Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
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VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 111 D eep into her performance, Véronic DiCaire asks the audience to use its imag i- nation. She wants them to envision the two most nota- ble att ributes of a certain Grand Ole Opry headliner. "Pretend they're here," says the wispy singer, smiling and boosting her bra, eliciting laughs from the crowd. Who needs padding when you can convince an audience to play make-believe? DiCa ire has just blow n t hrough "9 to 5," a must for anyone summoning the song stylings of Dolly Parton. But now it's time for a guest star in this show-within-a-show, and she gazes into the wings. Suddenly a look of befuddlement crosses her face; her eyebrows narrow. "Oh, no," she says unexpectedly. "Where am I?" She pauses and t u r ns to t he audience. "I'm hav ing a bra in moment here. Hold on." T he crowd g iggles. DiCaire has apparently lost her way amid the 50 voices she conjures each night. After an unin- tended moment of suspense, she grins and calls out, "Reba McEntire!" T he crowd cheers a s she scra mbles across the stage to return as Reba. The shift in person- a lit ies is sea m less. Even du r ing her m idshow st umble, DiCa ire st ayed in cha racter. It wa s Dolly, not DiCaire, who momentarily lost track of the show's script. "How funny was that?" the singer says later during an interview, conducted only after she rearranges a sectional sofa and a love seat so she's face-to-face with her interviewer. "There is so much going on in my head sometimes." Sister, you've got that right. Dozens of voices populate the mind of Véronic DiCaire, many more than those she produces onst age ever y night. In a single per for ma nce, she does interpretations (the term she prefers over "impressions" or "impersonat ions" to descr ibe her a r t) of Beyoncé, Adele, Taylor Sw if t , Ch r ist ina Ag uilera, a nd Celine Dion. And that's just in the first five minutes. "Crazy" by Patsy Cline leads into Toni Basil's "Mickey." Pat Benatar's "Love Is a Battlefield" follows Eurythmics's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of T h is)," sung by A nnie Lennox. A my Winehouse sets up Susan Boyle; Lady Gaga is a f it t ing complement to Madonna. L ate in t he show, DiCaire takes to the piano for a remark- able stretch in which she sings as Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, and Karen Carpenter. Ma ny of t he most diff icult voices a re saved for the elect rifying conclusion: Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, A retha Franklin, and W hitney Houston. Except for Janis Joplin (and she may well get to that legendary singer soon), DiCaire unleashes every great female voice in the history of contemporary popular music. "A r t ist ica lly, I a m ver y happy," she says. "Everything is happening so fast, and I'm think- ing, 'Where did this time go in this city that has no sense of t ime?' You k now? But I feel I'm accepted. I feel that this is now my home, and what I do has become appreciated by fans and also my fellow entertainers." DiCaire's latest contract extension will have her at Bally's through the end of November, and in a show that's entirely dependent on her vocal talent, her personal appeal, and her indefatiga- ble work ethic, she seems tireless. On the immense stage of Bally's famed Jubilee! Theater, DiCaire is backed by half a dozen bru- nette dancers (in contrast to her own long blonde hair) and a number of video screens. As the the- ater's name implies, this is a venue designed to host the Strip's most lavish productions. And at times the surroundings seem close to engulfing t he star. The dancers appear only for certain numbers, and the show employs not a single musician. All the music is recorded. T he audience's at tent ion is focused a lmost entirely on the lithe and sprightly woman from Quebec. But DiCaire is well-equipped to handle the scrutiny. "I don't realize that, honestly. I don't feel alone in the show because I have dancers a nd I have my litt le tea m," she says, nodding toward her husband, Remon Boulerice, also one of the show's producers. "And I've got 50 other people with me." The source of one of those 50 voices—among the greatest entertainers to play Las Vegas or any- where else—has been critical to DiCaire's arrival in the city and her growing success on the Strip. DiCaire is a protégé of Celine Dion, who helped reinvent the superstar Vegas residency when she moved into the Colosseum at Caesars in 2003. Immediately upon arrival, Dion began setting attendance and sales records on the Strip, and her seem ingly boundless worldw ide appea l makes her one of the most important performers ever to play the city. Regularly selling out the 4,100 -seat theater, where ticket prices top $250, she's the most bankable star in Vegas. So when Dion throws her support behind an a r t ist , St r ip off icia ls t a ke note. She a nd René A ngélil, her husband and manager, made the unprecedented decision to coproduce (w it h entertainment behemoth AEG Live) and invest in a fellow Las Vegas performer. AEG Live also books Dion's shows at t he Colosseum, a nd Caesars Entertainment owns Bally's, so the part- nerships were already conveniently in place to bring DiCaire to Vegas in June 2013. The link between Dion and DiCaire is both natural and coincidental. In 2008, Mark Dupré— a n accomplished singer - song w r iter who a lso happens to be Angélil's son-in-law—was working in the studio with DiCaire, at the time a country/ folk artist on Canada's Warner Music label who also happened to do a killer impression of Dion. Dupré was supposed to be the opening act on Dion's Taking Chances tour, but his recording schedule prevented it. So he suggested DiCaire instead. DiCaire (who shares French-Canadian heritage with Dion) was asked to perform a set of singing impressions, but aside from Dion, she could do only four. So she quickly developed a 20 -minute set featuring more than a dozen vocal interpretations, and suffice to say she had no trouble warming up the crowd. "She opened 11 shows for me on that tour, in front of 22,000 people," Dion recalls. "She imme- diately drew the crowd's attention and brought t hem to their feet ever y night. A nd from this beginning, we have decided to get involved in not only producing her, but trying to help her and bring her to the rest of the world, because we believe that she has an amazing vocal talent." Dion's support of her friend is as unwavering as her ow n voice when she's belt ing out "My Heart Will Go On." "I DON'T FEEL ALONE IN THE SHOW. I'VE GOT 50 OTHER PEOPLE WITH ME."—VÉRONIC DICAIRE 108-113_V_FEAT_CS_Veronic_Spring14.indd 111 2/10/14 6:33 PM