Picks and Pans Review: Bette Midler: Art or Bust

UPDATED 08/27/1984 at 01:00 AM EDT Originally published 08/27/1984 at 01:00 AM EDT

HBO (Thursday, Aug. 23, 11:30 p.m. ET)

What a joy it is to see a TV concert that doesn't look like a documentary. Bette's looks more like a rock Fantasia. It was filmed last year at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, but you don't see the audience; you don't need to. There's plenty of Bette to watch. She is as outrageous as ever, decked out in Splash-like fins as she and her backup singers, the Harlettes, perform a choreographed dance in electric wheelchairs and sing We Are Family. Not so unusual for Bette. The production adds even more: an animated Bette as a ballet dancer; a skirt that glows through video magic; clouds pouring over the stage; magnificent costumes. It's not all splash and flash, though. Just as the energy level reaches overload, the Divine Miss M stands in front of microphone and just sings Everyone's Gone to the Moon. A delight.

Your Reaction

Follow Us

On Newsstands Now

Brad's Devotion: The Inside Story
  • Brad's Devotion: The Inside Story
  • Oklahoma Tornado: Heroic Rescues
  • Michael Douglas on Catherine's Health

Pick up your copy on newsstands

Click here for instant access to the Digital Magazine

Advertisement

From Our Partners

Watch It

Editors' Picks

From Our Partners