Bette Midler coming to Las Vegas February 2008Bette Midler's Las Vegas show will be a DO NOT MISS show & will sell quickly! Purchase your tickets to Bette Midler Las Vegas Show 2008 right here NOW! "Palace in 2008; Divine Miss M will replace Celine Dion"
by Elysa Gardner [USA Today, 5/3/2007]
What titanic talent could possibly replace Celine Dion in Las Vegas when the singer concludes her almost five-year run at Caesars Palace?
A woman who's no stranger to the kind of splashy live shows associated with the capital of glitz: Bette Midler, whose stint at the 4,100-seat Colosseum starts Feb. 20. (Dion's last show is Dec. 15.)
Midler's two-year contract will keep the multifaceted performer busy five nights a week for approximately 20 weeks a year. Her pal Elton John, who has taken over the venue on many of Dion's nights off, will play about 50 shows next year.
"It just seemed like this was the next step," says Midler, who first played Vegas in the early '70s as an opening act for Johnny Carson. After wrapping a string of 2005 dates, "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to set the show down somewhere?' So I put feelers out, and the people at Caesars were interested.
"And that theater is staggeringly beautiful -- it's huge, and the sight lines are fantastic. They have the biggest video walls, and you can bring things up and fly things in."
But the Divine Miss M will go easy on the special effects ("I don't like to intimidate people with technology, because it intimidates me") and plans instead to please her crowds the old-fashioned way. "This is a chance to have lots of gorgeous girls in skimpy costumes. I love feathers and rhinestones and high heels. If it glitters, I've got to have it."
Predictably, comedy will also play a key role in Midler's 90-minute set. "I want this to be the funniest show on the Strip. The sticking point is that it's a short show, so while there will be things people want you to do, you can't do everything." She'll revive a few favorite characters, such as Delores Delago, a mermaid in a wheelchair, and possibly tap the tabloids for fresh fodder.
"Celebrities are still making fools of themselves," Midler says. "And it's an election year, so I'm sure we'll be saying something about that."
She acknowledges that playing Vegas poses new challenges these days. "There are so many Cirques out there, and you can't compete with the Cirques. And there will be people who don't speak English, because now it's an international city, with these fantastic crowds and unbelievable food."
Still, the singer/actress/comedian is fairly certain she's up to the task. "I'm interested to see whether I lose my mind or not, because I have lost my mind on occasion," she quips. "And this will be the biggest thing I've ever done." For more information about Bette Midler, please visit her website at http://www.bettemidler.com |
