Alanis Morissette commits with super-lengthy show on Strip — PHOTOS

Alanis Morissette’s show provoked considerable conversation during intermission at the Colosseum on Wednesday night.

That means her performance was a talker. It also means there was an intermission. Morissette’s show was a 2½-hour experience. This is about an hour longer than what resort operators want from a residency production (Morissette returns this weekend, Wednesday, Oct. 24-25 and Nov. 1-2).

Intermissions are especially rare in today’s Las Vegas. When the the lights went up midway through, some fans murmured that the show might have ended. Only a message from the stage announcing Morissette would be back “in a few minutes” cleared the confusion. Celine Dion never played so long in this room.

But Morissette’s legions did not mind and are not concerned with a full night with their idol. Morissette achieved the improbable, holding a Vegas audience’s attention for more than two hours on a Wednesday night.

They experienced a soul-baring show that was as much a Broadway revival as Strip residency production. Morissette spun skits into therapy sessions. She brought out white boards, as if giving the keynote address for the Morissette Wellness Retreat. She swamped lines and made jokes with her backing dancers and cast members, who played various roles in her autobiographical story.

Even when her words were inaudible — the mic setup often cracked or didn’t catch her verbiage — the crowd roared. There were no aerial stunts, waterfalls or bracing pyrotechnics. The only reference to fire is when Morissette talked of her life becoming “a towering inferno.”

The headliner papered the screens with scrapbook images of her wonderfully animated face, and the occasional book cover from a tome that was particularly inspirational.

Morissette has the career cache and powerful stage skills to sell this show — to fans, and to those booking the room. On the 30th anniversary of the five-time Grammy-Winning, “Jagged Little Pill,” she will make the rules and sing the hits where they fall in the greater narrative.

Through it all, Morissette’s voice is still chilling, through spot-on renditions of “Hand In My Pocket,” “Smiling” and “You Oughta Know.” She stalks the stage, making eye contact with those at the front and calling out upstairs. Morissette is an artist still carries an inspiring combination of vocal power, lyrical intelligence, contagious melodies and performance charisma.

The bond Morissette has established with her fans is real. The 51-year-old superstar has spoken of creating the celebrity “handbook,” for young artists to follow. She speaks easily about her own physical and emotional frailties. Especially revealing was the scene where she and her physician sort through the many prescribed medications she’s taken over the years. It was like reading the pharmacy menu at CVS.

But Morissette owns the story. She is the survivor, dispensing her art in her own terms.

The show that Morissette’s most reminded me of was not a Vegas residency production. It was Bono’s “Stories of Surrender” in New York’s Beacon Theater. Morissette’s was more a musical experience, with a full band, the hits fully realized. But she connected on beyond a musical level. You walked out knowing this person, rooting for her and appreciating this brazen adventure. There is no higher compliment.

Cool Hang Alert

Vegas native and guitar star Frank Sidoris marks the third anniversary of Hard Hat Lounge at 1675 Industrial Road on Friday night. The party and show start at 8 p.m. Friday. Rockers Style Cramps, Mercy Music and Zach Bryan are to perform. Sidoris has been a member of Slash ft. Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators and Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth rock lineup. He’s straight-up Vegas, a Golden Knights’ day-one fan and now a small-business entrepreneur. Maybe he can encouraged to strap on ye olde ax.

Rideshare is encouraged in this parking-strapped annex. And as always, try the Stay Tuned Burgers.

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.