About the Tour
Madonna's then-largest tour incorporated as central themes sex and Catholicism, a combination which engendered controversy. The Pope called for a boycott of the show in Italy, and one of three scheduled Italian dates was canceled. The show has achieved a measure of cult status, with elements such as the cone brassieres becoming cultural icons in their own right.
The show's risque overtone caused problems. In Toronto, police were alerted that the show might possibly contain lewd and obscene content (particularly a masturbation scene) and threatened charges unless parts of the show were changed. The show went on unaltered, however, and no charges were made.
French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier designed the costumes for the tour, including the now-infamous cone brassiere. Additional costume pieces were designed by Marlene Stewart, who had previously worked with Madonna on the 1987 Who's That Girl Tour.
Director Alek Keshishian captured more than 250 hours of film of Madonna and her troupe during the tour. This footage was edited and released to movie theaters as Truth or Dare (In Bed with Madonna)
Due to ongoing throat problems, six shows had to be canceled, bringing the tour down from 63 shows to 57; altogether, some 125,000 tickets had to be refunded.
In 1998 a tribute show was produced at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, California titled The Blonde Exhibition in which twelve Madonna look- and sound-alike performers from across the US recreated the singer's career from beginning to (then) end. A year later this idea was carried over into the MTV Video Music Awards in which Madonna herself appeared.
[edit] The show
The show was separated into four different segments. The first segment was the Metropolis segment, which was inspired by the famous German silent film of the same name by Fritz Lang. The set was straight from Madonna's " Express Yourself" video (also inspired by this film) featuring a huge staircase inside a huge "machine-room" full of half-naked male dancers.
The second segment was a religious-themed set of five songs in which Madonna simulated masturbation on a crimson-sheathed bed during "Like a Virgin". Afterwards, the set turns into a Catholic church-like atmosphere, complete with her back-up singers and dancers dressed as nuns and priests, and Madonna "confesses" with songs including "Like a Prayer".
The third segment was taken directly from the Dick Tracy movie, which was just starting in cinemas during the tour. Parts of the segment included Madonna interacting with the character of Dick Tracy, played by one of her back-up dancers Slam.
The fourth segment was more of the light-hearted kind with a spoof-segment of Madonna mocking her image as a "Material Girl". The set ended with a dramatic yet minimalist performance of her then-current superhit "Vogue", featuring paintings by Tamara de Lempicka on the huge screens behind Madonna and her dancers. (Paintings by Tamara de Lempicka had previously been used in the opening of Madonna's 1987 Who's That Girl Tour.)
The encore of the show was a combination of another light-hearted rendition of "Holiday" before Madonna went into a super-stylized version of "Keep It Together", which was inspired by the work of Bob Fosse.
The Japan and North American shows featured Madonna in her trademark blonde ponytail hair extensions. However, because the hairpiece kept getting caught in her headset microphone and was pulling her real hair out by the root, she switched to short blonde curls for the European leg of the tour.
The tour grossed U$65.7 million.
