Las Vegas Weekly

Well journalista, it's been lovely corresponding with you, but we have 2 shows to do, ( tonight's just started, different ,shoes than usual tonight, and a little congestion, but right on as usual). So much to do - Chelsea Handler in tonight, Monday a big load out of all the dressing room and road cases to make room for Cher to move in, and a European press junket to get ready for. Love to chat more, maybe in January when we come back. Come on over, we can give you a job for a day so you can see how it's done. Maybe by then you will have learned that if one if going to dish it out, especially for a living, one must also learn to take it right back. And get the truth before you just sling wildly when you do not fully know that of which you speak. Good luck with those lessons. Ciao Darling!

As it happens, I am extremely close to the situation, in a professional capacity, and have been for many, many years. I have a decade and a half of personal knowledge of the woman's actions, character, and behavior, through our 2 years of being here, and every other tour since 1992s Experience The Divine. I have spent 25 years travelling the world and working in the business, in extremely close quarters with a star clientele, on the private jets, through their world tours, and staying at the hotels as part of the inner circle & working entourage. I AM an expert. I am not a fan - I get paid to be here. It's how I make my living, and I make a fantastic one. It's how I know that you do not know what (or whom) you are talking about. You only have your opinion, and your extremely small (and still undefined) "community" who expresses resentment. Since you dwell in opinion - here's one for you. Run, don't walk to UNLV and sign up for Creative Writing 101, and Ethics in Journalism. Now that would be news worth hearing about..

Sir you're entitled to your own hurt feelings. Factually, you remain ignorant re Bette's actions. Of which community do you speak? To whom did she promise something to & neglect? The show community? Visited dozens. Bar & restaurant community? They've been happy to see her walk in and return - she and all her people are known good tippers. Shopping community - large designer to small businesses have all seen benjamins from Bette. Gambling community? Nope, sorry, not much. Nightclub community? Good singers don't go out late, especially where there's smoking. Charitable community? She kept her gifts private, not seeking publicity. Trust me, they've been generous, you're bugged you didn't get to "cover" it. Gay community? It's not like her to just show up at a bar. Perhaps you didn't notice - she has a family and several other careers. Should she have tap danced in your kitchen for YOUR charity? Is that what she promised? Listen, if dropping tons of money, honey, encouraging others to do so, and being sweet while doing it doesn't benefit the entire community at the LOCAL LEVEL - well, let your community know they won't have to put up with it much longer. That seems an ungrateful, ungracious, and oblivious community. Few stars will generate the spending and demonstrate the approachability that Bette did, encouraging her crew to do so also, while enjoying a 2 year run here. The "facts" you refer and cling to Sir, demonstrate that you, Sir, have ABSOLUTELY NO KNOWLEDGE (1st, 2nd or 3rd hand) of her behavior, charitable or otherwise, in this town. When writing about feelings and opinions, it's either Op-ed or gossip. Journalistic reporting requires knowledge and research. You demonstrate NEITHER. You sound like a kid who's balloon got popped! People with a lot going on do the best they can (familiar with that feeling? maybe not.) With best intentions, folks get into cities & situations that demand A LOT more than they thought, as they turn 62,63. Families (for those who have them) and other careers and causes (for those who have them) need more than one thought they might while you are gone. CLEARLY you have no behind the scenes, working insight into any large, long term star vehicle show. Hey! Come work backstage on your feet 14 hours a day, 5 nights a week for a couple of years. See what you feel like doing on your 2 days and nights off. And Cher, while a phenomenal entertainer, is a completely different creative creature than Bette. Comparing them is to show that you've no idea of nuance of talent, character, or performance. Not knowing the huge differences is to label yourself as LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR of observer, neither critic nor reporter, more like hack. Buck up, move on. Don't you have better things to do, like study writing? Dunno and cuz are NOT words.

