Bette Midler ‘The Showgirl Must Go On’ DVD (Universal) ***** (From York Press)

Bette Midler ‘The Showgirl Must Go On’ DVD (Universal) *****

11:24am Friday 20th January 2012 in CD reviews By Ian Sime

ONLY those lucky individuals lucky enough to attend a showcase at the London Palladium, the occasional TV show or the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool have witnessed Bette Midler on a British stage. Yet the legend that is The Divine Miss M is cherished more for her stagecraft than any of her other considerable assets.

Lest we forget, Hawaii’s favourite export was thrust to fame and notoriety while performing in variety at the infamous bathhouses of Greenwich Village (with Barry Manilow as her pianist) while moonlighting from her full time job as a cast member of Fiddler On The Roof, on Broadway.

Midler’s The Show Girl Must Go On revue, staged at the glitzy Colosseum at Caesar’s Palace was for many the reason to visit Las Vegas in 2010. The cavalcade featured new gags from many of Midler’s colourful creations, a new troupe of Staggering Harlettes, The Caesar Salad Girls and more sequins and feathers that Kylie or Miss Ross have seen in a lifetime. The short but punchy, 70-minute revue featured Bette’s greatest hits from the spunky Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy to Wind Beneath My Wings, and includes the fans’ favourite, Hello In There, for theatrical pathos.

Many hope that The Show Girl Must Go On may still play the UK, but this looks less likely by the month. Perhaps this is the closest we will get to experience the Divine.