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Dec. 17, 2007
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FINAL CURTAIN FALLS

Celine Dion looks forward to 'coffee time'

By MIKE WEATHERFORD
REVIEW-JOURNAL
ON THE WEB
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Celine Dion cries Saturday as she looks at the crowd while her son, Rene-Charles, gives her a rose petal during the final performance of "A New Day ..." at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
Photos by Jane Kalinowsky.



Rose petals fall on Celine Dion following her final performance.



Celine Dion, above, speaks early Sunday after her final performance of "A New Day ..." at Caesars Palace.



Celine embraces her son, Rene-Charles, while she kisses her husband, Rene Angelil.

Sunday was not to be "A New Day ... " for Celine Dion. But after being showered with accolades and 100,000 rose petals, the singer was looking forward to the rest of her weekend in nonsuperstar mode.

"For me tomorrow morning will be coffee time," the singer said, sitting on the front stage steps of the Colosseum at Caesars Palace.

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    • She was talking to reporters at 1 a.m. Sunday, two hours after bringing down the curtain on her final performance.

    "I will stay in the house," making Christmas cookies with her 6-year-old son, she said. "It will be so wonderful to be able to appreciate that. Do the Christmas tree, some decorations and all that. ...

    "It sounds very unreal right now, but tomorrow morning it will be back to reality and I will be back to Mommy."

    The final performance -- No. 717 if you don't count previews and a couple of benefits -- started late, ran an extra half hour and had the star speaking to the audience for more than eight minutes during her first break.

    "Tonight I was emotionally invaded," Dion later told reporters. "It was very important for me to pace myself."

    The singer added that she was "very tired vocally," after three weeks of interviews and promotion for her new album. But she realized, "It's not about singing tonight. It's about embracing life, embracing that success."

    The success of "A New Day ..." -- which grossed more than $400 million and was seen by nearly 3 million people since it opened in March 2003 -- was celebrated more by fans, family and producers than by celebrity patrons.

    Husband-manager Rene Angelil sat next to the couple's son, Rene-Charles, and Dion's mother. After the show, Angelil told reporters, the star's dressing room was crowded with 10 siblings (she is the youngest of 14 children).

    "A New Day ..." normally began with a roaming camera that put audience close-ups on a giant video screen. But the final substituted comments from Harrah's Entertainment CEO Gary Loveman, and the screening of a documentary included on a new DVD version of the revue.

    At the end, the singer typically presented a single rose to an audience member. But Saturday, after giving the rose to her son, he returned to the stage and gave it back to her. Later, another rose surprise: Show director Franco Dragone presenting more than 700 white blooms, one for each performance.

    "I wonder if I can keep them and dry them?" she asked.

    The thousands of red rose petals that showered the stage for the show's finale were a carefully guarded surprise to the singer and 50 dancers, said producer John Meglen. Many of the dancers loitered onstage long after the show ended, hugging and snapping photos as the patrons filed out.

    The singer almost made good on her goal: "Try not to cry," she later told reporters. But in her long speech to the audience, she recounted how an "undreamable" idea surmounted its challenges. "At one point, it was feeling like the Titanic was about to sink again."

    "But we believed and we went on with it, even though the vibe was not that positive," she added. But for those who persevered, "It was worth it."

    "Today is not an end," she told the crowd. "Today is a beginning, the beginning of the rest of our lives."

    Bette Midler opens a new production, "The Showgirl Must Go On," in the Colosseum on Feb. 20. Cher is expected to be announced soon as Midler's main co-tenant.

    Dion said her only advice to Midler was, "Have them fix the stage."

    The steeply raked stage, designed to enhance the views from the upper balcony, will be removed in favor of a smaller, conventionally flat stage, and about 150 new seats will be added in the front rows of the 4,100-seat venue.

    Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0288.

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    Andrew wrote on December 27, 2007 08:25 AM: I never liked Celine - till I saw her show. WOW, her voice was amazing and the snow excellant. I am glad the show was a sucess adn I hope she returns...at age 39 - she has time to come back.
    Midler will not be as good...but Cher will bring in more crowds.


    buck wrote on December 19, 2007 07:14 PM: I never cared to see Celine's show, but a lot of people liked her show, and they paid good money to see it. It never bothered me if other people wanted to see her show. That is a great thing about Las Vegas, they have a lot of different shows, and you can avoid the ones you don't like. Finally, I promise you Caesar's made tons of money from her show, any Caesar's employee knows that. Maybe a lot of show customers did not gamble, but plenty of them did, and in any case, the show paid it's own way.


    cindy wrote on December 17, 2007 11:54 PM: to the Caesars employee who wrote about "we are happy Celine is gone" shame on you! do you not realize that everyone gets sick. i doubt you could be under the stress load Celine is. sounds like you are really jealous of her because you just work at Caesars. but in fact you should be grateful for your job because she has brought alot of business to Caesars. i saw her in 2004 and I saw her final performance and she is an awesome lady.so glad i did not run into you while at my stay at Caesars. everyone I spoke to at Caesars which was alot of people spoke very highly of Celine. you seem to be a very uncaring individual for other people. sure don't know how you got the job at Caesars! i will keep you in my prayers! have a merry christmas!


    Greg wrote on December 17, 2007 09:41 PM: You fans crack me up. Quick pass me a tissue to stop the tears. Light weights. Go see Barry.


    Mary wrote on December 17, 2007 06:00 PM: I saw Celine in 2004 and 2006, and I think she is a wonderful, caring person and the performance was awesome.


    Chris wrote on December 17, 2007 05:44 PM: She maybe from the north but she is over 100 million dollars richer.


    Celinefan4ever wrote on December 17, 2007 03:43 PM: I never got to see Celine's show, even though I live in the same state as her.. I will miss going to Las Vegas and looking forward to going to the Celine Dion Boutique.. Celine is an awesome singer and I cried when looking at pictures on Sunday.. Best of luck to Celine during her tour! I hope I can see her!
    LOVE YA Celine!


    Biggest Fan wrote on December 17, 2007 03:10 PM: Why do you feel like you have to stoop so low and call her names and such? Does is not make sense to any of you that she sold out over 700 shows? Take the time to do some research on her before you critize her. She is an amazing talent and there is NO ONE else in the world I'd rather support than Celine. I attended her show Saturday night to watch her take her final bow and let me tell you - it was breathtaking.

    I LOVE YOU CELINE!


    Greg wrote on December 17, 2007 01:29 PM: Who cares? Never saw her and I don't care for her music. Send her back to the frozen north.


    Teena wrote on December 17, 2007 12:10 PM: Oh, was she still active in a career? I hadn't noticed that she had a career to be active in. Please note all of the overly self-promoting comments of all of the wonderful "things" she is looking forward to, like having coffee in the morning. I don't understand that comment! Was she not permitted to drink coffee was she was an "allegedly" big star? I think it's time for her to take that long face to her plastic surgeon's office is what I think!


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