by Julia Sułkowska
It’s June 26th as we get on a call with Robin, one day after the great gala night, during which Burlesque The Musical’s world premiere met with a standing ovation at Manchester Opera House. It’s another big project on Antin’s long list of achievements, this time hosting the functions of the Creative Co-Producer and Associate Choreographer, in the show written by no one else but her visionary brother, Steve. Robin is busy 24/7, engaging in bringing the world of modern dance, early 20th-century. burlesque, and contemporary female culture together, which results in an irresistible mix and a rich heritage of pushing the boundaries par excellence. “It’s just a new type and kind of way that these shows in the West End and Broadway have been doing for a hundred thousand years, and it brings you something fresh and new and vibrant,” says Antin, proudly accounting for the success of the musical, being part of the contemporary burlesque-Pussycat revival.
Originally from California, Robin Antin is a household name in the dancing and entertainment industry, having founded The Pussycat Dolls in 1995, staging the modern burlesque shows in LA’s Viper Room and The Roxy Theatre. Success and creative vision seem to be running in her blood, as all of her three brothers have gone far in the artistic industry; Neil is a gifted cinematographer, Jonathan has made a career as a celebrity hairstylist and a reality show entrepreneur in Blow Out and Shear Genius, and Steve is an actor, screenwriter, and director, with his award-winning Burlesque (2010), starring Cher and Christina Aguilera. And it’s mostly Steve, with whom Robin has always been exchanging ideas. Throughout our talk, Robin stresses how they influence and motivate each other: “We had the same vision, and I was always so inspired by him and was asking ‘Do you like this?’ … and same with him, with me. It was like we couldn’t do it without each other.” Antin goes back in her mind to family memories when it was all just starting: “he would come home and say: ‘I saw this amazing show Cabaret,’ or ‘I saw this amazing show Sweet Charity’ or The Rocky Horror Show, all the shows! Or ‘Look at this fashion!’ and ‘Look at this amazing XYZ!’”
But what did lead the Antins onto these creative paths? “You know, everything led up to it, including my mom, who had the most incredible style you’ve ever seen, and my dad, about to be 89, is the most incredible artist. They came together and created a beautiful interior design and furniture business,” recalls Robin fondly. It’s no surprise then that she’s always been engaged in so many artistic projects – she’s the one who, back when The Pussycat Dolls were being formed, and then for considerable time following that, would first meticulously design and then sew the costumes. And there’s a family backstory to that as well: “I learned how to sew when I was young. My grandfather was a British tailor here in London, and he taught me how to sew, and every year, he bought me a new sewing machine. … I was making all the costumes, I had a glue gun in my hand to rhinestone everything,” she says, smiling.
Rhinestoning the first Pussycat Dolls garments took place back in the ‘90s. Now, it’s 2024, and just yesterday, celebs strutted down the glamorous pink carpet to Burlesque The Musical premiere (see some shots from the gala here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wNd8YIMmG/), a somewhat crowning achievement for Steve and Robin – though it’s by no means their last word yet. They still have as much energy and creative spirit as when they used to chat about their fav musicals in their family home. “What you see in the show, in Burlesque, I rhinestoned a lot of the costumes! I did get costume consultancy on the show because I did a lot of the work and gave a lot of my ideas to the designers.” The costumes, the lights, and the revived 2010 Burlesque songs (with the music and lyrics written by Christina Aguilera, Sia, Diane Warren, Todrick Hall, and Jess Folley) – they all do make the show special. And, last but not least, the choreography, co-created by Nick Winston and our Robin: “I came in and gave it a new, fresh twist on the choreography… It became something that wasn’t just musical theatre.” And we must say, the premiere is one for the books, as you can feel the electrifying aura around the new burlesque theatre. It wasn’t only visible during the gala, but also at the marvellous Burlesque store (!!) at Trafford Centre (https://www.instagram.com/p/C8B7CVUI2lR/), where you could dive into this glamorous world and get your musical-inspired lingerie and gadgets.
In other words – the burlesque phenomenon is officially taking over. But what’s the actual reason for it? Why does it have this multi-generational appeal? Is it that, as Robin begins to say, it “reminds [the spectators] of the 1890s, … Sophie Tucker, and all of the different girls and Vaudeville stars”? This is how Antin moves on to explain the popularity of the show: “Burlesque was big, and now it’s bigger. Now it’s bigger because it’s changed and become, you know, basically the Pussycat Dolls and all of the new, … things like Magic Mike, or Thunder Down Under.” It’s also visible watching the newest musical that burlesque has gained a modern, edgy twist, suitable for today’s times. “But it’s not just that,” stresses Antin. “It’s just everything that we know now when we look on TikTok and Instagram, and we see all the dancers dancing in the way that they’re dancing and the new type of singing. We do respect musical theatre to the core – and we want to do this as a real musical theatre, but we also want to bring in the new, that’s also what I got from everyone last night. Everything we saw last night was the new, fresh energy that’s been brought to the West End and next, to Broadway. That’s what is so exciting,” she explains.
