Diana Ross Sparkles

[jobeterob]

http://www.nola.com/music/index.ssf/2013/10/diana_ross_sparkled_in_the_jew.html#incart_flyout_ entertainment

[jobeterob]

Diana Ross sparkled in the jewel-box Saenger Theatre on Wednesday night


The newly renovated Saenger Theatre, open only a month now, still has the air of an enchanted fairyland. Intricately gilded frescoes, twining vines and white Grecian statuary, constellations twinkling in the trompe l’oeil sky of a cobalt ceiling in perpetual dusk - all of those flourishes make it feel like a place where wonderful things, or at least, as the carpet pattern proclaims, “progressive amusements,” will happen. And on a warm Halloween eve, in a packed house of fans either dressed in their best or in costume, that promise seemed heightened. The formidable Diana Ross, who performed Wednesday night [[Oct. 30) would be a jewel in a burnished setting, or maybe more appropriately for the season, a treat in a shiny wrapper.

One got the feeling it was not the Halloween season that inspired the 69-year-old singer to perform four costume changes during her tight, hour-long set. She began wrapped in a cloud of red taffeta, and slipped offstage to drape herself in rich blue sparkles. The second time Ross ducked into the wings, she returned in slinky black sequins and hose, covered with a cape of snowy ostrich feathers that she worked as a prop, as saucily as Gypsy Rose Lee ever did. That was followed by an ensemble of crisp, glittery white ruffles over silver lame, and finally, a tangerine gown and robe edged in matching marabou.

The fashion parade was not the only lesson in putting on a show that was presented Wednesday. Ross was audibly battling a cold, and her hoarseness penetrated a set that traversed her 50-year career, particularly those higher-pitched numbers from the Supremes days: “Baby Love” and “Come See About Me” and “You Can’t Hurry Love.”

But like the song says, one monkey don’t stop the show, and neither does a frog in the throat. The diva pushed through, and it surely didn’t hurt that the crowd was with her 100 percent. Two thousand palms flattened, outstretched and upright, during “Stop! In the Name of Love,” and 2,000 pairs of feet shuffled and grooved in place during “Ease on Down the Road,” from the 1978 film “The Wiz.” Which part of the body is it that discos? Two thousand of those bits, give or take, did that too, during the set opener “I’m Coming Out,” written by class-of-2014 Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame nominee the Chic’s Nile Rodgers, and later, during Ross’ mid-‘70s No. 1 pop hit “Love Hangover.” Her voice returned to power during cushiony ballads like “The Look of Love,” popularized by Dusty Springfield, and two numbers from Ross’ film career: Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain,” from the 1972 biopic “Lady Sings The Blues,” and the theme from 1975’s “Mahogany.”

Diana Ross has hits for days, and she surely could have simply delivered them and called it a success. The audience, which spent most of the show out of its seats, would have. But what clinched the deal at the Saenger on Wednesday night wasn’t even so much the killer songs -- and, penned by teams like Ashford and Simpson, Bacharach and David, and Holland-Dozier-Holland, the star’s set list did boast some of the best songcraft in the American canon -- it was the warmth with which she inhabited them. Ross beamed joy at the crowd, a grin lighting up her face throughout the performance as she playfully shimmied from song to song and outfit to outfit. During an encore of “Reach Out and Touch,” she did just that, working her way across the front row chatting and clasping hands.

[smark21]

I think she should add Turn Me Over to her set list and re-arrange the song and stage it as a twerk number.

[jobeterob]

I think she should add Turn Me Over to her set list and re-arrange the song and stage it as a twerk number.

Would be cool if we could get Mary twerkin with Berry at one of Diana's shows. People would love it.

[supremester]

7373It was a great night.......I sat next to a guy I hadn't spoken to for 13 years and we are bff's again. Her audience keeps getting younger and younger - there are still old gas bags like me and older, but so many half my age. I forget that a huge percentage of her fan base signed on in the 70's & 80's. 2 hot babes were quite dressed up - they are 21 and became fans because of.........gulp......Double Platinum. She was in rare form again: warm, happy and thrilled to be thrilling the sold out palace - what an exquisite place! Just opened after being devastated by age and finished off by Katrina. Fans of Miss Ross would have loved it. Come See About me has been added back in and she did a request of its My House. The cool thing about these recent shows is that she's so into the show and the feedback she's getting. It just keeps building - awesome night!7372