From the S&S archives: Madonna: As nasty as she wants to be

MADONNA HITS all the extremes. The superstar pop icon moves easily from female machismo to shameless coquetry, sexual ecstasy to religious rapture, as her Blond Ambition tour crisscrosses Europe. In concert she shocks and delights, amuses and fascinates with exquisite choreography, riveting theatrics and extravagant, though comical, costumes.

But mostly she puts on one heck of an exciting show.

At Tuesday's concert in Dortmund, West Germany, the 15,000-plus fans — like Madonna, left virtually breathless after each number — no doubt could only ask, "What outrageous thing will she do next?"

An elaborate and constantly changing stage set forms the backdrop for Madonna's 90-minute, 18-song revue. Opening the show with the hit Express Yourself, she rises to the stage in a hydraulically powered elevator set amid a massive steel structure reminiscent of Fritz Lang's 1926 futuristic film Metropolis.

From there it's no-holds-barred action as Madonna — dressed in a pink bodice with bizarre torpedo cone shapes on her brassieres (all outfits courtesy of designer Jean-Paul Gaultier) — cavorts around the stage with seven male and two female dancers. During Causing a Commotion she becomes a sadistic master, pretending to beat and kick the women.

Madonna's act turned out to be too crude live for Roman Catholic organizations in Italy, who tried to ban her shows in Rome and Turin earlier this month. It's not difficult to see why. During a slowed-down rendition of Like a Virgin, Madonna — herself raised a Catholic — engages in X-rated activity atop a velvet-draped bed that would make even Prince and Bobby Brown blush.

Then, in perhaps the show's most intense moments, she becomes the ultimate Catholic, dressed in a black church-going outfit with a giant cross around her neck. The stage is decorated with giant candelabra, crucifixes, Roman columns and a backdrop depicting Jesus in a stained glass window. A "priest" waves incense over her as she frolics atop an altar to the strains of a gospel-inflected Like a Prayer, followed by Live to Tell and Papa Don't Preach.

Later in the show it becomes obvious that for Madonna it's all just in fun. She seems to mock herself when she appears in bathrobe and curlers and sings her early hit Material Girl in a Betty Boop squeak. During Cherish she plucks a harp as three fish-tailed "mer-men" flop at her feet.

Madonna reprises her role of a nightclub singer in Dick Tracy during two numbers from the movie, including Hanky Panky. And in a recorded version of I'm Following You, a duet with current beau and co-star Warren Beatty, she romps with a trench-coated dancer. (She makes no pretense of lip-synching the song and even displays the album to the crowd.)

Madonna said recently that her show is not a conventional rock concert but a theatrical presentation of her songs. This time around she uses the ultimate in theatrics to present her hits, and one can only wonder what she'll come up with next.