Robin has been pushing boundaries forever. From an outstanding dancing career, to music video choreographies (including those for The Emmys), own lingerie line (Shhh… there’s apparently more to come!), fitness videos, own reality show, and Pussycat-Dolls-inspired dance studios – Playground LA & Playground London. Now, let’s get to the roots – Antin’s greatest passion, which is dancing. How did that come about? “I’ve always had a real love and passion for dance since I was young. I used to take ballet classes all the time with all my friends. I took a little bit in school, and then, I found an actual dance school that was right next to my house. My mom, who by the way was British, from Highgate, was a dancer. She used to take me and say, ‘Oh you know, [mimicking a British accent, smiling] I’m taking you to this ballet class.’ And so, I connected,” recalls Robin fondly.
What were, then, her beginnings as a professional dancer like? How did she manage to get into the industry? “I met Christina Applegate in a dance class because my brother, who was an actor, had done a TV show with her. She came up to me and said: ‘I know you because I know your brother.’ And I was like ‘Oh my god, it’s Christina from Married with Children.’ [laughs] Next thing, you know, we become friends, and then she just took such a liking to me, and I took such a liking to her that she said: ‘You know, I’m going to Hawaii, do you want to come?’”
She did want to come. It was during that trip that she began to make her professional contacts and major steps towards her future career. “[Christina] said ‘Just come with us. I’m going with my friend Shannon – she runs The Viper Room,’ which is on Sunset Blvd. I go with Christina, we have the time of our lives, and I tell Sharon about this show that I wanted to do, and Christina is like: ‘I’ve seen Robin dance, and I’ve seen her do things; I know she’s creative, so when we get back, let’s talk about it.”
Apparently, the conversation was more than fruitful, as it led to Robin’s first music video choreography: “It was to Björk’s ‘It’s Oh So Quiet’ [1995]. I pulled in three girls. It was me, a girl named Carla, Joey, and Lindsley [Allen]. … Christina wasn’t even a part of it yet. And then I did the dance number, it all worked out and it was so good.”
1995 was also the year in which The Pussycat Dolls started. Antin excitedly sums up the whole process it took her to make it happen, though, as she jokingly remarks, “It’s a five-hundred-hour story.” “I went to Johnny Depp’s Viper Room and showed him the shows. He said: ‘This is amazing, this is why I opened the club – because I wanted to do something that had a burlesque twist,’” recalls Antin. From the very beginning, it was clear that what was about to be launched was, to put it in Antin’s words, “underground and different”: “My idea was strip off all the clothes but never strip, so I would make all these dresses – dress, after dress, down to a bra, and then another bra, and then another bra. The joke was we were stripping, but we weren’t. Johnny loved it, and I was so detail-oriented. I was into the hair; I did all the hair and all the makeup. I brought in makeup artists, and I learned so much about creating the vision.”
The vision was flourishing in The Viper Room for eight years: “It was a collaborative effort and also a fusion of many different songs – punk rock, disco, rock n’ roll. I’d put together so many different styles, really sexy shows, and sexy songs – and then it became its own thing.” Then it was time to come up with a name: “I said to Steve: ‘You gotta help me!’ So he said: ‘What’s your inspiration?’ I said that I’d always loved the word pussycat and the word dolls because I feel we look like dolls. He said: ‘Well put them together and make it The Pussycat Dolls.’ I was like: oh my god, that’s the best name ever!” All the celebrities would visit the Viper Room to see The Pussycat Dolls: “Gwen Stefani, Christina Aguilera, Fergie, Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, all of the bunnies – the list goes on and on with who came to the show. … It was packed, I mean Prince came to the show!” Well, you don’t get higher than that.
Or do you? “I then decided it was just too small there – let’s go to The Roxy. So, I turned it into a different show, and Steve started shooting everything on hi-def and making everything look beautiful. I was creating new songs with this composer; … it was just number, after number. Steve wrote ‘A Little Like the Red’ through the show, so he was being inspired as he was writing and was like ‘This is burlesque. This is neo-burlesque that Robin is creating – a movement or kind of resurgence, but in a new way … She’s creating something that’s never been done.”
