BETTE IS BACK!
Daphne Davis

Special thanks to Steve Weiner for sharing this article 


Bette's back and the Copacabana's got her. The Divine Miss M, whose career got under way at the Continental Baths, moved on to two successful one-woman Broadway shows. Although her TV special last month was only so-so, her return to the club scene is eagerly awaited by a legion of panting fans. Often credited with starting Gotham's nightclub revival, she sets the pace of the season with her new revue, "An Intimate Evening With Bette Midler." Several changes of costume, choice cuts from the new album, "Broken Blossom," and pitter patter and insults between Bette and the audience are the order of the evening. To the compliment that no one plays off a New York crowd like she does, La Midler replies: "I'm the best, but I'm also the most
humble. I've been away for nine months and I'm homesick."

In March, Bette goes "on the silver screen" when "The Rose," a film about a self-destructive Sixties rock superstar a la Janis Joplin, begins shooting in New York and Florida. "It's set in 1969 and it's more about the grim reality of the time than about the girl, who is caught up in the excitement and hysteria of rock and roll. A happy little tale of death and destruction, you know. She's based on a combination of
people who espoused the live hard/die young/leave a beautiful corpse life. I might eventually take her out on the road to nightclubs.

"I haven't gotten to that stage myself; I'm too wide-eyed and innocent. It'll take me a while to get jaded. Who ever thought I'd last this long," ponders Bette. Copacabana, 10 E. 60 St., 755-6010, January 12-22.