Is there anything Bette Midler can’t do? She’s an award winning television and film actress, an award winning singer with several gold records under her belt, and a Broadway star. In one project she’s serious and introspective and the next she’s brassy and rolling-on-the-floor funny. The Divine Miss M is back in yet another incarnation. Bette Midler takes to the Colosseum stage at Caesar’s Palace in her blockbuster Las Vegas show, The Showgirl Must Go On. Nobody works a stage better than Midler, and this Las Vegas show is no exception. Ticket holders to Bette Midler’s Las Vegas show will be treated to dancing, singing, and lots of laughs. This is not quite a one-woman show. Even though Midler is the headliner, she is joined onstage by her talented backup singers, the Harlettes. She is also joined onstage with 20 dancers known as the Caesar Salad Girls and a 13-piece band. There are many saucy and silly parts to this Las Vegas show. As Midler’s fans know, she loves an off-color joke as much as the next person. When Midler takes on her showgirl character, she is the “oldest living showgirl in the world, Soph.” As Soph, she spins colorful yarns and tells some risqué jokes. The Colosseum is the former home of Celine Dion’s Las Vegas show, but Midler is quick to point out that The Showgirl Must Go On is not that kind of show. Rather than dancers from Cirque du Soleil, Midler announces that her show features dancers from the “Sunque du So Low.” There are plenty moments of hilarity in Midler’s show, and part of what makes her so funny is her self-deprecating humor. Part of Midler’s appeal is that she’s not afraid to laugh at herself and she doesn’t take herself too seriously.Midler has produced some serious music, however, and her popular songs are part of her Las Vegas show as well. Ticket holders who come to hear Midler perform her biggest hits will not be disappointed. Many performers sing “Wind Beneath My Wings,” but nobody sings it better than Bette. She still sings “From a Distance” as clearly and emotionally as she ever has, and she brings Las Vegas audience members to their feet when she sings her signature song “The Rose.”The set design includes a bit of old Las Vegas glitz and glamour, but the Colosseum is a stunning venue, and it doesn’t require much adornment. Powerhouse Midler manages to work the 120-foot-wide stage with no problem, though having 20 dancers on stage helps with this as well.Watching Midler belt out tunes, dance, tell jokes, move around the stage, and interact with the audience, it’s hard to remember that she’s in her 4th decade of show business and in her early 60s. Midler’s Las Vegas show is energetic, fresh, at times frenzied, but with a lot of heart. Much like the Divine Miss M herself.
