Madonna will be “transported around the arena in an illuminated portal frame” as part of her ‘Celebration Tour’, it’s been confirmed.
The Queen of Pop’s 40th anniversary shows launch on Saturday (October 14), with final details of the elaborate concerts shared ahead of the opening night.
According to information sent to press, the Like A Virgin hitmaker will be elevated 30 ft. off the ground in a set-up that “acts as a time machine allowing her to move at 1.5ft per second, 80 ft. across and 130 ft. down the length of the arena”.
It’s “designed to symbolise looking into the past, present and towards the future”.
Elsewhere in the concerts, it’s confirmed that there’s 4,400 square ft. of stage – the largest for any Madonna tour – inspired by the grid of Manhattan with Uptown, Downtown, Midtown, East and West stages.
With 24 on stage performers – including Bob The Drag Queen and four of Madonna’s children – it features a three-layered circular stage, inspired by the wedding cake of Madonna’s original VMA performance and 230 ft. of combined length of catwalk that gets Madonna 105 ft. far into the venue.
The stage will be adorned with 3600 Square ft. of projection imagery – the most amount of video ever used in a Madonna show – while the production includes the recreation of 17 archive costumes.
The Queen Of Pop is hitting the road to celebrate 40 years of hits, with the run postponed from its initial July launch after the entertainer was hospitalised in the ICU.
On the back of her hospitalisation, Madonna shared a note online, thanking fans for their “positive energy, prayers and words of healing and encouragement”.
She added: “I have felt your love. I’m on the road to recovery and incredibly grateful for all the blessings in my life.
“My first thought when I woke up in the hospital was my children. My second thought was that I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.
“My focus now is my health and getting stronger and I assure you, I’ll be back with you as soon as I can! The current plan is to reschedule the North American leg of the tour and to begin in October in Europe. I couldn’t be more grateful for your care and support. Love, M.”