Celine Dion accepts $100,000 donation to mark 1,000th show, announces 2017 dates

By ROBIN LEACH NICHE DIVISION OF LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

8 years ago

In honor of 1,000 shows, AEG and Caesars Entertainment executives present Celine Dion with a $100,000 donation to the Azar/Angelil Oncology Research Fund on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016, in Las Vegas. (Cashman Photo)

A $100,000 donation was presented to Celine Dion on Tuesday night in celebration of the milestone the music icon will reach Saturday night when she performs her 1,000th show in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace — the same year Caesars Palace celebrates its 50th anniversary.

Execs with AEG and Caesars Entertainment, partners behind her Las Vegas residency shows at The Colosseum since 2003, made the $100,000 donation to the superstar singer for the Azar/Angelil Oncology Research Fund, which was set up when Celine’s husband and manager, Rene Angelil, and her brother, Daniel Dion, died from cancer complications within days of each other in January.

Our exclusive and candid interview with Celine will be published in Friday Neon of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and at 2 a.m. Friday at our new website RobinLeach.ReviewJournal.com ahead of Saturday’s performance. In the conversation with Celine, she talked about her life now without Rene and revealed her hopes for her personal and professional future.

Celine said that because of high ticket demand for her show, she will add 24 performances from April 4 through June 3. Tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 14. The new 2017 shows are selected dates from April 4-22 and May 16-June 3.

Her previously announced 2016 shows are on sale now from Nov. 1- 26 and Jan. 17-Feb.4. Tickets may be purchased at The Colosseum box office, by calling (866) 320-9763 and online at TheColosseum.com and AXS.com.

On Tuesday, we reported here that Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix is exiting retirement to be Celine’s new artistic development advisor. I can now report that one of the first projects he will tackle will be French- and English-language versions of her life story as a musical for Broadway and Paris and Montreal stages.

Gilles said that Celine will not appear in the musical. He said that the concept of the dual-language musicals was part of Rene’s wishes and planning before his death from throat and brain cancer.