Review:
Midler a slice of old-fashioned showbiz
By Regis Behe
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, January 9, 2004
Photo: Heidi Murrin
If you call Bette
Midler a broad or a babe, chances are she won't take offense. Thursday
night at the Mellon Arena, the Divine Miss M put on a show that
was a throwback to the era before political correctness took hold.
Part schtick,
part borscht belt humor, part good, old-fashioned showbiz, the evening
lived up to the tour's name: "Kiss My Brass."
Midler opened
the show against a Coney Island-style backdrop, descending from
the rafters on a white, carousel horse. She blew kisses to a rather
sedate audience, then launched into the big-band sound of "Kiss
My Brass."
Sounding (and
looking) much less than her 58 years, she was helped immeasurably
throughout the night by her crack band, which included a five-piece
horn section, and three vamping dancers/singers.
After the opening
number, Midler started launching jokes as if she was some strange
female reincarnation of Henny Youngman and Lenny Bruce. Showing
an astute awareness of her locale, she made references to Squirrel
Hill and McKees Rocks ("show me your tattoos, babe") and
poked fun at Mayor Tom Murphy. Referring to the city's financial
problems and the recent rains, Midler said she heard Murphy was
building an ark.
"I think
he's planning to float out of here rather than be voted out of here,"
she said.
Murphy wasn't
the only one who was a target of Midler's scathing wit. Saddam Hussein,
she cracked, was going to be part of a new reality series, "Queer
Eye for the Dictator Guy."
Midler also threw
barbs at President Bush, Christina Aguilera, Rush Limbaugh and PETA,
but had the sense to turn her wit on herself.
In a hilarious
send-up of her failed CBS television sitcom, Midler showed a video
that included Judge Judy, Gary Coleman and David Letterman in a
courtroom spoof. Her sentence: To apologize to everyone who ever
bought a TV set, which caused Midler to reappear in a red tail and
horns to sing "I'm Sorry," which segued into "Friends."
Midler did occasionally
sing in the midst of all the zaniness and sometimes salty humor.
"Skylark," a song that dates back 30 years in her repertoire,
was a bit of syrupy fluff.
But like a true
professional, Midler recovered and breathed life into "Tenderly,"
from her recently released tribute album to Rosemary Clooney. Then
came a gorgeous, breezy version of "That's How Heartaches Are
Made" that was a slice of pop perfection.
Midler followed
with two more gems, Randy Newman's "I Think It's Gonna Rain
Today" and Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman,"
both rendered with passion and feeling that is a rare commodity
in pop music today.
Bette Midler
puts on a divine show
Saturday, January 10, 2004
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
(Photo: Matt Freed)
They don't call her the
Divine Miss M for nothing.
And nothing is what Bette
Midler has lost over the years -- except maybe a few pounds.
Midler knows it, too.
Descending upon the stage on a flying carousel horse to do a swinging
"Kiss My Brass," the diva greeted a packed house at the
Mellon Arena Thursday night, saying, "How are you? I'm fabulous!
Don't I look it? Even I don't know how I do it!"
Such a greeting wouldn't
work for many artists, but a Bette Midler with chutzpah is the only
Bette Midler her fans want to see.
For the next two-plus
hours, she laid it on heavy in a show with so many elements, it's
almost impossible to characterize. The stage was set with an elaborate
circus theme and a crack 13-piece band for a night of comedy, musical
theater and a great American songbook.
It was all delivered
with a mix of tradition and irreverence that has long made her an
icon among two particular demographics: gay men and middle-aged
Jewish women. She even shouted out in her opening monologue, "Where's
my ladies from Squirrel Hill?"
In that monologue, and
throughout the show for that matter, she injected comments that
dared to be off-putting to other demographics in her crowd. "I'm
running for Queen of the World," she said. "I'm not sure
I could handle it, but I'm sure I couldn't screw it up anymore than
the pinheads who are running it now."
But even the conservatives
under the dome had to marvel at Miss M's pipes. She might not match
the sexual energy of the young pop divas, but she can certainly
blow them off the stage with her voice, whether doing "Boogie
Woogie Bugle Boy" or "Tenderly," the only song she
performed from her recent tribute album to Rosemary Clooney.
Her divine song choices
included breathtaking renditions of Randy Newman's "I Think
It's Going to Rain Today" and Tom Waits' "Shiver Me Timbers"
and a version of "When a Man Loves a Woman" that shook
the rafters.
The visual gimmicks were
just as winning. Midler used video to put herself on trial in front
of "Judge Judy" for making a flop sitcom. She transformed
herself into the gypsy-like Soph for a run of racy jokes that would
have gotten her kicked out of the Borscht Belt. The most elaborate
sight gag was her Delores del Lago bit, in which she and her three
singing sidekicks became mermaids on wheelchairs for the send-up
"Fishtails on Broadway."
It was cute, although
a bit long, and part of a second set that veered more into schmaltz
with obligatory ballads like "From a Distance," "Wind
Beneath My Wings" and "September," a Sept. 11 song
that seemed too melodramatic for her tastes. Fortunately, she brought
it to a climax with "The Rose."
The most tender part
of the second set was a video-enhanced duet with Mister Rogers on
his song "I Like to Be Told." Those holding their breath
hoping she wouldn't say the wrong thing, in the wrong town, were
able to exhale rather than gasp. Bette closed the song saying that
the Neighborhood was "a place where we could be safe"
and "God bless Mister Rogers."
The diva renowned for
her irreverence knows just when to add a touch of class.
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