But, in the end, how did she exactly go from burlesque shows to a global girl group? “Steven and I decided this has got to grow and let’s take it around different record companies and start seeing them. My idea was really to take it to Broadway, which is, obviously, the hardest thing in the world to do. But in my mind, it’s endless for me. I can do anything I want – I’m always gonna try,” stresses Robin. In the end, the perseverance did more than pay off, though it wasn’t easy at first: “We were taking it to the wrong places. They certainly weren’t the people to say ‘Yes we can give you a Broadway contract.’ They were like ‘Err, we don’t know what this is, but it’s unbelievable, sexy, and you have singers in it, but we’re gonna need to maybe regroup and have a different sound, not just covers.’ … But I knew exactly what I wanted.” And that’s when David Geffen’s, befriended by Antin, advice turned out to be a game-changer: “I know you’re going to all these record companies, but please talk to Jimmy Iovine, from Interscope Records at Universal. He’s the one that’s going to get it, he’s the one that’s going to understand this show.” He did. Robin describes how their discussion of the project looked like: “So, when I met with him, he said: ‘This is a pop group, I’m telling you. I’m gonna help you create a pop group.’ I mean, the rest is history because my life changed after that.”
The deal with Interscope was signed in 2003. The initial stages involved much reshuffling and conceptual thinking about how the group should proceed, and what format it should ultimately have. “It was me, Ashley [Roberts], Jessica [Sutta], Carmit [Bachar], and then we found Nicole [Scherzinger], Melody [Thornton], and Kimberly [Wyatt]. And then it turned into a group.” So much more than a mere music group – a franchise and a world phenomenon: “One day, Jimmy Iovine said: ‘We found the song, it’s called ‘Don’t Cha,’’ and we were like ‘Oh. My. God.’ So we did the video, then the song, and we released it. And it just blew up… It just blew up. It was i-n-s-a-n-e.” “Don’t Cha” spent 40 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching 2nd place in 2005. The early noughties were, indeed, just about them, weren’t they. According to Billboard (https://www.billboard.com/artist/the-pussycat-dolls/), the group’s three most popular singles (the other two being “Buttons” and “Stickwitu”) spent altogether 96 weeks (!) on the chart. “Everyone was so talented, it was crazy. Kimberly with her putting her leg up in the air – every time I do a video, I’m like ‘Wait, Kim, it’s time to put your leg in the air!’ [laughs] And it was such a crazy, phenomenal time,” says Antin, smiling broadly.
The collaborations with celebrities evolved further: “I had Kim Kardashian as an emcee, and my brother wrote all the emcee parts. Charlize Theron, Eva Longoria – she was the one who opened The Vegas Pussycat Dolls. It was the first time they let anyone bring Hollywood to Vegas. … So, while I was doing that, the girls were working, working, and working, and then the tour happened. We went on tour, and people were like: ‘I’ve never seen anything like this!’” Was there any particular moment at which Robin realised The Pussycat Dolls had become a thing – that they were officially there and, boy, they were big? “I remember being in Vegas, and I was driving, and ‘Don’t Cha’ came on. I was crying, and I called my late mom, and I was like: ‘Mom! Mom, ‘Don’t Cha’ is on the radio!’ And she was like ‘WHAT?!’ and it was so exciting. It was born from being nothing, it was just a baby… a tiny baby, and then I just blew it up” – you can see how much it all meant to Robin, as she’s gleaming will all her body, head to toe.
Sewing costumes, creating videos, the tour, the clothing line, the iconic collab on Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle. On top of that, Pussycat spin-offs: Girlicious, Paradiso Girls, G.R.L., an epic choreography for the, as Robin calls it, “infamous” dance from Friends (yup, it’s Monica and Ross’ “The Routine” from New Year’s Eve! https://www.instagram.com/p/C1j4v7nrQM9/?img_index=1) – how can anyone manage all that?? But you stop wondering once you look and talk to Robin – she’s the true definition of a born girl boss: “I never stop and I never want to stop. I get more creative as I go and get ready to do some new things with The Pussycat Dolls. Steve and I are both collaborating and doing a lot of different things. It’s just who I am – I get it from my momma! And my dad! And I’m just so lucky to be able to be where I am today and still own The Pussycat Dolls and do the things that I want to do with it.”
That girlboss energy is probably key to why the pussycat-burlesque phenomenon is still with us and is doing well – to say the least. It is what Antin brings to her dance studios and shares among the all-level dancers that gather there: “Just keep going and going and going. That’s why I opened Playground – because I want to inspire all of the younger generation to do what they want to do and turn dance into anything. Now, with TikTok and social media, everyone wants to dance! We have beginner, beginner-beginner, and triple beginner classes – studios for every type of person. Everyone comes and it’s packed; … they’re learning fun hip-hop, heels, sexy like I teach Pussycat Doll dance classes, and they go nuts for it!”
What is particularly significant and inspirational for us at Voir is Robin’s ending observations: “The Pussycat Dolls are timeless, and I say inside every woman, inside every gender, and everybody is a Pussycat Doll because everyone feels it. I was told last night ‘You’re the reason I came out!’ and ‘You’re the reason I am who I am today’ – we are an empowering movement. I’m just one of those people who has always felt like a Pussycat Doll – meaning whatever you’re born with: body, style, or wherever you come from… because I came from nobody – just working, and working, and working. Don’t let anyone tell you no.”
