Created by Dragone
Presented by Chrysler
at
The Coliseum in Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas


BE PREPARED FOR a visceral reaction to this spectacular production. The passion Celine Dion brings to her show permeates the audience, evoking an almost giddy response. Her eyes have an intensity that transmits her pleasure in her experience of singing. If unforgettable melodies thrill you to the marrow, lights you up, inspires you to feelings of excitement, then that joy alone is met in this show. Add lyrics to this basic pleasure of music, lyrics that slip inside, touching your soul, speaking of ideas that 'make you laugh, make you cry.' A New Day is a necessity for anyone who appreciates the arts. The artistic quality of this show cannot be overlooked, let alone missed. Even the most jaded, on his or her worst day of the year, cannot help but be uplifted by this extravaganza. The sheer talent of the collective artists is impressive, especially as the resulting production never exhibits the slightest brash swaggering. Such a committed, utterly professional group can be proud of their show.

This level of showmanship is certainly novel, even in today's saturated entertainment miasma. The clarity of absolute perfection of A New Day is tangible. Franco Dragone, prolific in the extreme, just continues to create surrealistic diversions flawless in every sense of the word. His sets stun—surprise—surpass each previous creation as his newest vision debuts. His fascination with the human form, liberal use of red, and the metaphysical undertones he conveys simply transport even the most unwilling viewer into complete suspension of disbelief. Dragone's works comprise the shock-and-awe entertainment portion of the world's stage productions.

At this juncture, theatrical vignettes of storytelling, for a world-class music and dance concert, enhanced by incredible film sequences for 'scenery' that evolves, changes, telling its own stories, nothing short of IMAX largesse—well, it doesn't get any better than A New Day. State-of-the-art mixed-media technology nearly upstages, and yet completely compliments, the other artistic contributions. Projected scene after breathtaking scene offsets dance numbers set in motion by their headliner's songs and powerful delivery.

Her name, alone, packs her 4000+-seat Coliseum nightly—an ongoing feat since the 2003 launch. This phenomenon obviously could continue indefinitely. Alas, although its projected end of run is 2007 (Please, No!). It needn't be, as the show could succeed for some time to come. According to Caesar's Web site page for her show, Dion has sold over 175 million albums. She is the all-time highest selling female artist—literally the Diva of our planet. Which makes reconciling the sea of loyal fans (in some 20 burgeoning lines arrayed along the steps to the doors of her theatre), a bit more understandable. The unceasing appearance of this many people year in and year out is somewhat daunting…I'm sure even to the diva herself.

Dion believes this experience, for her, to be one of self-discovery, hoping "to push the limits of performance and offer a new stage experience to my devoted fans." Here, hear! Huzza! Right on…she does that and then some.

Coupled with Dion's stunning vocalizations and accomplished dance ability, Dragone's distinctive, evocative productions, his world-class legions of artists deliver an unimaginable experience for the audience. A New Day provides the audience a combination concert, ballet, modern dance, film and theatrical package that can be considered unsurpassed, a bridging genre of its own. An unexpected bonus stunner is the starting ticket prices which are not any more than the admission price of any other Strip production.

Choreographer Mia Michaels has the bar very high for this company of 48 dancers (49 with Dion). The dance designs utilize the entire stage, which is considerable, the demanding movements impressive even as you flinch for the dancers. On point, without toe shoes, dancers whirl through classical ballet skips and leaps, weaving gracefully in and around frenetic modern dance patterns juxtaposed with the merciless feats of Broadway-style hoofing reminiscent of the legendary Bob Fosse. Even Fosse would be impressed with one double set of Michaels dancers who traverse the entire stage bent from the hip, jumping one hand touching, alternating with each hop, in a killing posture in the eeriest procession ever. Of course, the requisite Dragone characters are present in every scene, as if tasked with some yet undefined sort of continuity job. Also present are his floating lampposts and people. A New Day has, at once, the distinctive stamp of Dion and Dragone and yet, the welcome zephyr of freshness can be felt, literally. Ain't synergy great?

Believe it or not, it is possible for me to share a few breathtaking moments in this show, without giving away much, as the show is incredibly dense with visual, audio and emotionally stirring moments. Before Dion is even visible, before her first sound splashes into the audience, the drama of the set upon which she appears has gradually been revealed from behind thirty some curtain pulls, certainly more than I've ever seen before depicted—the draperies float apart, raise, separate, lifting and revealing layer after layer of curtains—until you're laughing, losing count (maybe 30, maybe more?).

As the last heavy fabric panels drift to the sides of Dion's Coliseum, a stadium-size stage, your eyes must adjust to the dimming light as the stage disappears. In its dark reaches, slowly becoming discernible, receding into a distance that appears genuinely far-off, winding stairs climb ever upwards. Atop this mystifying staircase, a single spotlight reveals our diva, a faraway figure clad in a gown-length coat shimmering with the star-specked night sky. The strains of the show theme, 'A New Day…,' float down ahead of her. The illusion imperceptibly wobbles as your mind picks up the transition from this filmic deception, to Dion herself, as she steps down the remaining, completely physical stairs. She alights onto a molten red stage roiling with movement, giving the word theatricality a run for its money.

