Courtesy Photo

Kalani Kokonuts, on display at the 20th anniversary of the Burlesque Hall of Fame.

By John Katsilometes

Published Friday, June 4, 2010 | 8:51 a.m.

Updated Friday, June 4, 2010 | 9:14 a.m.

The Burlesque Hall of Fame is busting out of its seams, and we are not talking about a stage performance.

The Burlesque Hall celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of performances and events at the Plaza, the first time the old hotel on 1 Main Street has hosted the celebration. Go to the the Burlesque Hall website for a full schedule.

The weekend is also highlighted by this afternoon’s grand opening of the Hall of Fame’s new exhibit space at Emergency Arts on 6th and Fremont streets in the Fremont East entertainment district. Today’s event begins at 4 p.m. and the 5 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony will feature Mayor Oscar Goodman, “Peepshow” star and gala opening frequenter Holly Madison and 2009 Miss Exotic World titlist and Las Vegas native Kalani Kokonuts. Or, if you will, K-squared.

The new museum space is maybe 1,200 square feet. Given that the collection, curated for years by retired burlesque performer Dixie Evans, was once housed in a barn in an abandoned goat farm near Helendale, in the Mojave desert about a third of the way from Las Vegas to L.A., the new display space is an improvement.

It’s just, well, small.

“We have collections from what we consider to be the full 100-year history of burlesque, from 1860-1960, but including the periods before and after that,” says Laura Herbert, the Burlesque Hall of Fame who is heading up efforts to display, store and index all of the artifacts from Evans’ collections. “It is a mini-museum, what we have now, and it’s a great location. I’ve wanted us to be on Fremont Street because it’s such a natural fit. But we’d eventually need 2,500 square feet of exhibition space.”

The Burlesque Hall's current exhibit will be up until July 31. Herbert will rotate displays through the space took keep the attraction, like its stars, flexible. Meanwhile, her and her staff is busy tagging items so they can be easily charted and located for future exhibits. Cataloguing has never been a burlesque hallmark.

Eventually, Herbert’s dream – at the moment total fantasy -- is to have the Burlesque Hall occupy the old El Portal Theatre on Fremont Street. Once one of the city’s civic arts centers, El Portal was built in 1927 and is home today to an Indian arts and crafts shop.

But plans for a permanent hall anywhere are tabled until the Burlesque Hall can raise significant funds.

“Until we get at least a $1 million endowment, it’s hard to look at anything permanent,” Herbert says. “But down the line, I think we would be the perfect complement to the mob museum.”

Well, Mayor Oscar Goodman will be in the museum today. So will Madison, who is making the Burlesque Hall something of a pet project. Opportunity knocks.

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