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Posted At : June 12, 2009 01:01 PM | Posted By : D McKee
Related Categories:
Entertainment,Economy,Harrah's,The Strip
Here's another item off the blotter, as we continue with S&G housekeeping ...
Last Sunday night marked Bette Midler's 100th performance of The Showgirl Must Go On at Caesars Palace. In what should be an object lesson to every other Vegas headliner, Midler (who is also the show's director) has kept the extravaganza up-to-date and tight.
The contemporaneity is reflected in her patter, which zings Octomom, Gov. Sarah Palin and Fannie Mae, among other targets. (The biggest laugh line, though, remains her diss of Cirque du Soleil; there's palpable "Cirque fatigue" in town and Midler taps right into it.)
As for spic-n-span production values, when you see dozens of wheelchair-bound mermaids moving in synchrony that Busby Berkeley might envy, it's no mean feat of stagecraft. Midler's brilliance is, I would say, her ability to shape -- with inestimable help from choreographer Toni Basil -- the ultimate Vegas variety show ... and yet affectionately tease its inherent campiness more than a little -- not to mention having a healthy sense of humor about herself. The production manages to both own what it is and yet lovingly comment upon it, too. No slumming here.
Showgirl is high heavens above Franco Dragone's stultifying A New Day, which broke a fundamental showbiz commandment, "Thou shalt not upstage the headliner." As for the eponymous Cher thingamajig, it rests upon the blissful assurance that the only prerequisite for succcess is the physical manifestation of Her Cherness in as many different costumes as is practicable. Then again, that near-trainwreck has been remunerative enough to constitute an argument for the virtues of resting upon one's laurels.
The biggest jackpot ever seen was the capper to June 7th's milestone performance. Photos © Erik Kabik/RETNA
Such coasting is beneath Midler, obviously, for whom no holds are barred, especially in "When a Man Loves a Woman." For many revues, that torchy tour de force would suffice to cap the evening, but in Showgirl it's merely a preface for still bigger things to come.
While AEG continues to price its Colosseum shows absurdly high -- as attested by acres of empty seats -- Showgirl is the most Vegas razzmatazz you can get for your dollar. With fewer than 100 performances remaining, if you haven't penciled this one in on your itinerary, you ought to give it some thought.
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