THE INSIDE STORY ON THE IRS RAID OF PURE NIGHTCLUBCOMING MARCH »BAREFOOT BETTE MIDLER’S GRAND GALA OPENING AS SHE LOSES HER SHOES!
Bette Midler’s new show is “one huge fat super hit” said the alignment of stars who were guests for last night’s glittering red-carpet gala premiere.
“I’m on a high,” Bette told me minutes after the curtain came down. “It was a fabulous first night. I’m relieved. I’m ecstatic. I’m on a high. I’m happy—all those emotions. I’m feeling really good about it. Everything came together just as we dreamed it would. We had a great time. We had a great crowd and we had a lot of fun.”
She jokingly added, “Nobody fell. Nobody died. No fire. No injuries. That’s success! We won!”
But there was a first-night déjà vu moment with Celine Dion’s first night that both Bette and producer John Meglin are taking as a good luck omen.
“When Bette came down the staircase in her red gown she wasn’t wearing her red shoes. It was exactly the same thing that happened with Celine’s first night,” he confided. “Celine lost one red shoe and this was exactly the same thing. Bette lost both her red shoes, too! We told Bette after the show about Celine’s shoe malfunction and she absolutely thought it was an omen for longtime success!”
Bette continued, “True, I lost my shoes. I got there to go on and—no shoes. I had to go on bare feet. I didn’t have time for another pair, and what if they didn’t fit? It didn’t matter. I love the show’s opening. I have the most beautiful lineup of girls in all of Vegas. They are all so happy and enthusiastic to be here.
I love Delores Delgardo’s routine—totally hilarious. I love Soph and her jokes and I love all the songs I sing. I enjoy singing them. The crowds love them and it’s all so dear and lovely. I’ve been sleeping well while we’ve been putting the show together but to be honest I haven’t been out of the hotel in 15-days. It’s like building a ship, a big monster cruise liner, and it’s really hard if you have to turn it around mid-way. We’ve been changing up to the last minute but we did it. I don’t even worry about that giant headdress. I love my set. I think people will flip out when they see it. It’s old school. It’s old Vegas. It’s glamour, glory, glitz, hits and you know what!”
Bette told the first-niters, “We’ve been working on this show a long time. Everybody on this cast and crew has had a fantastic attitude as we worked long hours to put it all together. We didn’t have one dud in the bunch and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. I know we’re going to have fun in Vegas for the next two-years. We want to become a real part of this community. We’ll have fun, not trouble, doing that.”
Among the star lineup for The Show Girl Must Go On at Caesars Palace were Siegfried & Roy, former boy-band chart-busters Lance Bass and Joey Fatone, talk-show host and Hairspray actress Ricky Lake, singer Meatloaf, TV star Alan Thicke and even Bette’s best local friends and my friends and neighbors, boxing promoter Bob Arum and his wife Lovee.
“Now that’s a show,” Bob told me. “That’s what Vegas is all about! She’s sensational. She can last here as long as she can take it. I laughed throughout—she cracks me up. There were some moving moments that brought tears to our eyes. We’ve known Bette, her husband Martin, their daughter Sophie now for about five-years. We became very friendly. She’s great to be with and she will be a great asset to the Vegas community. She will be terrific for this place.”
Seconds after the curtain came down Siegfried told me, “What can you say about it? Bette never disappoints. She always lives up to your expectations. She is the divine one. She gave us a great entertaining night.”
And Roy interjected, “Over the top. I loved it. She is so exciting.”
Alan Thicke commented, “I loved it all but I really laughed at the American Idol segment where Paula, Simon and Randy become distorted on their video. You just cannot miss that. I had tears in my eyes at the end with “Wind Beneath My Wings,” which is a brilliant song—she always kills with it. It reminded me of old-time Vegas variety, especially the music. It was swing tempo and rhythms, and that’s part of what she plays as the old showgirl—the nostalgia is part of what she does. Her breathy voice and quick walk is part of that throwback to old Vegas and that’s why we love her.”
Star choreographer Toni Basil who worked with Bette on all the dance numbers for the Harlettes and the 18 Caesar Salad Dancers (“everyone’s a tomato and without dressing,” as Bette describes them) told me about the challenge of the 120-foot wide stage (“so large its in two different zip-codes,” as Bette refers to it): “I am staging the world’s greatest entertainer… there’s something to live up to there, and the quality of what she lives up to is right there on the stage. We collaborated on it in every tiny detail, so with her input I’m very confident about her on that platform, and we don’t even think of it in terms of being the biggest—or one of the biggest stages in the world.”
My old longtime pal, Meatloaf added, “It was fabulous from start to finish. I don’t know how she does it—just incredible. It’s Bette. She has such charisma. She got it all in there from the old elements, the old characters and then right up-to-date with Paula, Simon and Randy—The American Idol segment made me laugh really hard. She was in my vocal range with “When A Man Loves a Woman.” I’m in awe right now. Just a brilliant show. People need to see Bette!”
Former boy-band stars Joey Fatone, now hosting NBC’s Singing Bee and Lance Bass, fresh from Hairspray on Broadway, walked the red-carpet together and agreed: “She’s the ultimate show-woman. Her Delores character is very funny and the whole thing with the mermaids—wow! The thing with Simon, Paula and Randy was friggin’ funny, the funniest thing we’ve ever seen with what they did with their heads and eyes as fish. Hopefully the three of them will come out to see the finished product because that is funny, really funny. They’re going to howl. It’s all a wonderful show, and from now on we’re Bette-heads!”
