With a name like Bombs Away Cabaret, you hope its performances don't, well, bomb. In fact, the group's original production titled Pirate Booty is a delightful comedic adventure that offers witty dialogue, singing, dancing, and lots of laughs.

One sign of a successful show is when the audience clearly yearns for more. As Pirate Booty came to a close in its initial performance on Friday, March 11, the crowd cheered and applauded and would have been thrilled if the players had prepared an encore.

Is this show for everyone? With its adult themes, language, and attire—or a lack thereof—it’s probably not for the genteel. In fact, catcalls and audience participation are encouraged. The show is tawdry, bawdy, and leaves you saying "Oh, lawdy!"

Bombs Away Cabaret is an amateur group. Those involved do it for the love of performing and to support great causes. (All proceeds from Pirate Booty benefit the Western North Carolina AIDS Project.)

Taking into consideration amateur performances, a tiny budget, and a small theatre with folding chairs as seating, the show is an absolute delight. The farcical plot has Claudette Clevage (Sarah Benoit) as the cabaret owner trying to save the financially strapped troupe by booking them on a cruise ship.

During the show, the five women in the cabaret offer individual performances. First up was Lotta Hart, with a routine to Eartha Kitt's "I Wanna Be Evil." Also acting as the troupe's choreographer, her talent in dance was apparent (she mixes formal dance moves into her delightful cabaret performance).

Ivana Stabovitch offered a classic cabaret performance in the original tune "Love Song for a Knife." Iona Trailer sang a comedic rendition of "Somewhere Out There" with a little help from special guest Suckie Le Mort as a rat. Suckie then illustrated the reason for her moniker by singing a saucy version of Concrete Blonde's "Bloodletting," complete with vampire teeth.

Bernadette Housedown brought the boys to the yard in her dance routine to "Milkshake" by Kelis. Anita Bigbrek offered an impressive belly dance-inspired performance.

In between the individual numbers, the cruise ship was boarded by pirates (Darren Marshall turned in a memorable pirate portrayal). Another band of buccaneers, who were actually made up of the Asheville juggling act Forty Fingers & A Missing Tooth, offered a special spectacle just before intermission.

The plot continued its campy course with the pirates holding the cabaret cast hostage while looking for booty. Joseph Barcia, in the role of John Van Fondlebottom, sang "Happy Days Are Here Again" in a Barbra Streisand impersonation tinged with a bit of Ethel Merman. And in the show-stopping original "The Goddess Dance," Ruby Kinkay electrified the crowd as a stripteasing Sea Goddess.

Throughout the evening, Aaron Price did a splendid job of piano accompaniment, offering delightful musical interludes and giving the show a true cabaret feel.

The packed house gave a rousing ovation as the show ended and the cast members mingled with the audience. Those in attendance, whether or not they had been fans of Bombs Away Cabaret prior to the show, certainly left the Asheville Arts Center thinking the show was "bootylicious."

"Pirate Booty" will be performed at 8 p.m. on March 18–19 at the Asheville Arts Center located at 308 Merrimon Avenue in Asheville. Tickets are $12 at the door or you can email bombsawaycabaret@yahoo.com to reserve tickets.