Mar 6, 2008
Dancing with Bette
Shrewsbury woman joins Midler’s naughty-but-nice Las Vegas show
By Richard Duckett TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
rduckett@telegram.com
For the showgirl to go on, there have to be showgirls to go on stage with.
“It is all about Miss Midler,” said Michelle DiTerlizzi about Bette Midler’s Las Vegas show “The Showgirl Must Go On” that opened Feb. 20 at the Colosseum Theater at Caesars Palace.
“We’re just her back-up crew,” DiTerlizzi modestly noted.
Still, DiTerlizzi has made an exhilarating move as one of 18 dancers (there are also three singer-dancers) performing with Midler in her show. She’s enjoying the experience, and there’s been no diva-like behavior. “She really is the ”˜Divine Miss M,’ ” she said.
DiTerlizzi grew up in Worcester and later moved with her family to Shrewsbury. She moved to Las Vegas in August 2006, pursuing a lifelong love of dancing and a dream of becoming a professional dancer.
When she heard about auditions for a new Midler Vegas show, she got in line. After making her way through a long auditioning process and demanding rehearsals, DiTerlizzi was on stage with the “Divine Miss M” Feb. 20 in the sold-out 4,100-seat theater.
“It was unbelievable. They (the audience) love her. It was such an adrenaline rush,” DiTerlizzi recalled of opening night.
“Dancing for Miss Midler, I think I’ve already reached a certain height. I’ve reached a goal. I’m a showgirl in ”˜The Showgirl Must Go On,’ and I can’t believe it.”
The 62-year-old Midler has been wowing audiences with her stamina as she performs demanding numbers in the latest incarnation of an act she’s been developing since she arrived in New York from Hawaii at the age of 20. There’s been fame and fortune in between, of course, as a singer and actress. But it may be that the stage is where Midler’s most at home.
For DiTerlizzi, the Jo Ann Warren Studio in Worcester became a sort of home away from home as she was growing up. She began dancing at the dance studio at the age of 2. She was a member of the Mini, Junior and Senior Jo Ann Warren companies and trained there as a class assistant and eventually became a student teacher.
Dancing didn’t initially have DiTerlizzi totally in its grip, but by high school – she graduated from St. Peter-Marian High School – that had changed. “Once in high school it was all I would do. It was just my passion. After school I went to dance class – I never missed.”
DiTerlizzi is also very smart, and she secured an alternative possible future to dancing by graduating from Suffolk University with a degree in marketing. In fact, she graduated in three years.
She spent her summers performing at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Va. But Suffolk did not have much in the way of a dance program, and DiTerlizzi’s dancing pangs were exacerbated after she was sidelined for a while with a knee injury. “When I was recovering from that, I missed it so much that I started a dance class at school.”
DiTerlizzi contacted Jo Ann Warren’s daughter and fellow dance teacher, Cybill Warren. Cybill Warren drove out to Suffolk to run the class, and the students also put on shows.
Such organizational skills might explain how she got a marketing degree in a short period of time. Indeed, “I actually love business,” DiTerlizzi said. “I love marketing. I already miss it. But since my legs are healthy I better dance now.”
She performed with Holland America Cruise Ships, but rather than venturing to the harbor of New York City to foster her dance career as many people had advised, she headed to Las Vegas. DiTerlizzi was mulling observations that some had made that since she was tall – 5 feet 8 inches – she might do particularly well in Las Vegas, where dancers tend to be taller.
“I said, ”˜I’m gonna move to Vegas and see what they have for me.’ They day after I moved, I got a job.”
Midler’s job at Caesars Palace is a two-year deal, and DiTerlizzi has also signed on for two years. Midler replaces Celine Dion in a rotation that also includes Cher and Elton John. Midler’s show will run 20 weeks out of the year. The first stint began Feb. 20 and runs to March 16 (DiTerlizzi will turn 25 March 14). The next run will be June 24 to July 27. The 90-minute shows are five days a week (Mondays and Thursdays are dark).
Speaking by telephone from Las Vegas, DiTerlizzi recalled that when auditions for “The Showgirl Must Go On” took place last year, more than 1,000 women showed up.
Hopefuls were put into groups of 40, quickly taught a dance combination, and then lined up on stage to strut their stuff in front of producers and artistic staff. Twenty women from a group would be cut, the survivors were taught a new combination, they performed it, and then more cuts were made.
DiTerlizzi got to come back the next day. Eventually there were 40 dancers left with one more round of cuts to go. In attendance this day was Midler herself.
“You never know what they want,” DiTerlizzi said of the auditioning process. Height might have been a factor. “A friend of mine is 6-1. She had gotten a job. I’m 5-8. I’m one of the shortest girls.” Midler, it might be noted, is a petite 5 feet 1.
No decision was made that day. Two weeks later, DiTerlizzi received a telephone call. There was a question. “ ”˜How would you feel about dancing with Miss Bette Midler?’ ”
“It gave me the chills,” DiTerlizzi said.
After a brief trip home to Shrewsbury for the holidays, DiTerlizzi returned to Las Vegas and rehearsals started Dec. 26.
So is the “Divine Miss M” really divine in person?
“She’s amazing. She’s really fun to work with. She really cares for everyone a lot. We kind of look on her as our mom,” DiTerlizzi said.
Furthermore, “She’s the hardest-working headliner I’ve ever seen. She’s 62. She’s in amazing shape.”
DiTerlizzi’s dancing career looks in good shape as well. She hopes to continue to make the right moves. “I definitely want to go on from here and keep going higher.”
But there’s always that marketing degree to fall back on, just in case.
“Maybe in 10 years if Miss Midler needs a marketing person I can call her and help her out,” DiTerlizzi said.