Officials with both Caesars Palace and the AEG/Concerts West producers couldn’t have been happier. Harrah’s corporate chief Gary Loveman, who bankrolled the $20-million start-up gamble and guarantees Bette’s huge mega-million paycheck, told me, “The show is all about Bette and it’s all about Las Vegas. It’s a fabulous combination. Our million-dollar bet has paid off big time with some of her greatest characters and some of her greatest vocal performances, all in a very modern setting. Terrific is the only one word to describe it. It’s a great reflection of the old glamorous part of Vegas—a terrific entertainer. Really bigger than life and better in context of what she really does offer. I hadn’t seen any of the show in advance. I’d heard some notions of what I was going to see. I was happy to see it fresh and I was completely thrilled. Completely different than what we’ll have in Cher. We’re going to offer a tremendous selection of entertainers here at Caesars. Both Cher and Bette will be completely different than Celine and both are truly wonderful.”
Concerts West/AEG head honcho John Meglin, who brought the entire Bette Midler project together, added, “She is such a great entertainer. She brings so much personality to the stage and warmth to the room. It’s a marathon not a sprint here, so everything will continue to get better, but what a fabulous start. The reveal of the huge headdress is the only thing that worries me. It’s very tricky, it has to come through Elton’s letters that are up there in the ceiling permanently, so if that works fine I can breathe easy the entire show. I always feel really good about the whole show when that comes down safely and on time! It keeps getting better. I know there’ll be things they’ll change, but it’s just a tweaking.
“You all remember that opening night of Celine. I couldn’t stay here. I had to go across the street and have dinner—it was such a technical nightmare. It takes a lot to stage something like this and you’ve got to get in front of an audience and do it over and over. Bette has already got it down. Celine went on to become an incredible success story and Bette’s already ahead of that with the stage production for opening night comparisons. So I’m feeling very happy and very good.
“It was a great bet on Bette! The show really works. Everyone supports and loves these resident shows. We’re allowing an artist to create the show they love, want and feel good about for once in their lifetime. Bette is so good off script; it will just continue to roll. We’ve already been working on Cher’s show, so it’s not a case of Bette having opened that tomorrow morning we just switch over to Cher. Right now our focus is Bette and we’ll keep on continuing that. I don’t see us as topping each other. It’s not, ‘Bette is better than Celine’ or ‘Cher will be better than Bette.’ We’re just trying to bring the world’s best entertainers here. Bette is obviously one of them and we want to continue with that philosophy. The ticket sales are great. Except for a couple of rear upstairs seats mid-week she’s fully sold for the first three-months. We’ve already put her next block of appearances on sale and they’re just as strong.
Said Caesars Palace president Gary Selesner, “It’s a unique showcase of Bette’s inimitable talents on a grand scale. Caesars audiences from all over the world will love this. It takes a Colosseum to showcase her colossal talents. I know we have another huge hit on our hands. It is an absolutely fabulous and incredible show. It certainly keeps the tradition of Caesars being no.1 with entertainment.
Of course there was a worry on my part when Celine came to the end of her contract. After seeing this tonight I don’t have to worry anymore, and next up comes Cher. I couldn’t feel more positive. Our entertainment future is set for more successes.”
CLICK HERE for our advance look at Bette’s show from the sneak peek I was permitted on Monday. I watched her premiere again last night and once more I can tell you confidently that it’s a razzle-dazzle, eye-popping roller coaster of a ride with jewels of jokes, delicious dancing and delectable dancers, plus Bette’s superb singing again there was a mid-show standing ovation for her soul-blasting “When a Man Loves A Woman” that lasted over two-minutes! Pure eye-tearing, choke-in-the-throat emotion! In a sense it’s old Vegas with gorgeous girls and gags and sensational singing and one superstar at the helm in charge for the nearly two-hour visually stunning and energetic spectacle.
Bounty-hunter Duane “The Dog” Chapman and his wife posed with me for a photo in the theater lobby. I congratulated him on the news of his return to TV, now that the suspension has been lifted, with his bounty-hunter realty series.
“That was a humbling experience and I learned an important lesson,” he told me. “We’re so pleased to be here tonight and celebrate our own good news as Bette celebrates hers.” Doug’s wife cut in, “I’m a bigger Bette fan than he is, but we both love her. It’s just that I love her more!”
Rita Rudner, who couldn’t see the show because of her own competing show across the street at Harrah’s, came afterwards for the celebration party at Pure and told me, “I sent Bette a gift and a ‘welcome to Vegas’ letter. I hope she’s as happy here in Vegas as I am. I sent my husband Martin with my girlfriend so he wouldn’t miss it, but now I’m here I think Bette’s going to run the show again just for me! Actually, Martin has promised to take me when I get my next day off.”
No word as to why Cher and Barry Manilow, who I’d expected, were no-shows. Toni Braxton had to cancel at the last minute because she was unwell, but Christine Ebersole who starred in Gypsy with Bette was there.
At the Pure nightclub after-party everybody I talked to agreed that both Bette and Caesars had pulled off another miraculous magical moment in showbiz history. John Meglin and Bette toasted each other and the first night crowd with champagne.
Bette summed up, “I couldn’t be happier. I know we’re going to have a lot of good fun in Vegas and we want to play an important role in this community in many ways over the months and years to come.”
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dhena, on Feb 10 2008, 09:00 AM, said:
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