Madonna News

Madonna postpones global celebration tour including stop in Dallas

Madonna in headdress at her appearance at Super Bowl 2012.

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UPDATE 6-28-2023: "Madonna: The Celebration Tour" tour has been postponed, reportedly for health reasons. Details about rescheduled dates, including Dallas, will be shared soon, according to Live Nation.

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One-named pop singer Madonna is mounting a global tour in 2023, starting in the U.S. in mid-July before heading to Europe. Called "Madonna: The Celebration Tour," it'll highlight her catalog of music from the past 40-plus years.

The tour will hit 35 cities in total including three Texas cities, all in mid September.

UPDATE 1-19-2023: Madonna has added 13 new dates to the tour, including second shows in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. The dates below reflect the new shows:

Wednesday, September 13 and newly added Thursday, September 14 – Houston, Toyota Center
Monday, September 18 and newly added Tuesday, September 19 – Dallas, American Airlines Center
Thursday, September 21 and newly added Friday, September 22 – Austin, Moody Center ATX

Produced by Live Nation, the tour will kick off in North America on Saturday, July 15 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, and wrap up in Amsterdam on Friday, December 1. Other stops across the U.S. include Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, before it makes its way to Europe where it will hit 11 cities throughout the fall, including London, Barcelona, Paris, and Stockholm.

Her last dates in Texas were in January 2016, when she stopped in Houston and San Antonio on her "Rebel Heart" tour. The last time she played Dallas was in October 2012.

According to a release, the "Celebration Tour" will journey through Madonna’s four-decade career, paying respect to the city of New York where it began.

"I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for," Madonna says in a statement.

The "Celebration Tour" will offer a one-of-a-kind experience with special guest Bob the Drag Queen a.k.a. Caldwell Tidicue across all dates.

Tickets
Tickets go on sale starting Friday, January 20 at 10 am at madonna.com/tour.

Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 2 pm through Thursday, January 19 at 6 pm through the Citi Entertainment program. For details, visit www.citientertainment.com.

Legacy members of Madonna’s Official Fan Club will have a pre-sale opportunity beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 11 am through Wednesday, January 18 at 4 pm for shows in the U.S.; and from 9 am GMT/10 am CET to 5 pm GMT/6 pm CET on Wednesday, January 18 for UK and European shows.

Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, exclusive access to a behind the scenes tour, group photo on-stage, pre-show reception, limited edition lithograph, and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

Tour dates in the U.S. are as follows:
Sat Jul 15 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Tue Jul 18 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Sat Jul 22 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
Tue Jul 25 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Thu Jul 27 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Sun Jul 30 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Wed Aug 02 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Sat Aug 05 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Mon. Aug 07 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Wed Aug 09 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Aug 13 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Sat Aug 19 – Montreal, QC – Centre Bell
Wed Aug 23 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Thu Aug 24 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Wed Aug 30 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Sat Sep 02 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Tue Sep 05 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Thu Sep 07 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Sat Sep 09 – Miami, FL – Miami-Dade Arena
Wed Sep 13 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Mon Sep 18 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Thu Sep 21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
Wed Sep 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Wed Oct 04 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
Sat Oct 07 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena

Europe dates are as follows:
Sat Oct 14 – London, UK – The O2
Sat Oct 21 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
Wed. Oct. 25 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
Sat Oct 28 – Stockholm, SE – Tele2
Wed Nov 01 – Barcelona, ES – Palau Sant Jordi
Mon Nov 06 – Lisbon, PT – Altice Arena
Sun Nov 12 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Mon Nov 13 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Wed Nov 15 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
Thu Nov 23 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
Tue Nov 28 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
Fri Dec 1 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome

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Movie Review

Long-awaited Wicked movie adaptation lives up to the hype

Photo courtesy of Universal Pictures

Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked.

The musical Wicked is indisputably the biggest Broadway smash of the 21st century, having grossed more $1.6 billion in New York alone and achieving the rare feat of running for over 20 years. All of which is to say that the long-awaited movie adaptation of The Wizard of Oz prequel will most likely be a massive success whether it lives up to what longtime fans envisioned or not.

Part one — yes, this 2 hour and 40 minute film is merely the first act of the musical; part two arrives a year from now — introduces Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), the green-skinned witch who goes on to become Dorothy’s nemesis, and G(a)linda (Ariana Grande-Butera), the pink-garbed “good” witch, as they meet at Shiz University in Oz. Glinda is the ultra-popular one with sycophantic hangers-on, while Elphaba is shunned by almost everyone, sometimes including her disabled sister Nessarose (Marissa Bode), who’s desperate to make her own space away from Elphaba.

Her mistreatment by others leads Elphaba to get angry, which manifests itself in uncontrollable magic. Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) notices this and takes a personal interest in her, giving her one-on-one instruction in hopes of harnessing her power. In the meantime, Elphaba and Glinda attempt to go from forced roommates to actual friends, although Glinda’s entitled personality is more of an obstacle than anything else they encounter.

Directed by Jon M. Chu and written by original book writer Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox, the film does a great job of distinguishing itself from the stage version while still remaining true to what made it so beloved. As Chu showed in his last film, In the Heights, he has an innate feel for how to tap into the essence of the source material while expanding it into something befitting the scope of a blockbuster movie.

In this case, he finds a way to give even greater emphasis to the bigotry that Elphaba faces simply because of her green skin; the fact that she is being played by a Black woman drives home the point even more. The story remains light and fluffy for the most part, but the ostracization/otherness that Elphaba feels is delivered in a powerful way, as is her empathy for talking animals like Dr. Dillamond (voiced by Peter Dinklage), who are facing their own persecution.

Of course, the highlight of the film is Stephen Schwartz’s music, and while not all of the songs are equal in impact, they still make for a cohesive whole. The number of songs and order they appear in the first act is identical to the stage musical, with the standouts remaining “The Wizard and I,” “Popular,” and “Defying Gravity.” While there is some superfluous action and cutaways added to certain numbers, it’s not enough to distract from what makes the songs effective.

Oddly, the progression of the friendship between Elphaba and Glinda works better on stage when the timeline is accelerated, but Erivo and Grande-Butera make up for this slight lack with their fantastic performances. The emotion each brings to their characters fits them almost perfectly, and there’s simply no denying the strength of each of their voices. Bode, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, and more make for a solid supporting cast.

The well-known ending of the first act of Wicked is a huge high point that is so good that it almost makes up for the fact that audiences won’t see the second film for a long time. But if part one is any indication, part two should turn out to be another great musical theater adaptation in a decade that has already seen its fair share.

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Wicked opens in theaters on November 22.

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