"Boy, is my ass tired!" Bette Midler chirps as she rides onto the gigantic Caesars Palace stage astride a donkey. In THE SHOWGIRL MUST GO ON, the 62-year-old chantootsie often declares that she's exhausted, yet in her sharp 90-min. act, she seems ageless and indefatigable--strutting, singing, hopping around in a fish tail, cavorting under a 3,200-lb. (1,450 kg) headdress of pink feathers. Showgirl, a slick $10 million production, replaces Céline Dion's elephantine extravaganza with the unique Midler mix: sass, heart and a show-biz salesmanship that's been irresistible since her early days as an icon for gay men only. "Thirty years ago,...
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