With all due respect, unless you have spent a lot of time around large mature artist centered productions, you cannot possibly imagine the extreme physical and mental effort and focus required to execute it 5 (not 4) times a week, in a dry environment, at 63 years old, without using cancelling as an "out". You also can not imagine the rest, recuperation and constant work towards improvement which have to be built and enforced into the schedule. It is highly likely that until diving into the thick of things, she herself did not have a clear idea of what it would demand - no one could have. Must it bear repeating that Miss Midler DOES HER OWN VOCALS and spends more time physically on stage, running and dancing, than most other acts? Do you know what that feels like, and what the body and brain needs to recover, to do it again and again and again? She has attended at least a couple dozen shows, as her show schedule, energy, her family time and other work obligations permit, and taken out large groups to attend with her, as a gift to staff.. When out, she seeks as little publicity as possible, preferring not to pull focus from anyone else at their show. Not being a gambler, it is not a surprise she is not seen "out and about" in that context, though she has probably patronized more local restaurants and shops than any of the other above mentioned artists. Has anyone else taken their entire cast and crew out bowling, to the movies, or to dinner, multiple times? She is uniformly gracious, grateful and generous to the workers and fans she comes across when out, even as a private person. If that is not putting money and good will into the community, and it not "enough", then I am not sure what would be. The first promise an entertainer needs to keep is to take care of themselves, so that they can fulfill on the second most important one - delivering to the ticket buying public. Anything they can do above and beyond that, for the local situation, is gravy. Bette has ladeled on much more gravy than you know. Taking her to task for "not being part of the community" no doubt stems from genuine disappointment, but comes off a tad like the personal grudge of a kid who did not get invited to a birthday party. It reflects how little you (or those nursing such distaste) really know of her actions here. Reporting on a general "opinion" or "feeling" without knowing or presenting any of the rest of the circumstance is at best, ill informed, at worst, inconsiderate of the many other demands made on her time and health. I venture to guess that most of the people who maintain this "distaste" have never run across the woman. They might be better served by getting over it and projecting their needs on the next person to come through. Oh - wait, There's no one really coming through, for a while. Rats. No one to blame or rag on. Oh well.

Ooh, so bitter! Lets see - Bette was here for roughly 17 weeks in "08, and 20 for "09. The crowds of people who come to Las Vegas to be entertained don't live and give here - must the entertainers? Lack of charity? Bette has given to many local causes, but prefers to remain anonymous. Her dining out with friends, staff and family, and the show shopping alone have contributed mightily to local paychecks over these 2 years. She's been very generous to staff and crew - her own and local. The non local crew, have spent and given in ways immeasurable while they were here.
The 2 events you speak of were coincided with Show Days, on which Bette's first and foremost commitment is to the ticket buying public. A Show Day - from AM work out to vocal rehearsal to dance rehearsal to sound check, to vocal rest, to curtain - is all, and ONLY about giving the best performance. The Audience and what they deserve is what matters - end of story. It is unfortunate that those events were scheduled on top of previously existing shows. Nevada Ballet were very aware of the logical limit to her time for participation, as you might have been also. Her level of professional commitment and dedication to the task of performance at hand is unsurpassed. To anyone who knows her, this is clear. By the way - the nightly "soundcheck" is a crucial element, involving a huge mandatory local union labor call, the artist's band, production, and crew, the Colosseum, and AEG, not just the Artist. It does not just get "re-arranged", not even by the Artist. Bette, at 63, does all her own vocals, dancing, very fast changes, and speaks to the audience all night long (unlike some others). In this very dry environment, it can be extremely difficult. She does not fly home to humid LA between shows (unlike some others). She has not canceled a single show for which tickets have been sold (unlike others). She anchored the Colosseum through June and August of the worst tourist summer Las Vegas has seen in more than a decade, possibly two. At least it stayed open and booked, and everyone who works there, plus her own crew from all over, had a job. There is a phrase much bandied about this year (and last year, if one paid attention). "Recession! - worst since 1987!". Perhaps you might Google it, and find out what other promising enterprises did not perform as well as expected in the last 2 years. As far as her future plans - anyone's guess, (but yours is not a good one). There's a lot she could do - show biz being just a fraction. By the way - do you know anyone else who picks up garbage in their spare time, has reclaimed 150 inner city gardens, has committed to planting a million trees in one of the most crowded cities in America and is 1/4 of the way to that goal? No? I didn't think so.