‘Night Is the Mirror’ ★★★

Not rated | Time: 1:11

“Night Is the Mirror” isn’t so much a movie-movie as a chance to immortalize in celluloid (video, actually) a performance by Alacartoona, Kansas City’s resident cabaret band.

This four-person ensemble shows up in vaguely period clothing and reeking of Weimar-era decadence to sing cynicism-steeped songs.

The focal point of the show is Ruby Falls, a chanteuse played by area actress Erin McGrane in garter belt, silky black slip and a Sally Bowles flapper wig. Oozing sardonic detachment, Ruby turns even a straightforward love song into an exercise in duplicity. She often sashays into the audience, purring ribald comments and occasionally settling into some gentleman’s lap.

The locally lensed “Night” (opening today at the Screenland Crossroads) blends an Alacartoona performance with some backstage activity in which the band members — in addition to McGrane there’s bassist Christian Hankel, accordionist Kyle Dahlquist and drummer Gregg Jackson — play word games and deliver Dada-flavored monologues. There’s a suggestion of a three-way romance involving Ruby and two of her colleagues.

These have been shot and edited by director Brian Hicks with lots of camera movement and post-production special effects.

Just when you think all this is a bit too self-consciously arty, Hankel’s bass player (he’s the one in sleeveless undershirt and suspenders) brings us all back to terra firma by accusing his bandmates of “analyzing the powder but missing the fireworks.”

The musical performances are the big draw. Thanks to Dahlquist’s accordion, Alacartoona’s music evokes everything from Eastern Europe to Tex-Mex to Celtic to Argentine tango.

McGrane does most of the singing, and she’s terrific, but Hankel has a memorable number about being a gigolo. The show ends with “We All Come Down,” a rousing anthem to the dissolute lifestyle.

Sit back and enjoy. As Hankel observes, “When the judgment comes it’ll hurt less if we just relax.”

| Robert W. Butler