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.