Christina Aguilera acts! Cher returns! Song, dance, naughty jokes and skimpy costumes galore. What more reason do you need to see the backstage musical Burlesque when it hits theaters Nov. 24? USA TODAY’s Susan Wloszczyna goes behind the curtain for more Burlesque details.

Aguilera’s Ali runs away from Iowa in search of fame and ends up waitressing at The Burlesque Lounge on the Sunset Strip. But not for long. “Christina really takes it all off in terms of makeup and hair for a lot of the movie,” says director/writer Steven Antin. “She looks like a girl right off the farm.” That is until Kristen Bell’s headliner, Nikki, shows up tipsy one night and Ali must fill in.

li helps turn what once was a lip-sync club into a singing-and-dancing revue after she displays her vocal fireworks onstage in numbers like But I’m a Good Girl. The 12-song soundtrack includes four originals written by Aguilera.

Cher is Tess, owner of a retro club who has a modern-day problem: She can’t make the payments on her over-mortgaged property. It took Antin three tries before the Oscar winner for 1987’s Moonstruck would finally agree to take the part, her first major movie role in more than a decade. When she read the script, she told Antin, “This character is me. I can do this with my eyes closed.”

Together, Ali and Tess manage to transform the Burlesque Lounge into a success. After meeting Cher for the first time on the set, Aguilera says, “I found her kind and warm, welcoming me with open arms – which was nice, coming in as a newcomer.” Meanwhile, Tess – also a performer – “sees a lot of herself in Ali’s character.” For the record, Aguilera’s favorite Cher films are Mermaids and The Witches of Eastwick.

Stanley Tucci is Sean, the lounge’s stage manager, a go-to guy for the gals and best friend to Tess. “They have a history,” Antin says. “He is gay but they were once involved.” Other men in the cast include Cam Gigandet (Twilight) as Jack, Ali’s piano-playing love interest; Eric Dane as entrepreneur Marcus, who tries to woo Ali away; and Alan Cumming as Alexis, the gender-bending doorman.

Every night, Tess and Sean put together the costumes for that evening’s performance. “The closet is every girl’s dream, filled with fabulous outfits,” Antin says of the hangers mostly filled with vintage and secondhand wear. Its contents? “Swarovski crystal-beaded dresses, corsets and bustiers, sailor hats and mismatched gloves.”

Source: USA Today