BETTE MIDLER: A Bubbly Burst of Entertainment

Special thanks to Sara van Bussel for translating this article from Dutch 


Rarely can you observe such spontaneous enthusiasm after a TV-show like we saw the days after the airing of The Bette Midler Show. The red-haired and very voluptuous Bette, also called "The Divine Miss M," was a very big hit with her show. She was the talk of the day, her records sold like hot cakes and in most news papers large articles appeared. What happened here in one moment happened in America a little bit slower, but it wasn't less intense. We can safely say that every American theatre that Bette Midler plays her famous shows in is turned upside down in no time. But who is Bette Midler?

One thing is crystal clear: she is a born artist. A theatre woman with fabulous radiation. And blessed with a very versatile talent, because she can sing, act, dance, talk, laugh, be very feminine, and play the audience like a fiddle. Always successful. In 1971 this red-haired diva with the enchanting smile and an unbelievable big cup size debuted in front of a stunned crowd with a role that would make her famous later. Because in the New York club "Continental Baths" Bette Midler became a musical comedian for the first time. The public embraced her immediately. She could do nothing wrong. But this was not her first time in the theatre. Because as soon as Bette, born in 1945 in America and grown up in Hawaii, arrived in New York she was attracted to the theatre life. The year is 1965.

Leading role
A year later she has her first little success when she gets a role as a chorus girl in the musical "Fiddler on the Roof". What happens next is something that cannot be avoided with someone like Bette Midler. She draws attention to herself, her roles keep getting bigger and at the end gets a starring role. Still she ends it in 1969. She wants something else, but doesn't get that opportunity until that memorable performance in 1971. All of a sudden the whole New York in-crowd is talking about her. Bette Midler becomes a "cult-figure" and is worshipped by the trendsetters of trendy New York. This is not bad for her, because in 1973 her debut album is released, "The Divine Miss M." Of course this isn't a regular record, but an example of Bettes total mastering of being an entertainer. Recitations, melodrama, stand-up and nostalgic songs and all that in her smooth, a bit decadent style. Then all of it goes very fast. First she wins a Grammy for new-comer of the year, and she draws full houses when she starts touring with her musical advisor/piano player Barry Manilow (now famous himself) through the United States. The good reviews don't stop and Bette's fame is growing with a dazzling speed. What also is effected by her numerous appearances on many famous talk shows on TV where her spiritual appearance and jokes are a big hit. "I always used to sing," Bette Midler recently said, "but I never thought about making my profession out of it. Until I realized I couldn't do without it, and that there were more styles than I had thought. I find music very stimulating but you have to work and study very hard if you want to become very good. I am a combination of things that you don't see much anymore, that's why everybody thinks it is so exciting. Still I want to do much more, because you can't be a success for six months and then disappear. That is not a career, that is a fad. And that is not for me."

Humor
Bette Midler is indefinable in her versatility. She is bubbling with energy, resourcefulness and most of al humor. She just has the indefinable flair of a born artist. She plays a room and keeps her audience under her spell. With all her appearances in theatres and on TV-shows, and the mouth-to-mouth stories, her next albums like "Bette Midler" and "Songs For The New Depression" find their way to the fans of nostalgic songs, even though she is an artist you have to see for yourself on TV or in the theatre. The end of the rising star of Bette Midler is not in sight yet. Outside of America she has just gotten started. Also, she has many ambitions. Bette Midler is one great lump of entertainment who won't rest until the word is at her feet. And looking at the talent of The Divine Miss M, the chance that that will happen is very big.