madge is back

Madonna announces new Houston dates on worldwide Celebration Tour following life-threatening illness

Madonna has announced new show dates following her hospitalization.

Madonna/Facebook

Not long after battling for her life following a serious illness, Madonna has just announced her triumphant return.

The pop icon announced a slew of rescheduled shows in Texas and beyond for her wildly anticipated, worldwide Celebration Tour on Tuesday, August 15. Fans will recall that the 84-date tour, a nod to her 40-year career anniversary, was initially set to kick off on July 15 in Vancouver, Canada.

Madonna will now perform in Houston on Thursday, March 28 and Friday, March 29, 2024 at Toyota Center. Importantly, these are new shows replace the original Houston performance dates of September 13 and 14 this year.

Elsewhere in Texas, Madonna will now perform in Dallas on Sunday, March 24 and Monday, March 25, 2024 at American Airlines Center — those dates are rescheduled from the original September 18 and 19 shows there.

She'll also head to Austin on April 14 and 15 for two Moody Center shows, rescheduled from the original September 21 and 22 dates.

Her Celebration Tour will officially kick off with four sold-out shows in London this October and will travel across Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands) throughout 2023.

The North American leg will begin on December 13 in New York at at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with new show dates just added.

Fans can visit the tour sites on Live Nation and Ticketmaster for updates and more information.

Sadly for some fans across the U.S., the following shows are now canceled: July 27 in Tulsa, December 22 in Nashville, January 15 in San Francisco, January 18 in Las Vegas, and January 20 in Phoenix.

After developing a serious bacterial infection on June 24, Madonna spent several days in the ICU for what has been widely reported as septic shock — an often fatal syndrome. Sepsis, a notoriously fatal condition occurring after infection, has been linked to celebrity deaths including Muhammad Ali and Patty Duke Astin.

Five weeks ago, Madonna confirmed the reports with an apologetic message to fans and staff. "My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children," she wrote on Instagram. "My second thought was that I did not want to disappointment anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn't want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show."

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But now, the pop powerhouse is back. Here are the full North American tour dates, included rescheduled and new performances.

Madonna - The Celebration Tour - 2023/2024

12/13/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center Original Date (no change)

12/14/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center Original Date (no change)

12/16/2023 Brooklyn Barclays Center MSG - 8/27/2023*

12/18/2023 Washington Capital One Arena Original Date (no change)

12/19/2023 Washington Capital One Arena 9/2/2023

1/8/2024 Boston TD Garden 8/30/2023

1/9/2024 Boston TD Garden 8/31/2023

1/11/2024 Toronto Scotiabank Arena 8/13/2023

1/12/2024 Toronto Scotiabank Arena 8/14/2023

1/15/2024 Detroit Little Caesars Arena 8/5/2023

1/18/2024 Montreal Bell Centre 8/19/2023

1/20/2024 Montreal Bell Centre 8/20/2023

1/22/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/23/2023

1/23/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/24/2023

1/25/2024 Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center 12/20/2023

1/29/2024 New York Madison Square Garden 8/26/2023

2/1/2024 Chicago United Center 8/9/2023

2/2/2024 Chicago United Center 8/10/2023

2/5/2024 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 8/7/2023

2/8/2024 Cleveland Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse 8/2/2023

2/13/2024 Saint Paul Xcel Energy Center 7/30/2023

2/17/2024 Seattle Climate Pledge Arena 7/18/2023

2/18/2024 Seattle Climate Pledge Arena 7/19/2023

2/21/2024 Vancouver Rogers Arena 7/15/2023

2/24/2024 Sacramento Golden 1 Center 1/13/2024

2/27/2024 San Francisco Chase Center 10/4/2023

2/28/2024 San Francisco Chase Center 10/5/2023

3/1/2024 Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena 10/7/2023

3/2/2024 Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena 10/8/2024

3/4/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/27/23*

3/5/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/28/23*

3/7/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 9/30/23*

3/9/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Crypto.com - 10/01/23*

3/11/2024 Los Angeles Kia Forum Kia Forum - 1/7/24 & 1/8/24*

3/13/2024 Palm Desert Acrisure Arena 1/11/2024

3/16/2024 Phoenix Footprint Center 7/22/2023

3/19/2024 Denver Ball Arena 7/25/2023

3/24/2024: Dallas, American Airlines Center 9/18/2023

3/25/2024: Dallas, American Airlines Center 9/19/2023

3/28/2024: Houston, Toyota Center 9/13/2023

3/29/2024: Houston, Toyota Center 9/14/2023

4/1/2024 Atlanta State Farm Arena 9/5/2023

4/4/2024 Tampa Amalie Arena 9/7/2023

4/6/2024 Miami Kaseya Center 9/9/2023

4/7/2024 Miami Kaseya Center 9/10/2023

4/14/2024: Austin, Moody Center 9/21/2023

4/15/2024: Austin, Moody Center 9/22/2023

4/20/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/25/2024

4/21/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/27/2024

4/23/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/28/2024

4/24/2024 Mexico City Palacio De Los Deportes 1/30/2024

Movie Review

George Clooney shines in Jay Kelly, a sharp and heartfelt look at fame

Photo by Peter Mountain/Netflix

George Clooney in Jay Kelly.

The life of a celebrity is paradoxical in that your life is lived in the public eye, yet who you really are is almost unknowable. Movie history is littered with films that try to dig into the private lives of real and fictional actors, with varying results. The latest film to try to unearth what it means to be famous is Jay Kelly.

In a perfect bit of casting, George Clooney stars in the title role as an actor who’s still world famous even if he’s edging toward the downside of his career. His coterie of helpers, including manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern), make sure he is taken care of at every turn, often anticipating his needs before he realizes it.

A run-in with an old friend, Timothy (Billy Crudup), sends Jay spiraling, questioning not just the meaning of his 35-plus year career, but also his relationships with his two daughters, Jessica (Riley Keough) and Daisy (Grace Edwards). Jay’s attempt to manage the crisis pits his identity as a celebrity and as a father and friend against each other.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and co-written by Emily Mortimer (who has a small role), the film has to walk the tightrope of making the audience like Jay even as he does and says things that might make him unlikable. There’s a very thin line between the character of Jay Kelly and the real life George Clooney; each is seemingly infinitely charming when dealing with the public, but they lead very different private lives.

Baumbach takes a light approach to the story, occasionally dipping into more serious territory but never going too deep. For some, this may seem like a copout, as if he’s merely pretending to want to explore what celebrity truly is. But as you see Jay navigate his way between his work, his family, and being out among the public, little details emerge that make him increasingly complex.

A lot of the film’s pleasure comes from the strong actors cast in relatively minor roles. There are not enough words to express what it means to have actors like Jim Broadbent as Jay’s mentor, or Greta Gerwig as Ron’s wife, or Stacy Keach as Jay’s father, or Patrick Wilson as a fellow longtime actor. Each of them and more lend an instant air of excellence to the film that elevates the story beyond its simple premise.

Clooney may be playing a version of himself, but as the film notes on multiple occasions, playing yourself is more difficult than it seems. He is deserving of an Oscar nomination, as is Sandler, who doesn’t give off even a whiff of insincerity as a man who has given perhaps a bit too much of himself in aid of another man’s career.

Jay Kelly is not a world-changing film, and some may accuse it of being another navel-gazing Hollywood story. But the forcefulness of Clooney’s performance, the long line of strong supporting actors, and the subtly effective storytelling by Baumbach and Mortimer (making her feature screenwriting debut) help it become much more than might be expected.

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Jay Kelly is now playing in select theaters. It debuts on Netflix on December 5.

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