Midler Brings Zest, Feeling of Spontaneity to ‘Divine’

IRVINE — In a concert season of tailored star vehicles, Bette Midler’s production, “Experience the Divine,” stands out for its sense of spontaneity.

*

At the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on Thursday, “Divine” was just as scripted and well-rehearsed as Barbra Streisand’s seamless, self-celebratory ritual or Janet Jackson’s flashy, contrived entertainment for the MTV generation. It was essentially the same package Midler brought around last year when she returned to concerts for the first time in more than a decade, including such favorite past routines as the wheelchair-bound mermaids and her re-creation of Sophie Tucker’s bawdy burlesque comedy.

But this was less a piece of ‘90s entertainment machinery than a throwback to vaudeville--a more immediate, less distancing brand of performance. Midler’s act made imbalance and jarring juxtaposition the rule, and gave the impression that anything at all might pop out at any moment.

Tellingly, Midler did not employ the video screens used nowadays by most other big-ticket acts, but placed justified confidence in her ability to project a personality big enough to reach the lawn. Despite its delightful bits, the mermaid routine went on far too long, and some of Midler’s ballads were either tossed off or harshly belted. But the show’s overall zestfulness made it possible to forgive this vision of the Divine when it erred.

* Bette Midler plays Friday at the Forum, 3900 W. Manchester Blvd., Inglewood, 8 p.m. $150, $75, $50, $30. (310) 419-3100 .