“I have to work on my people skills,” Cyndi Lauper joked repeatedly during her personal monologues on opening night of her Vegas residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. She hit that punchline again after a man in the audience yelled over a storytelling segment.
“I don’t know what the f*** you’re saying, hon,” Lauper replied. “Please remember where you are.”
Amid cheers from the audience, Lauper stood on stage in a black blazer gown with a massive train, having just removed her wig. She had been talking for about 10 minutes, telling the history of the song “Sally’s Pigeons”—one of more than 17 songs performed in an energetic night of hits.
“[Don’t] try to shade me, b***. I'm gonna come for you. I’m from Brooklyn,” she said, putting her hand on her hip. “And if I want to f***ing talk, I’ll do a tap dance if I f***ing want to.”
After wrapping an international farewell tour last year and being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November, Lauper’s pistol energy continues popping off at 72 years old. The Grammy, Emmy and Tony-winning artist filled the auditorium and brought fans to their feet during “Change of Heart,” “Time After Time” and “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
“I just wanna tell you why I came,” Lauper said after her opening number.
“I heard there was an art community here. … And tonight is like an artist collaborative. We were inspired by a lot of great artists and women who wore their art,” Lauper said. “When I realized I could come here and I didn’t have to compromise the visuals … and [I could] have the technology—I’ve always wanted to work with technology.”
Choking up, Lauper thanked her creative director Brian Burke, who also worked on her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun farewell tour. Throughout the night, she nodded to artists like Sonia Delaunay and Yayoi Kusama. Six outfit changes allowed her to show off bold, tailored and often asymmetrical designs by Christian Siriano.
The Colosseum also embodied Lauper’s artistic vision with gorgeous displays on massive LED screens—silhouettes of the band multiplied in multicolor, Brady Bunch-style windows playing b-roll from the the '80s, a shifting cityscape, a vast, cloud-filled sky, animations and more.
In between songs, the singer spoke informally like one would with a close friend, wandering down memory lane, bouncing from her WWE crossover history, to her storied career, to her family, to growing up in Queens and Brooklyn. Her speech before “Sally’s Pigeons” touched on how, as a little girl, she noticed the women in her life were somewhat “trapped.”
“There was something beautiful and something very sad [about them]. My mom got divorced when I was five. And it was very hard for her,” she said. “You couldn’t have a bank account … until the '70s in your name. You had to have it in your husband’s or father’s [name].”
Lauper’s voice sounded strong and precise, lending power to “I Drove All Night” and “I’m Gonna Be Strong.” Her seven-member band complemented her, entertained the crowd during costume changes and rocked multiple solos.
True to the singer’s unusual spirit, the performance brought out some unconventional instruments (at least for a Las Vegas stage), like the recorder in “She Bop,” the good ol’ washboard and hair picks in a playful rendition of “Iko Iko” and the melodica in “Money Changes Everything.”
Lauper spent a good amount of time conducting and jamming with her all-woman (and one “token” guy) band. She also moved around the stage dancing like it was 1983, just being herself and not caring what anyone thought. And of course, she made sure the LGBTQIA+ community felt seen—flying their flag on the screen behind her during “True Colors.”
Lucky for us, it’s not farewell just yet for this legendary icon. Her Vegas residency runs through May 2.
CYNDI LAUPER April 29, May 1-2, 8 p.m., $64-$356. the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, ticketmaster.com.
