Stand and Deliver

Gypsy Rose Lee's home movies, which screened at the Castro last fall, were revealing in more ways than one: The really impressive part wasn't her act (a burlesque that relied more on comedy than nudity) but the backstage doings. Beyond her obvious talents as both an entertainer and a businesswoman, Lee was an insanely hard worker who spent a good chunk of her life on the road, doing as many as three shows a day, every day, for weeks on end, in strange locations and in subpar conditions.

It's from the hardscrabble vaudeville and burlesque circuits that launched performers like Lee that we get the term "one-night stand," and in honor of that tradition, which dictates putting on a good show no matter how tired you are or what Podunk town you're in, Harvest King brings us "One Night Stand: A Variety Show." With the exception of Oakland industrial band Valley Fever, who crank their carnival noise up to a fever pitch, the show evokes vaudeville's heyday with performers like the contortionist Ms. Cherry Bomb; Blue Canary, a tap-dance duo who perform to the exotic strains of Gypsy guitar; cancan dancers the Cantankerous Lollies, whose old-fashioned sheet dance involves a flashlight and a few titillating silhouettes; and El Camino Cha Cha Orchestra, a modified big band with Tito Puente charts and an enthusiastic horn section. Guests are advised to "dress to impress -- the old-fashioned way." The show begins Friday at 9 p.m. at the Peacock Lounge, 552 Haight (at Fillmore), S.F. Admission is $7; call 861-7542. (