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| Lionel Hampton, Bette Midler. |
"In Lieu of Reviews"
For background on how this previously
unpublished series—introducing all mainstream New York shows between 1970 and
1975—came to be and its relationship to my three The Encyclopedia of the New York Stage volumes (covering every New
York play, musical, revue, and revival between 1920 and 1950), please check the
prefaces to any of the earlier entries beginning with the letter “A.” See the
list at the end of the current entry.
Bette Midler, kitsch queen of the 70s, had made a brief concert
appearance (12/3/73-12/23/73; 19 performances, Palace Theatre) in New York
before returning with this campy revue centering on her dazzling virtuosity as
singer and comedienne. Her entrance was made during a Showboat-like number in which a group of black fishermen, singing “Old
Man River,” hauled in a huge clamshell from which the star emerged to tumultuous
squeals of pleasure from a gay-dominated audience.
John Simon described what followed as “a swamp of bad taste,”
and Clive Barnes called “an overblown, overstaged and overdressed cabaret act.”
Nevertheless, these critics, and all the others, could not disguise their
admiration for the star’s outrageousness and unique gifts. The Divine Miss M”
succeeded in drawing audiences to the huge Minskoff for a two months' limited
engagement.
Midler’s elaborately produced show, with lavish and amusing
sets, was supported by the Harlettes, a female trio that often worked with the
star, by the great jazz xylophonist Lionel Hampton, and by a black gospel
group, the Michael Powell Ensemble. “Tacky,” “trashy,” and “flashy,” were some
of the epithets earned by the show with its frequent recourse to insult and sexual
humor but the star’s dynamic presence, nostalgic and hilarious references to
the 40s, playing directly to the audience, and sensational way with a wide
range of pop musical styles, ensured her of a warmly appreciative reception.
Midler offered renditions of such great and not so great oldies
as “Sentimental Journey,” “Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy,” “We’ll Be Together Again,”
“If Love Were All,” “Delta Dawn,” “Strangers in the Night,” and “Do You Wanna
Dance,” among others. “Oddly,” noted Douglas Watt, “with all her bumps and
grinds and naughty talk, she creates a prevailing impression of wholesomeness.”
Her show, concluded Jack Kroll,” “confirms [Midler’s] status as the ultimate
parodist of Total Entertainment in a freaked-out society.”
Previous entries:
Abelard and
Heloise
Absurd Person
Singular
AC/DC
“Acrobats”
and “Line”
The Advertisement/
All My Sons
All Over
All Over Town
All the Girls Came
Out to Play
Alpha Beta
L’Amante Anglais
Ambassador
American Gothics
Amphitryon
And Miss Reardon
Drinks a Little
And They Put
Handcuffs on the Flowers
And Whose Little
Boy Are You?
Anna K.
Anne of Green
Gables
Antigone
Antiques
Any Resemblance to Persons Living or Dead
Applause
Ari
As You Like It
Augusta
The
Au Pair Man
Baba Goya [Nourish the Beast]
The Ballad of Johnny Pot
Barbary Shore
The Bar that Never Closes
The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel
The Beauty Part
The Beggar’s Opera
Behold! Cometh the Vanderkellens
Be Kind to People Week
Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill
