Wickedest City Burlesque & Variety Festival

Welcome to the Wickedest City Burlesque & Variety Fest

A celebration of fearless performance, radical joy, and rich cultural heritage in the heart of Davenport.

Once known as “The Wickedest City in America,”Davenport’s Bucktown district rose to infamy in the early 1900s with its vibrant blend of jazz clubs, speakeasies, brothels, and boundary pushing entertainment. In a time of prohibition and puritanism, Bucktown was where art, expression, and vice thrived loud, proud, and unrepentant.

Wickedest Performer: A Burlesque Competition Thursday, April 16, 2026
7:30PM
Adler Theatre

The curtain rises on the first night of the Wickedest City Burlesque & Variety Fest! Join the celebration of fearless performance, radical joy, and the unapologetic spirit of Davenport’s infamous Bucktown past, where art, vice, and spectacle once thrived loud and proud. We’re kicking it off the only way that feels right: with a battle for the crown!

Welcome to Wickedest Performer a competition featuring electrifying artists from across the country, including Arizona, North Carolina, Seattle, Des Moines, and right here in the Quad Cities. Each performer brings their boldest, bawdiest, and most unforgettable act to the stage, all vying for one title: The Wickedest Performer.
Presiding over the spectacle is a panel of four iconic judges:
Catty Wompass burlesque powerhouse known for high energy performances and festival features across the Midwest
Qween Quan dynamic drag artist and producer celebrated for bold, boundary pushing stage work
Milange Cavalli local drag performer known for highglamour aesthetics and commanding stage presence
Charlie Quinn Starling award winning burlesque performer and educator recognized for theatrical storytelling and competition success
From sultry striptease to jaw dropping variety acts, this night is a showcase of the daring, the decadent, and the downright unforgettable.
Only one performer will claim the crown, cash prize, and a featured spot in the Grand Showcase on April 18th.
So settle in, clutch your pearls or toss them we don’t judge, and witness the moment a new legend is crowned

Wickedest Performer

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Fandom Showcase: A Burlesque & Variety Spectacle
Friday, April 17, 2026
7:00 PM
Circa ’21 Speakeasy

Step right this way, dear patrons of the peculiar, the passionate, and the perfectly strange because Friday night, the velvet curtain parts for a spectacle unlike any other!

Welcome to the Fandom Showcase, where the nerdy, the flirty, and the fantastical collide beneath the glowing lights of the Circa ’21 Speakeasy. From pixel to page to stage, these acts are love letters to the stories that made us dreamers!

Featuring a lineup of dazzling performers from across the realm Omaha, Sioux Falls, Washington D.C and right here in the Quad Cities. This night celebrates fandom in all its forms: bold, bizarre, and beautifully burlesque.

Your featured performers include:

Lychee Mynx Illuminaughties Burlesque a Quad Cities favorite known for playful, fandom inspired performances

Betsy Beau Peep a convention circuit darling bringing storybook charm and cheeky charisma to stages nationwide

Maki Roll a Washington, D.C. based performer celebrated for genre spanning fandom acts across major conventions

And when the night reaches its most decadent heights, behold your headliners:

Qween Quan dynamic artist and producer known for bold, boundary pushing spectacle

Charlie Quinn Starling award winning burlesque performer blending theatrical storytelling with fan favorite flair

This is a showcase where your favorite worlds are reimagined with glitter, glamour, and just a dash of delicious mischief.

So grab your seat in our little Speakeasy of secrets, dust off your finest cosplay, and prepare for a night where fantasy takes center stage and fandom bares it all.

Because this show isn’t about breaking the fourth wall, darling, it’s about peeling it off, one layer at a time!

Fandom Showcase

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grand showcase

Grand Showcase: The Wickedest Finale
Saturday, April 18, 2026
7:00 PM
The Capitol Theatre

Still standing? Still sparkling? Still just a little wicked? Good. You’re exactly the kind of trouble we were hoping would stick around.

After two nights of tease, triumph, and tantalizing spectacle, the Wickedest City Burlesque & Variety Fest closes in grand fashion at the historic Capitol Theatre. And like any proper bill, we’re ending with a bang, a wink, and maybe just a risk or two.

Welcome to the Grand Showcase, a dazzling finale where the very best of the festival takes the stage one last time, turning up the glamour, the mischief, and the magic to their most irresistible heights.

Taking a victorious return is our freshly crowned Wickedest Performer, ready to prove that the crown sits exactly where it belongs.

Joining them are Quad Cities' Legends:

Drop Dead Red a fiery, fearless, and dripping with vintage glamour and bite.

Kitty Bardot a classic burlesque beauty with an undeniable stage charm.

And headlining this final affair:

Qween Quan a dynamic powerhouse known for electrifying, boundary breaking performances

Charlie Quinn Starling award winning burlesque artist delivering theatrical storytelling at its most captivating

From sultry to surreal, from laugh out loud to leave you breathless, this is the grand finale where every act earns its place and every moment begs for one more round of applause.

So settle in, you delightful deviant! You’ve earned this last night of indulgence.