Bette Midler’s writers did their homework to personalize show

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 8, 2004

EVERETT – When punk band Green Day played the Everett Events Center, they thanked a crowd they called “Seattle.”

A common mistake, especially for performing artists that wake up each day in a different city.

But Bette Midler knew she was in Everett, and at her nearly sold-out extravaganza Tuesday night, she delivered a bout of one-liners aimed squarely at the locals.

“Ahh, Snohomish County,” she said. “I made it! Who says dreams don’t come true?”

“I’m disappointed Mayor (Ray) Stephanson couldn’t come tonight,” Midler said. “It was his turn to guard the Ten Commandments.”

But the mayor wasn’t guarding the two controversial granite slabs that grace the city’s police station. He was in the audience with his wife.

“It brought the house down when she said that,” he said Wednesday. “She even pronounced my name right. As I saw people at the concert, they would go, ‘Oh, you are here.’”

The mayor didn’t mind being the punch line for a diva. In fact, he knew it was coming. Staffers from Midler’s show had contacted city and arena officials to research what makes Snohomish County tick.

“Apparently, Bette really likes to localize the shows and get intimate with the audiences,” said city spokeswoman Kate Reardon, who fielded one of the writers’ calls.

Midler said she’s particularly fond of Everett’s motto, “Great thinking. With a view.”

Better that, she noted, than “(Bleep) Seattle,” which induced a roar from the crowd.

It’s safe to say folks at Everett City Hall honestly had never considered Midler’s suggestion as a slogan, said Lanie McMullin, the city executive who thought up Everett’s nonprofane motto.

“We’re proud of Seattle, actually,” McMullin responded. “They’re a wonderful suburb. We’re thinking of annexing them.”

But Midler went beyond Everett in her verbal jabs.

She thanked the people in the front rows, the most pricey seats in the house, as those who would do just about anything to sit so close.

“They had sex with people they don’t even like just to sit this close,” she said. “I like to think of them as my own little Mill Creek.”

And she didn’t forget those in north Snohomish County.

Midler beckoned to the people way in the back of the arena, calling out, “The people far away – Darrington. Show me your mullets!”

Reporter Jennifer Warnick: 425-339-3429 or jwarnick@heraldnet.com.