Ribald fun – and some heart-wrenching moments
The divine Miss M, in top shape at 62, wows them in Vegas
Sunday, Apr 06, 2008 – 12:03 AM
By MELISSA RUGGIERI
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
When Bette Midler unveils a massive 1975 photograph of herself, Cher and Elton John and posits, “Does it get any gayer?” it’s more than a trademark quip.
It’s full-circle that the three pop icons are back in the same venue, The Colosseum at Caesars Palace, where Midler’s “The Showgirl Must Go On,” a feast of feathered headdresses, ribald humor and a crisp sampling of four decades of her hits opened in late February.
John will continue to fill in the gaps during Midler’s two-year run, while Cher, herself a fan of the grandiose, will move in May 6 for a three-year commitment of sporadic dates to ensure that the venue is rarely dark (Midler will perform about 100 shows per year).
The overwhelming – and somewhat surprising – success of Celine Dion’s titanic five-year residence at the 4,100-seat theater, which was custom built for her “A New Day . . . ” show, sets a challenging standard for Midler. “A New Day . . . ,” which closed in December, was seen by nearly 3 million fans and grossed more than $400 million.
No doubt Midler’s Borscht Belt loyalists will flock to her new Vegas home, but does she possess as strong an international pull as Dion? And will the adult-contemporary-loving housewives who splurged to hear “My Heart Will Go On” live on the Vegas Strip trek back to the desert for Midler’s snappy verbal jousting and perfectly gaudy spectacle?
Time will answer that one.
But there is plenty to love about Midler’s $10 million production – and a few minor quibbles, as well.
It’s odd to see one of music’s most illustrious personalities make such a low-key entrance to her own massive production.
After the 110-foot wide LED screen teased the crowd with a lengthy, albeit chuckle-worthy, video of a tornado ripping through the Strip, Midler appeared on stage tucked amid a rotating stack of designer luggage.
Then she was off for a brisk 90 minutes (about the longest any casino wants its patrons away from the gaming floor), pacing the stage in itty-bitty poodle steps and rattling off her shtick (“Oh, Vegas. Or as I like to say, oy, Vegas!”) with breathless glee.
Midler’s show is as much about razzle-dazzle and old-fashioned entertainment (“Not one of them is a French Canadian circus performer,” she chirped about her dancing troupe of showgirls, lovingly dubbed her “Caesar salad girls”) as it is music.
But even with about 15 songs played by her fantastic 13-piece band – led by the unfaltering Bette Sussman – there were times when things felt more about the show than the girl.
That isn’t a negative necessarily – this is Vegas, after all – but there were moments when another song might have been more fulfilling rather than more scorching one-liners from her Sophie Tucker character.
At 62, Midler appeared to be in premier shape as she traversed the 120-foot-wide stage with nervous energy, all the while making physical exertion jokes that never grew tiresome.
“I’m so exhausted.” Pause. “That’s what happens when you do your own singing.”
It was a well-placed touché, not to mention a true statement.
Midler’s voice has aged remarkably well, and when she quieted the giddy chaos surrounding her for a stunning rendition of “The Rose” and shimmied through giant beaded umbrellas for the lazy lilt of “Do You Want To Dance?” they were frozen-in-time moments.
Ironically, the most memorable moment of the show was its most simple, with Midler standing in front of a black and white photo of a fog-blanketed New York skyline to sing John Prine’s “Hello in There.”
It’s a heart-wrenching song that served as the antithesis to the bawdy fun Midler had just finished with her wacky, wheelchair-bound mermaid, Delores DeLago, summoned to Vegas by Wayne Newton to perform in a production of “Sunque du So Low.”
That series, fattened with a video of the “American Idol” judges, also reminded the audience of the show’s biggest flaw – its near-abandonment of that incredible video screen.
Why not utilize that technology to magnify the proceedings for those fans in the, er, cheap seats? One wouldn’t think Midler would mind being projected in mega-pixels, considering that her discreetly clad likeness towers above the Strip outside Caesars Palace.
But much as Dion’s show went through several tweaks, the same should be expected here.
Until then, showgoers can revel in the sassy appearance of “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” complete with vintage footage of Midler in her early career. And the show-closing “Wind Beneath My Wings,” sappy as it may be, is the necessary punctuation mark to a show that rarely goes quietly.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Hi Mr D & All!
This is a really great write up. And you have to admit, Bette, Cher & Elton are really an amazing line up of talent. Fingers crossed that maybe one day all three will come together and do a few numbers on stage, now that would be “Really Gay!”
Now, MELISSA RUGGIERI wrote:
No doubt Midler’s Borscht Belt loyalists will flock to her new Vegas home, but does she possess as strong an international pull as Dion? And will the adult-contemporary-loving housewives who splurged to hear “My Heart Will Go On” live on the Vegas Strip trek back to the desert for Midler’s snappy verbal jousting and perfectly gaudy spectacle?
Time will answer that one.
Well, personally I think it’s all in the bag for Bette and she’ll have no worries about not having enough “International pull” I have never heard of any show that Bette has put on to be canceled due to lack of interest. Something that a lot of reviewers tend to forget when doing a write up about any Bette show, and I’m not bagging them out here either,is that unlike most performers today, Bette doesn’t really rely on special effects to sell tickets to any of her shows, she is her own special effect, she always has been and always will be, this what sets her apart from the rest.
Yeah, I know she has jumped on the SFX bandwagon on her past few tours, but not to the point that her shows are about the special effects, she has balanced it all out perfectly – hey at least she doesn’t mime or lip sync!
It will be interesting to see how / if the show changes over it’s course and I think that Bette will do that, after all she is almost an institute of musical knowledge, I really can’t see her putting all of that up on the shelf during her run at Caesars.
Big Hugz!
Manny
xxx