Diana Ross at Ravinia: Diva gonna diva

It was May of 1990. A group of us took a one-day fun bus trip from Orange County to Las Vegas. After spending the afternoon gambling, we decided to see Diana Ross in concert.

After the show, we were reviewing the concert. Everyone was raving about her performance except one person. ME. It wasn't that it was bad; it was just that it wasn't what I was hoping to see.

I loved Diana, especially when she was the front person of the legendary singing group The Supremes. I expected to hear many of the songs from the group that made her famous. What I got was only a few of the tunes, a few from her solo career and a fashion show. Diana changed her outfit at least fifteen times in a ninety-minute show. It seemed as if there were new clothes after every song.

It was a night of Diana being a diva.

It's thirty-two years later. The now seventy-eight-year-old Ross is bringing her stage show to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. It’s a show I’ve been looking forward to since the schedule was announced in March. I figured it was one final opportunity to see the legend perform one last time before it was too late…for either her or me.

Yesterday, I received an early morning e-mail from the Ravinia Festival. They were telling me how to prepare for the concert. Get this:

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Parking Opens:4:00 p.m.
Parking is $25 for this performance.
See below for more parking information.

Expect heavy road traffic near Ravinia and long security lines, as this concert will be highly attended. Please plan your travel accordingly.
 Donor Gate Opening:4:30 p.m.
Donors must present a valid 2022 Ravinia early entry pass or season lawn pass to enter the park at this time. More Info.
(Bravo donor passes are not valid for this event)  
 Public Gate Opening:5:00 p.m.
 Naturally 7:7:00 p.m. in the Pavilion
 Intermission:7:45 p.m.
 Rhonda Ross:8:00 p.m. in the Pavilion
 Intermission:8:20 p.m.
 Diana Ross:8:35 p.m. in the Pavilion
 Concert Ends:9:50 p.m.
(timings approximate)

It seems like a lot of work for a seventy-five-minute show. But, Diana is a diva and a diva has a right to act like a diva, right?

So, cut to the chase. How was the show?

The opening act was interesting. Naturally 7 is an A Capella group that also performs the instrumental sounds through their vocals. It was pretty cool for about twenty minutes, but at that point, I was ready for the next act.

Rhonda Ross is Diana’s daughter. Her set made it clear how she got this gig. The best thing about her performance was when she forgot the words to a song and admitted it during the tune. It was very funny and she made the most out of her mistake. Her set was only twenty minutes; Rhonda, we barely knew you.

It was then time for the headliner. Diana comes out in a stunning bright blue gown. It was the first of five wardrobe changes during her performance. Not nearly as many as that night thirty-two years ago in Vegas, but more than enough for her audience to notice.

But the night turned out to be more about the music than her outfits. Amazingly, Ross’s voice sounds the same at age seventy-eight as it did when she started her career in the mid-1960s. I have no idea how she does that when so many of her contemporaries struggle with their vocals.

Her opening song, “I’m Coming Out” set the tone for the night. My favorite segment was the group of The Supremes oldies. I again wish she sang more of them. Other highlights included, “Upside Down”. “Love Hangover” and “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

All in all, it was a special night of music from one of the all-time greats. Here’s to many more years of Diana Ross being a diva.