After such an impressive opening number—darkness again, a moment of silence—which explodes into sound and light. Dion moves on a raised dais off to one side, galvanizing the audience. She rips into 'Power Of Love,' eliciting applause at the sight of her in the signature red gown, strapless satin corset set onto the dyed-to-match flowing chiffon. She slams into action, stepping again on to a stage no match to her long stride. Her entertaining style must eat up the miles, as she criss-crosses the stage, constantly in motion, a consummate athlete.

These sequences are simply the opening salvos of a brilliant show—a full-length tour de force.

Scenery projections, by Dirk Decloedt, Projection Content Designer, magically offset the inspired settings by Set Designer and Image Creator, Michel Crête, both definitely up to the task of staging for this show. The massive LED screen acts as an ever-changing backdrop for the stage, panoramas smoothly appeared and transitioned in a montage of dreamy metaphors. Lightening slashed a storm-darkened sky, the moon made several appearances, once in the company of other planets, a Moroccan pavilion with ornate columns and matching arches with broad landscapes beyond, an aurora borealis spilled across the sky. Trees grew up out of the stage, blooming pink and red flowers, in front of a giant, projected tree, leaves drifting to the ground on breezes impossible to feel.

A neon-drenched skyline above streets churning with traffic, projected onto the huge backdrop, looming above a stage suddenly in chaos, an entire fleet of dancers everywhere in motion, leaping, whirling about. Larger-than-life projections of Dion's face, so intense, passionate, animated, emotional brought to my attention how fascinating she is to watch singing, unusual, as most singer's faces often contort as they give a song everything they've got. Those live-action screen echoes of her on stage must be difficult, as she doesn't hold still all that long for the camera operators, who nevertheless catch her a lot.


All about her are the rest of the dance company. In one scene, some of the dancers glitter gold in modern dance numbers, amid spinning ballerinas in classical costumes, black and white costumed hoofers line up, while splendidly updated Vegas showgirls drift about. The effect is surreal, as if dimensions are overlapping in the space of that stage, the choreography contributing to the illusion of many, and disparate shows simultaneously unfolding.

Costume and hair changes were near miraculous, as there isn't much sense of time elapsing from one to the next. From gowns to pants, and back again, Dominique Lemieux's costumes contrasting and blending through the vignettes, Dion gracefully segues so many times I lost count. Some urban numbers found her in high-waist black pants with suspenders over a white shirt, complete with black & white spats, her hair caught up in a pony tail, hoofin' it with the rest of the dancers in several rigorous numbers. In another changeup, in front of an immense moon becoming visible, Dion slips into the look of a Grecian/Celtic goddess, in classic white, encircled several times down the body with a gold-white sash loosely gathered into a glittering knot on the hips. The moon moves off until it has receded sufficiently to look like, well, our moon of our night skies.

Dion's 'To Love You More' reverberated with the acoustical magic of such a large sound stage. Briefly, I wished there was room for me somewhere, a corner, to simply move through a few waltz steps, not many, a few turns. Of course, that was a fleeting thought, as the dancing coalesced with her singing, the fantasy backdrop mesmerizing, distracting, and riveting me to my seat.

Her heartfelt homage to Frank Sinatra, 'All The Way,' is especially exquisite; their voices harmonize as if they had rehearsed together. The montage of clips, first him, then her, freeze-frame captures of both their faces on the screen, spiritually crossing the years, spanning the impossible, generating the notion of a live duet.

The 'My Heart Will Go On' sequence, and Dion's energetic singing, expand relentlessly, one crescendo after another, until a deafening silence elicits a gasp…or three…the sensation was distinct…that point at a concert when the audience…one by one, first a few and then nearly everyone, flicking on lighters, amid much whooping…until the group, singer, entertainer, whoever…reappears for an encore set. Which Dion did, even though today's audiences lack the requisite smoking paraphernalia.

She packed another punch of vitality, from her bottomless well of emotion, into 'What A Wonderful World.' The backdrop framed a most fascinating sequence of black and white clips, portions of contented audiences obviously enjoying what they were watching, ending in a vintage shot meant to sear into my memory. After which, she dropped into an elegant, deep curtsy, the gown's train fanned about her. I realized how long it had been since I had witnessed such flair close up, live.

The resulting standing ovation, lasted long enough to demonstrate everyone's reluctance to come back to reality, that the show was coming to an end, calls of 'thank you,' 'adiamo,' 'more,' ringing in the huge auditorium, an outpouring apparently still difficult for her to take in. She and the dancers leave the stage with flourishes of movement—until the lone Dragone characters remain, strolling back into their illusion.

All of what I just mentioned? Isn't the half of it. A New Day overwhelms the senses, a spectacle I would love to see every few months, a stimulating experience of one of the highest caliber of merged art forms.  

Reviewed by:


Carol Lane Patterson

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