[Continued from Part 2]

Next, she changed into a midnight blue satin and jersey mermaid-gown that was highly dramatic, but offered minimal movement.  Not my favorite look (didn’t have to be), but she wore it, not the other way around, and that’s always the trick.  This let her get all Red, Hot and Blue with Cole Porter’s “Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye” (which brought a tear to my eye), followed by another of her Tony Bennett duets (with Newman filling in for the nonagenarian crooner), “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby” (McHugh & Fields).  Then, she carefully stood and shuffled downstage, where she serenaded Mr. Wynn with “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” – originally a Cher single, by Sonny Bono, it’s best known to today’s audiences for Nancy Sinatra’s cover that ran during the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1. 

My favorite look of the evening was a blush-colored confection with a pink ostrich feather boa, worn first for a duet with Newman to Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” and then Dinah Washington’s “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes!”  Still thusly attired, she made her way to the piano, sat down, and played a jazzy rendition of her hit “Bad Romance” – after which someone in the audience yelled “Million Things!!!”  I looked at Dawn and whispered “Yeah.  Like she’s taking requests from the audience…”  No sooner had the last word escaped my lips, then Gaga shrugged, said “Okay!” and proceeded to honor the request.  Go, Gaga!  (Granted, it’s the latest single from her new album, and not some obscure gem; but still…)

Before heading back for her final wardrobe change, she extolled the virtues of being “a Tramp,” with the audience hanging on her every phrase, syllable, and eyelash flutter, throughout.

Kudos to the house orchestra (aka Dave Loeb and the ShowStoppers™ Band), who added an appropriate touch of glamour and class to the proceedings.  They, as always, were en fleek.  But back to Gaga…  Due to the highly tailored nature of her wardrobe, there wasn’t much choreography; but there was quite a bit of posed voguing and stationary getting-down, and it suited the music just fine.

For her finale, clad in a bejeweled black gown with a dramatically wide train, she delivered a fantastic rendition of Édith Piaf’s “La Vie en Rose” (more familiar to the kids, for Grace Jones’ magical cover, that accompanied a long-running Miss Dior perfume campaign, starring Natalie Portman; or for having been covered by Madonna, who sang it with a ukulele, during her Rebel Heart Tour).

This was not Lady Gaga’s first foray into the wonderful world of jazz; nor, based on the skills she displayed, should it be her last.  Lord knows, everyone at the Encore Theater that night, left, thrilled for having experienced her show.  And while I doubt she’ll be performing torch songs or Tin Pan Alley standards when she headlines the Halftime Show at Super Bowl LI, on February 5th; I hope she continues to “teach” the classics to her fans.  She’s just so damned good at it!

An Intimate Evening with Lady Gaga
Encore Theater | Wynn Las Vegas
Click HERE for info

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