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 “Toni
Braxton: Revealed” is a dazzlingly dressed musical and
visual journey through the six-time Grammy Award-winning artist’s
recording career, family and private voyage.
But
underneath it all, there’s another up-close-and-personal
element that’s key to the style of the entertainer –
her show at the Flamingo is giving Braxton a chance to finally
come out of her closet.
“Revealed” opens the door to a public view of
Braxton’s unique sense of fashion as well as to the
woman inside the clothes. Each of the garments she wears on
stage, created by noted L.A. designer Anthony Franco, is crafted
to expose another side of her and to tell her story. In tandem
with that, each song is dressed in its own stylish vignette
and as the moods within the show change, so does Braxton’s
image and outfits.
“Tony is a really hot new designer,” says Braxton.
“Eva Longoria, Tyra Banks and Avril Lavigne are some
of the celebrities wearing his designs and he just did the
costumes for Christine Aguilera’s new video. I knew
that I wanted to have a fashion show within my show and I
toyed with the idea of putting it in different places, at
the beginning, middle or end. Ultimately, I thought that it
would be really creative to put it at the end – just
when the audience thinks the show is over, there’s a
fashion show. It gives me an opportunity to show off Tony’s
clothes and my nine dancers.”
It goes without saying that that opportunity occurs throughout
the entire flowing production, for which Braxton actually
worked with Franco on the costumes. He did the designs on
a sketchboard and she made sure that they were show-ready,
meaning that she would be able to accomplish her necessary
goal of being a quick-change artist, getting in and out of
the clothes as fast as possible.
“We had to try to incorporate things that would still
allow the designs to look as incredible as they were,”
Braxton explains. “So instead of 50 gazillion snaps,
I asked Tony to give me two snaps and Velcro on each one.
He said, ‘Oh god, Velcro?’ That’s a bad
word to a designer. He was so upset about it that I thought
he was going to have a nervous breakdown. I asked him how
I was going to get in and out of the next outfit if there
were 12 snaps on a jacket. He agreed to settle for less snaps
and I said again, ok, how about 2 snaps and some Velco, and
he finally agreed. He was wonderful to work with.”
<TOP>
As the sultry singer performs a diverse set list that fuses
her energetic hits such as “Spanish Guitar,” “Please”
and Trippin’” with her heartfelt ballads including
“Unbreak My Heart” and “Breathe Again,”
her costumes range from a seductive flamenco-style dress to
vintage-inspired couture. One outstanding garment features
more than 11,000 Swarovski crystals and 25,000 decorative
stones, for which the hand-beading process alone took 120
hours to complete.
And because every well-dressed woman needs accessories to
totally shine, Braxton gives herself some extra sparkle by
virtue of a 650-K white gold microphone, created by Giantto
Group, that consists of 6,500 diamonds. It even comes with
its very own security guard.
“I wanted a microphone and I didn’t want a rhinestone
one,” Braxton laughs. “I wanted a diamond one.
My manager kind of looked at me and said, “Ooo-kay.”
I asked him to see how much one cost and he came back and
told me one million dollars. I said let’s do it. If
he had told me a million and a half, I might have said no.
I still don’t know why I said yes but I did.”
There’s no doubt that, with or without the microphone,
Braxton looks like a million dollars in her costumes, which
admittedly takes some work. When it comes to keeping in shape,
it doesn’t hurt that Braxton has two small sons that
she says she chases all day long. But the star also works
out, one of the reasons being that she discovered a couple
of years ago that she had heart disease.
“I was only in my 30’s when I found out I had
Periocarditis, which is like a virus of the heart,”
Braxton reveals. “I was devastated. I immediately thought
of the movie ‘Beaches’ in which Barbara Hershey’s
character had heart disease. But the doctors told me that
I could get it under control with medication for about a year,
then I’d be good to go. It’s just that when I
go to the dentist, I have to be on antibiotics or take an
anti-inflammatory beforehand and if I catch cold, I have to
be careful so that it doesn’t turn into a virus and
attack my heart again. I’m actually okay but I have
to work out – I want to do everything I can for longevity
purposes. Cardio-vascular exercise is very important.”
“I’m also eating better,” she adds. “I
still have my pizza and burgers here and there – probably
more than I actually should. But I’m eating much healthier
overall, getting my veggies and asparagus and organic stuff.
So I could be around to my 80’s or 90’s with my
lifestyle, and I’m happy about that.”
<TOP>
What is revealed from talking to Braxton is the entertainer’s
inner strength, which has been tested many times in ways besides
physically. She says that it has been her husband, family
and children that have helped her through the rough times
and that when she sees her kids, it gives her the will to
survive and keep going. She notes, however, that sometimes
when she looks back before she had her sons, she wonders how
she got through things like her public 1998 bankruptcy, which
was extremely embarrassing and emotionally draining.
“I had to declare bankruptcy,” she emphasizes.
“I had to file because when I got my royalty statement
from my ‘Secrets’ album, which sold 10 million
units, it was for less than $2,000. No one really talks about
the details of my bankruptcy because the truth is that I really
didn’t make any money. I made like 34 cents a record.
The rumor was that I spent too much money – well, I
guess I did because I didn’t expect my royalty check
to be under $2,000.”
Braxton explains that when a new artist is signed to a label,
the record company makes the investment in that artist and
the record being released. Still, she says, she didn’t
have the best contract and adds that the same thing happened
to labelmates TLC, who ended up making 32 cents a record.
“If the company spent $20 million promoting my product,
there was no way I could get out of the red at 34 cents a
record,” she relates. “What further put me into
debt was touring. Even though I was making money, I was putting
it right back into the show because that’s what you
do your first time out. So I decided to file bankruptcy.”
Being open and honest about things has been cathartic for
Braxton. The daughter of a preacher (who also has her two
sisters singing backup in her show), she admits that she has
never had a lot of things to hide nor is she the kind of person
who attracts tabloid attention, which is by her own choice.
“I don’t care if people know that I had my boobies
or my nose down,” she claims matter-of-factly. “I’ll
tell them if they ask. These are just things I do to maintain
myself and to feel better about myself so I can’t really
feel ashamed of those things. Being in the public eye doesn’t
bother me because the perks are so great. The press doesn’t
bother me either. I don’t have people hiding in my bushes;
the only time that happened was at my wedding. But I don’t
have the kind of lifestyle where people are asking, ‘Is
she drinking; is she on drugs?’ I’m really kind
of a straight-laced person when it comes to that stuff.”
Being a preacher’s kid, I always lived with limitations,
whether I liked it or not.”
Braxton describes herself as strong;, silly; fun-loving; very
business-savvy, having learned her lessons, and a great cook.
She is proudest of being a mom and most disappointed in the
record business, which she says cares more about making money
than it does about talent. Her challenges now are maintaining
her career and being the best that she can be in her show.
It is live performance that gives her adrenaline rush and
she feels fortunate to have her show at the Flamingo, having
taken time off from the commercial side of the business to
raise her family and appear on Broadway, starring in both
“Beauty and the Beast” and “Aida.”.
<TOP>
“I’m very fortunate to have my spot at the Flamingo,”
Braxton enthuses. “Sometimes when you take a break to
be a mom, you try to come back and find that not only is your
spot gone, but there’s no spot for you at all. I’m
grateful that my fans are still supporting me and I want my
audiences to leave my show having had a great time and feeling
that I revealed things about myself that they didn’t
know.”
And mentioning that she was dressed to thrill wouldn’t
upset her either.
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ADDITIONAL
ARTICLES
BY
BOBBIE KATZ
HERE |
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Bling,
Bling, Bling Went the Stage Show
