists. So let's get them excited about the greatest environments in the world.
Start, say, with the purchase of that land in Grand Teton. Then build a replacement lodge at Yosemite Falls. Turn the Pinelands National Preserve into a Park before that one-trillion gallons of pure water is lost forever.
There has to be much more to this story. A "Toyota party for Scion owners. . . ?"
We need Paul Harvey to tell us the rest of the story.
Interesting points you bring up Lawrence. There is something in me that has me thinking that the owner of the mentioned concessionaire has the character and the will to initiate a positive change in his corporation that is so enmeshed with some of the greatest treasures both geologic and individually personally rewarding environments in the world. Just something in me that gives me hope.