What does an icon do to remain ageless in the eyes of her fans? She keeps reinventing herself. In the case of 62-year old singer-actress Bette Midler, who has conquered virtually every entertainment media yet invented, she moved to Las Vegas with her husband and daughter for a 2-1/2 tear engagement at Caesar’s Palace’s enormous Colosseum, replacing singer Celine Dion.

Midler opens her $10 million extravaganza, “The Showgirl Must Go On,” by entering on a donkey and then strutting her mega-talented stuff under a 3,200-lb headdress of pink feathers. The Vegas-themed show features gorgeous showgirls, dazzling costumes, and spectacular musical numbers delivered with plenty of sass and sex to make the show worth every penny of the $95-$250 price of admission. 

Midler started her career entertaining gay men in a steam room, and went on to win four GRAMMY® awards, an Emmy and a Tony. She also starred in one of the great chick-flicks of all time, Beaches. “Thirty years ago, my audiences were on drugs,” she told Time magazine. “Now, they’re on medication.”

In an interview with Parade magazine Midler observed that at her age “Everything is a bit slower,” but that she does not want “to die in a harness.” Despite her hints that she may be retiring at the close of the show, she will be only 64 then, and, one can only hope, she will not quite be ready for her final bow.