Madonna Talks Rebel Heart Tour

It's three days before the Pope leads hundreds of thousands of people in a mass at Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and four miles away at the Wells Fargo Center, one of America's most famous ex-Catholics is already getting into the spirit of the occasion. Madonna uses a giant cross as a stripping pole and writhes around on a re-creation of the Last Supper table as she moans, 'Yeezus loves my pussy best.' 'Popey-wopey is on his way over,' she says later in the show. 'I think he's stalking me.'

The gleefully blasphemous moment is one of 21 elaborately choreographed numbers on Madonna's Rebel Heart Tour, which has been packing North American arenas since it kicked off September 9th. It's her most extravagant stage show ever - a two-hour set that features samurai warriors, matadors, gypsies, rockabilly kids dancing around a body shop and a dangerous-looking dance routine on top of giant swaying poles, not to mention a grand finale set in a gleaming 1920s-style Paris cafe.

'The logistical avalanche of putting it together was unlike anything I've ever done,' says Arianne Phillips, the head costume designer, who notes the tour uses 500 pairs of shoes and 450 costumes. 'Every day of rehearsals felt like an impossibility.' To prepare for the show, the 20 backup dancers spent three months putting in 14-hour days, six days a week. The 57-year-old Madonna was right beside them. 'No matter what we asked her to do, like riding a nun like a surfboard, she'd try without flinching,' says Megan Lawson, the tour's head choreographer.

The day after the Philadelphia show, Madonna phoned up Rolling Stone to talk about the tour.

At what point in the creation of Rebel Heart did you start brainstorming ideas for this tour?
Finishing my record was filled with panic and pressure because of all the leaks, so I wasn't really thinking about my live show until I released the record and started making videos and doing my promo show. So honestly, I didn't really try to sit down and get my head around it until last March. That's unusual for me because I usually start thinking way, way, way in advance.

To read the rest of Madonna's interview visit: www.rollingstone.com/music

Comments

[Dewi]

@Paul Harvey: The same thing happened when we saw the Sticky and Sweet tour in Cardiff. We had general admission tickets (standing) and, as we approached the stadium, we were directed to another door. We asked why, and we were told just to go that way. On entering the stadium, half of it had been covered with tarpaulin so that from the stage it wouldn't look empty. Our general admission tickets were "upgraded" at no additional cost to seats right near the front!! It also turned out that stadium staff had been walking through the streets of Cardiff all day trying to sell tickets since attendance was so low!

[Paul Harvey]

It should have been don't . You have my permission to correct.

[Paul Harvey]

A COMPETE DISASTERUOS NIGHT IN MINNESOTA. Tickets as low as $10 dollars were being sold at Madonna's concert to have a respectable attendance. This happens when you do give your core fans what they want. I hope she learns from this embarrassing night

[Paul Harvey]

Tickets in the upper level are selling for 17 and 25 dollars. Prices are dropping as showtime approaches to make attendance look somewhat respectable.

[Paul Harvey]

Madonna is performing in St. Paul tonight and this will be the most diffcult night of her touring career. The areana is half empty. Log on to vividseats and they are giving away floor seats for less than $100 dollars. This happens when you ignore core fans. Her refusal to play older hits in orignal form, her base support stays home. No one in her circle can speak to her not even Guy Oseary. The fans who grew up with her are at the highest income level of there careers and are the folks who can afford her ticket prices. This should never happen to the biggest touring solo act of all time.