The first thing the audience at the Encore Theater sees is clips of old photos: Diana Ross growing up in a rough-edged Detroit housing project. Diana Ross’s parents talking about their daughter — and it’s not all complimentary. Diana Ross forming the Supremes with Mary Wilson and Florence Ballard.
Then the lights come up and the eight-member backup band clad in white springs to life. Two singers, two percussionists (one on bongo drums), two guitarists, a white-clad pianist at a white piano and a baritone saxophonist warm up the crowd. They don’t need much warming up — they are ready. The audience of around 1,500 at the Encore Theater is quivering with excitement. Many have brought drinks and popcorn into the theater.
Then she appears. Diana Ross herself, in a flowing white gown with her signature mane of elegantly unruly black hair on a Sunday night for the last of three weekend concerts in Las Vegas. The crowd is electrified and springs to its feet. Audience members at the front are particularly animated and wave and cheer. Cell phones in upraised arms appear out of the darkness to capture video.
Ross responds by breaking into a medley of her early Supremes hits including “Stop! In the Name of Love” and “Baby Love.” The audience cheers loudly — they know this music intimately and raise their palms upright demonstratively with her to the lyrics of “Stop! In the Name of Love.”
After a few more songs, she takes a moment to confide with the crowd and let them know that she will turn 82 in March. Her birthday is worth noting since Mary Wilson died at 76 in 2021 and Florence Ballard died of a heart attack at 32 in 1976.
After a costume change to a black dress, Ross comes back with more music including songs from “Lady Sings the Blues” and “Mahogany.”
But this is an intimate theater, and Ross wants to engage the audience. Twice, she asks the crew to bring up the house lights so she can see who is in the audience. And she wants them to repeat a few lines with her. “I am here,” she says and the audience responds. “I am thankful,” she also says, and the audience again responds.
She also introduces one of her three daughters, Rhonda Ross, who sings, “Count on Me,” that she wrote for her mother, and which appears on Diana Ross’s 2021 album, “Thank You.”
There’s one more costume change, and Ross reappears in a red-and-silver dress to deliver an impassioned version of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.” She also sings “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand),” and the crowd is again energized. At one point, the baritone saxophonist puts down his instrument and breaks out a flute. For a finale, the bongo drummer gets a brief solo and his companion percussionist displays some dazzling cymbal work.
After 90 minutes of music and conversation, it’s over. Except it isn’t. A few people slip out, but most of the audience remains standing because they haven’t had enough. And after a few minutes of crowd buzzing, the backup band reappears, and Ross emerges in another dress for a fitting encore. Equipped with a felt marker provided by a stagehand, she autographs posters and memorabilia for people who have crowded up to the stage.
The audience is finally satisfied, and Ross slips away off-stage. She was here. And we are thankful.
