Trivia Surrounding Bette Midler’s ‘Divine Madness’ Movie

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IMDB
Trivia Surrounding Bette Midler’s ‘Divine Madness’ Movie
By Staff
Feb. 22, 2026

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Star Bette Midler originally developed and performed her “Divine Madness” stage show during the summer of 1979 at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA.

The film was shot from three separate concerts filmed over three consecutive nights at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, California, USA between 13-15 February 1980. Shooting of a fourth concert on Saturday 16th February 1980 was for conducting inserts and pick-up shots and was closed to the public.

The number of songs performed in this concert movie totaled sixteen. The film’s soundtrack only included about just over half of the songs featured in this concert movie and none of the comic routines. The songs were edited and re-recorded in the studio for the soundtrack. The “Divine Madness” soundtrack album peaked at No. #34 on the Billboard’s Album Chart. When the album was digitally remastered and reissued on CD by Warner Music & Atlantic Records in 1995 it still did not include any bonus tracks or the songs that were left out of the vinyl release. The songs “Shiver Me Timbers” and “Rainbow Sleeve” were removed from the Home Video Version (and are not in the DVD either) which at 87 minutes runs about about 7 minutes shorter than the theatrical cut (94 minutes).

The 94-minute theatrical cut of this film was edited from around 185 hours of footage equating to about one million feet of exposed film.

According to an article published in the 2nd February 1980 edition of ‘The Los Angeles Times,’ the film version of the live concert is different from the original stage show version, “with two acts having become three and certain numbers having been restructured” to create a “more elaborate finale.”

The film was shot using a small crew of 30, but with ten cameras to cover the concerts. Of the latter, two cameras were stationary in the balcony; three cameras were stationary in the orchestra pit; two cameras were hand-held and were free to roam around and get backstage shots; two cameras were miscellaneous, to be used as needed and as required; whilst one camera was a Panaglide, and was specifically intended to follow Bette Midler around the stage, to capture her facial expressions in close-up, as well as her movement and dancing.