madge in h-town

Madonna mounts global celebration tour for 2023 with stop in Houston

Madonna in headdress at her appearance at Super Bowl 2012.

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One-named pop singer Madonna is mounting a global tour in 2023, starting in the U.S. in mid-July before heading to Europe. Called "Madonna: The Celebration Tour," it'll highlight her catalog of music from the past 40-plus years.

The tour will hit 35 cities in total including three Texas cities, all in mid September.

UPDATE 1-19-2023: Madonna has added 13 new dates to the tour, including second shows in Houston, Dallas, and Austin. The dates below reflect the new shows:

Wednesday, September 13 and newly added Thursday, September 14 – Houston, Toyota Center
Monday, September 18 and newly added Tuesday, September 19 – Dallas, American Airlines Center
Thursday, September 21 and newly added Friday, September 22 – Austin, Moody Center ATX

Produced by Live Nation, the tour will kick off in North America on Saturday, July 15 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, and wrap up in Amsterdam on Friday, December 1. Other stops across the U.S. include Detroit, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, before it makes its way to Europe where it will hit 11 cities throughout the fall, including London, Barcelona, Paris, and Stockholm.

Her last dates in Texas were in January 2016, when she stopped in Houston and San Antonio on her "Rebel Heart" tour. The last time she played Dallas was in October 2012.

According to a release, the "Celebration Tour" will journey through Madonna’s four-decade career, paying respect to the city of New York where it began.

"I am excited to explore as many songs as possible in hopes to give my fans the show they have been waiting for," Madonna says in a statement.

The "Celebration Tour" will offer a one-of-a-kind experience with special guest Bob the Drag Queen a.k.a. Caldwell Tidicue across all dates.

Tickets
Tickets go on sale starting Friday, January 20 at 10 am at madonna.com/tour.

Citi cardmembers will have access to presale tickets beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 2 pm through Thursday, January 19 at 6 pm through the Citi Entertainment program. For details, visit www.citientertainment.com.

Legacy members of Madonna’s Official Fan Club will have a pre-sale opportunity beginning Tuesday, January 17 at 11 am through Wednesday, January 18 at 4 pm for shows in the U.S.; and from 9 am GMT/10 am CET to 5 pm GMT/6 pm CET on Wednesday, January 18 for UK and European shows.

Fans can also purchase VIP Packages, which may include premium tickets, exclusive access to a behind the scenes tour, group photo on-stage, pre-show reception, limited edition lithograph, and more. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

Tour dates in the U.S. are as follows:
Sat Jul 15 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Tue Jul 18 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Sat Jul 22 – Phoenix, AZ – Footprint Center
Tue Jul 25 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Thu Jul 27 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Sun Jul 30 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Wed Aug 02 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse
Sat Aug 05 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Mon. Aug 07 – Pittsburgh, PA – PPG Paints Arena
Wed Aug 09 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sun Aug 13 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Sat Aug 19 – Montreal, QC – Centre Bell
Wed Aug 23 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Thu Aug 24 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
Wed Aug 30 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Sat Sep 02 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Tue Sep 05 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Thu Sep 07 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Sat Sep 09 – Miami, FL – Miami-Dade Arena
Wed Sep 13 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Mon Sep 18 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Thu Sep 21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ATX
Wed Sep 27 – Los Angeles, CA – Crypto.com Arena
Wed Oct 04 – San Francisco, CA – Chase Center
Sat Oct 07 – Las Vegas, NV – T-Mobile Arena

Europe dates are as follows:
Sat Oct 14 – London, UK – The O2
Sat Oct 21 – Antwerp, BE – Sportpaleis
Wed. Oct. 25 – Copenhagen, DK – Royal Arena
Sat Oct 28 – Stockholm, SE – Tele2
Wed Nov 01 – Barcelona, ES – Palau Sant Jordi
Mon Nov 06 – Lisbon, PT – Altice Arena
Sun Nov 12 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Mon Nov 13 – Paris, FR – Accor Arena
Wed Nov 15 – Cologne, DE – Lanxess Arena
Thu Nov 23 – Milan, IT – Mediolanum Forum
Tue Nov 28 – Berlin, DE – Mercedes-Benz Arena
Fri Dec 1 – Amsterdam, NL – Ziggo Dome

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Movie Review

Star TV producer James L. Brooks stumbles with meandering movie Ella McCay

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios

Emma Mackey in Ella McCay.

The impact that writer/director/producer James L. Brooks has made on Hollywood cannot be understated. The 85-year-old created The Mary Tyler Moore Show, personally won three Oscars for Terms of Endearment, and was one of the driving forces behind The Simpsons, among many other credits. Now, 15 years after his last movie, he’s back in the directing chair with Ella McCay.

The similarly-named Emma Mackey plays Ella, a 34-year-old lieutenant governor of an unnamed state in 2008 who’s on the verge of becoming governor when Governor Bill (Albert Brooks) gets picked to be a member of the president’s Cabinet. What should be a happy time is sullied by her needy husband, Ryan (Jack Lowden), her agoraphobic brother, Casey (Spike Fearn), and her perpetually-cheating father, Eddie (Woody Harrelson).

Despite the trio of men competing to bring her down, Ella remains an unapologetic optimist, an attitude bolstered by her aunt Helen (Jamie Lee Curtis), her assistant Estelle (Julie Kavner), and her police escort, Trooper Nash (Kumail Nanjiani). The film follows her over a few days as she navigates the perils of governing, the distractions her family brings, and the expectations being thrust upon her by many different people.

Brooks, who wrote and directed the film, is all over the place with his storytelling. What at first seems to be a straightforward story about Ella and her various issues soon starts meandering into areas that, while related to Ella, don’t make the film better. Prime among them are her brother and father, who are given a relatively small amount of screentime in comparison to the importance they have in her life. This is compounded by a confounding subplot in which Casey tries to win back his girlfriend, Susan (Ayo Edebiri).

Then there’s the whole political side of the story, which never finds its focus and is stuck in the past. Though it’s never stated explicitly, Ella and Governor Bill appear to be Democrats, especially given a signature program Ella pushes to help mothers in need. But if Brooks was trying to provide an antidote to the current real world politics, he doesn’t succeed, as Ella’s full goals are never clear. He also inexplicably shows her boring her fellow lawmakers to tears, a strange trait to give the person for whom the audience is supposed to be rooting.

What saves the movie from being an all-out train wreck is the performances of Mackey and Curtis. Mackey, best known for the Netflix show Sex Education, has an assured confidence to her that keeps the character interesting and likable even when the story goes downhill. Curtis, who has tended to go over-the-top with her roles in recent years, tones it down, offering a warm place of comfort for Ella to turn to when she needs it. The two complement each other very well and are the best parts of the movie by far.

Brooks puts much more effort into his female actors, including Kavner, who, even though she serves as an unnecessary narrator, gets most of the best laugh lines in the film. Harrelson is capable of playing a great cad, but his character here isn’t fleshed out enough. Fearn is super annoying in his role, and Lowden isn’t much better, although that could be mostly due to what his character is called to do. Were it not for the always-great Brooks and Nanjiani, the movie might be devoid of good male performances.

Brooks has made many great TV shows and movies in his 60+ year career, but Ella McCay is a far cry from his best. The only positive that comes out of it is the boosting of Mackey, who proves herself capable of not only leading a film, but also elevating one that would otherwise be a slog to get through.

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Ella McCay opens in theaters on December 12.

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madge in h-town

Madonna mounts global celebration tour for 2023 with stop in Houston

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