Diana Ross’s show tonight opens with two career retrospectives. The first, a lengthy video segment, includes footage throughout the decades, from Motown to the modern day. The second is far grander. As the house lights go down, the Manchester-based Hallé Orchestra, as well as Ross’s band, launch into an instrumental medley of her biggest hits. There’s a rambunctious brass and woodwind section, the glorious swell of strings and four enthusiastic backup singers side-stepping to the music. Then, the woman herself, shuffling on to the stage in a glittering dress as she launches into I’m Coming Out.
The opening of this show is relentless: Ross may be 81, but she barely gives herself or the audience time to catch their breath as she blasts through Baby Love, You Can’t Hurry Love, Come See About Me and Stop! In the Name of Love. “More excitement,” she says between songs. “Here we go!”
