Madonna in Concert

 

Madonna is a LEGEND, and I wanted to see her in concert before she got too old to stop touring (although the Rolling Stones are still doing it...). I originally was going to see her over Labor Day weekend (I did see Sting that weekend), but she got sick, so the show was rescheduled for yesterday. That blew my plan of wearing a sexy snakeskin mini-dress; instead I wore a velvet jacket with shoulder pads as a nod to the 80's (but Capital One Arena was so hot I barely even wore it!). At least the show did get rescheduled: I'll never see Celine Dion, whose March 2020 shows never came to pass.

My old boss and I (I've known her for, what, 10 years?) went together to this show, which made the evening even more fun. She had heard that while the concert was supposed to start around 8:00pm, Madonna never goes on stage before 10:00pm. So we spent a good two hours just wandering the halls, getting a drink, and catching up; we weren't interested in her opener, Bob the Drag Queen, either (although in the end he was more like a glorified Emcee). I think because so many people knew Madonna wouldn't start singing until later, the venue was so dead in the beginning: there were no lines, the halls weren't crowded, it was like the apocalypse had happened. We were almost wondering if Madonna was actually going to perform at all!

But perform she did. And she put on quite the show: a very weird one. But, we would expect no less of Madonna. Weird is her thing! But I think we, and many others in the crowd, were disappointed that it wasn't just a glam 80's dance party. Barely anyone was dancing! I think we were all just taking in weirdness: the gender-bending, nudity, bondage, fire... we were mesmerized (but was it in a good way?). Here are some photos to help me explain:

There was a lot of crawling/writhing from the back-up dancers (although they must have been living their best lives!).

This was during "Like a Prayer." At one point the men were hanging in their little spaces like crucifixes...

Some sort of luau ritual...?

And there was boxing. Not sure how that relates.

FIRE!

At one point she was dressed up like Willie Nelson. Hmm...

"I want to perform, but I want to lay down." She is laying on top of this big box, but the camera overhead projected her image onto the sides with a funky background, so she looked like an ameba swimming around.

Madonna wishing she were Lady Gaga (which is very strange, because I'm sure Gaga has always wished she were Madonna).

I normally don't check the set list ahead of time, but my friend did, and we were both bummed that she wasn't going to sing hits like Material Girl or Papa Don't Preach. But she did sing some of my other favorites:

Vogue

Like a Prayer

Like a Virgin

Ray of Light (I had not heard this song in forever!)

Die Another Day (great Bond theme song!)

Hung Up (This song came out when I was in high school, and I don't think I had heard it since!)

Essentially the whole show was set up in "acts," and there were seven of them. Since everything started so late, we already decided ahead of time to leave before the last act so we could get home somewhat earlier (1:00am!). But luckily those were all songs we weren't really into, so no big loss. 

I'm so glad I went to see this concert because who knows if I'll ever get another chance to see Madonna. Now I can put a check next to that name on my concert bucket list! I don't have any concert tickets lined up for the new year, but I'm sure I'll see some great shows in 2024. I can feel it!

Pretty Woman: The Musical

 

I LOVE the movie Pretty Woman. I grew up watching it (maybe even without understanding the prostitute part at first), and I must have seen this movie at least twenty times in my life. I was definitely interested in seeing the musical version at the National Theatre (which was the D.C. debut, by the way), but the tickets were a little expensive. But I won their digital raffle, so I received discounted tickets to see this show last Friday night! I invited my friend Beth to go with me, and we had such a fun time!

To set the stage (no pun intended), I thought the set and costumes were really great. Palm trees transported you to California, luxe columns and curtains brought you inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, and you even had the famous balcony at the end where she "rescues him right back." There were so many costume changes for the cast: hookers on Hollywood Boulevard wore next to nothing, young men wore old-timey uniforms as bellhops, and fashionistas on Rodeo Drive had the glitziest ensembles. I even appreciated when the outfits matched those from the movie, like Vivian's famous red gown or the polka-dots she wears to the polo match. I felt like all of these details made the play that much more true to the movie. 

There were really only two parts that didn't match the film. The dinner scene with David Morse is turned into a dancing scene, which works better for a theater performance, anyway. And when Stuckey visits Vivian at the hotel, instead of him slapping her, she hits HIM! The female empowerment switch-a-roo is definitely preferrable to the original!

And I thought the cast did a great job. Ellie Baker was a lovely Vivian, with lots of energy and a charming, down-to-earth sense about her. And while Chase Wolfe is no Richard Gere (but who is?), I especially liked his singing voice, which reminded me of Lee Brice a little bit. I think Rae Davenport, who played Vivian's friend and roommate, Kit, had the strongest singing voice of the bunch, and Joshua Kring, one of the members of the general cast, was an amazing dancer. But I think my favorite character may have been "Happy Man," an amalgam of several characters from the film: the "What's Your Dream?" man on the street, the manager of the BW Hotel, and the store manager when they go shopping for Vivian to get new clothes. All of these roles were, ahem, rolled into one and played by Adam du Plessis; he did a fantastic job transforming into each! Of course the wardrobe changes helped, but I found him believable, and more importantly, likeable, as each character. Everyone was so talented, and they totally did justice to the film, which for me was the most important part!

Here are two video if you want to see more:

*Check out this glowing review from D.C. Theater Arts, too!