Celine Dion in 2019 -- no this is not a joke! Coming a day after Cirque du Soleil (on the 30th), I got the feeling my parents really really wanted to relive their time in French Canada. Dion and Cirque du Soleil both hail from Montreal, Quebec -- where my parents lived, and where my older sister was born. Admittedly, I was skeptical about this venture, simply thinking that "well this is what my mom wants to see." So when we paid nearly a thousand dollars for the four of us, this terrified me a bit. Fortunately, an online friend was there to reassure me that Dion is a technically proficient singer.
The venue itself, the Colosseum, was expansive and beautiful, coated in lavish red. Seeing this sight eased me into the thrill of what we would see. At some point, I was made to put away my phone, and focus my energy on the curtains in front of us. It was not just me -- the thrill was played up rather deliberately. Dion's musical accompaniment, who filled the entire stage, were lined up neatly, with drummers flanking the other performers; three backup singers; and a grand piano (and player obviously). A serene sweep of strings, and then Celine Dion herself appeared, illuminated by a stage light. There the clapping, and the performance proper, began.
Though Dion is arguably better known in Canada and in France, I had been exposed to many of her famous singles as a child. Especially "My Heart Will Go On", the famous Titanic theme song, which I had sung many times in my youth. (It's on record.) As an adult contemporary type of singer, her music clearly strikes a chord with people of a particular group (middle aged women). It is very sultry, focused on themes around love and romance. As a listener, it is not my type of music nowadays, and did not expect to find a draw in the performance. Instead, I held out hope for Dion the performer.
Finally, the sense of why this performance is so highly praised became clear. Immensely refined yet strongly purposeful movements filled every second of her time on the stage; paired with her ability to cleanly create emphasis in singing, Dion was able to make the most of every word. Albeit rather corny, this performance elevated songs I may not love on their own into that which I cannot help but respect a lot. Her incredible vocal control was on full display here.
To call Dion simply a singer would be disrespectful. Between songs, she shared a story of co-starring in a film with Ryan Reynolds. Clearly, his wit rubbed off on her! She talked about receiving a PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL letter from Reynolds, and assuming he was asking her to act with him once more. After recounting moments of woeful fretting, working on shoulder motions and facial gestures, Dion revealed that she had not yet read the letter! (It was a shock to my parents, but not to me.) Instead of asking her to act.....Reynolds asked her to perform a song for Deadpool 2! This piece, "Ashes", followed after. For sure, the pairing of Deadpool visuals with Dion is deeply ironic. Even more so that a concert spoiled me on the film! I recall "Ashes" as the most powerful song from that evening -- so perhaps it is time to watch it!
Her stage presence was equally impressive during moments when she was simply speaking to the audience. Another reason this performance seems so praised is how warmly she connects with the audience. Mind you, this is a gigantic audience! This all made her efforts at audience participation deeply admirable. She asked us to sing the line "Because you loved me" with her to close out one of her pieces. In another place, she had the professional singing accompaniment model part of the chorus, and had the audience practice and then apply this to the song itself. The audience participation, in this form, did die down (which struck me as a missed opportunity) but it was deeply effective in encouraging everyone to take part in the concert. Considering how expensive the tickets were, I certainly would not expect less! Dion also told us jokes and comments between songs.
Though more restrained, obviously, her accompaniment played a strong role as well, especially the singers. This came across in its best form in the duet for Beauty and the Beast's theme song. There was an arrangement of drummers on both sides, with the brass, guitar, and piano instruments towards the outskirts. This concentrated the louder instruments on the sides, with the softer instruments like the strings and Dion's singing towards the middle, creating an excellent mixing effect. The accompaniment arrangement was a genius part of the performance, bringing the songs fully to life.
As "Ashes" is perhaps the single best piece of the performance, I have to give great props to the song Dion sang in French. Ultimately, this is one of two things I held out hope for (you know the other). Though I am rusty in French, I could understand enough to tell that it very much fit her adult contemporary style. It was an excellent experience to hear a language other than English sung in a theater this grand. ....Unfortunately, I did not quite catch the name.
The second thing should be pretty clear to anyone alive during the late 1990s -- Dion's world famous Titanic theme song. She kept us guessing until the end. The lights turned off, and the silence became unnatural, creating a tension. And then the sound of waves appeared, and an ocean enveloped the back image. Of course, the audience was incredibly excited by this (including myself secretly), and it served as an excellent closer to the performance. Whatever energy Dion had lost during the concert was clearly restored here. Alas, she had one more trick involved, and she closed with a different but still fairly popular song.
Celine Dion was a deeply gracious host -- beyond making efforts to pull the audience along, outside of the act of singing, she extended much gratitude towards the performers accompanying her. She even thanked the stage hands, and everyone who helps a concert run smoothly, even if you cannot see them.
There are some aspects of the show that could be improved, from my perspective. For instance, the audience participation event could have been started earlier and taken a greater part of the show. It seemed clear that, though well done, Dion did the participation as an experiment. Given the simple nature of her lyrics, there were many opportunities to continue this participation experiment.
At the same time, her songs often retained their original aesthetic, including some techniques (like gated drums!) that come across as dated. Some aspects of the show did feel straight from the late 1990s! Though the Titanic theme song is an excellent candidate for being unchanged, some other pieces would be improved with rearrangement.
While on the subject of rearrangement, I felt that Dion and her accompaniment could have employed more variety of instrument combinations. In all fairness, the intermission featured jazz pieces, and then switched into an intimate quartet, leading into a quieter song by Dion herself. Other performers got opportunities to solo, like the duet partner in Beauty and the Beast or a violin player. Or the incredible woodwind performance in the Titanic theme song! But there could have been many more interesting combinations. For example, with Dion's excellently projected yet nuanced vocals, a piano-based song would have delivered well as a transition into a more emotive piece. I am even curious what a Dion song backed primarily by flutes would sound like! Though the performers did very well, I forsee even more of a role for them.
I emerged from this concert feeling thoroughly energized, having witnessed a great performance. This has to be one of the best concerts I've attended -- though I do not attend many -- and this is following a wave of skepticism. Could this show be worth it, I worried. It is worth it, and was a powerful sendoff for Dion, as she moves on from performing in Las Vegas.
