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Lady Gaga is so unusual -- and fun! -- in a marathon Quicken Loans Arena dance party (Review)

Gaga still redefining what is style
Lady Gaga, captured during a performance of "Applause'' during the 2013 MTV Video Awards in Brooklyn, New York, wowed a crowd of more than 15,000 at Quicken Loans Arena Sunday night. The quirky singer-songwriter banned professional media photography from the show. (Charles Sykes, AP file)
Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer By Chuck Yarborough, The Plain Dealer The Plain Dealer
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on May 19, 2014 at 11:13 AM, updated May 19, 2014 at 3:48 PM
What was your favorite part of Lady Gaga's Quicken Loans Arena show on Sunday night?

CLEVELAND, Ohio – If you thought Cyndi Lauper was so unusual, you oughta get a load of Lady Gaga.

The New Yorker whose accent sometimes affected more of a cultured British edge than the harsh stereotypical delivery of someone born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta Sunday night brought theater to the Quicken Loans Arena stage, in a way that only she can.

And of course, the only place there was MORE theater was in the audience. With apologies to James Thurber, the unicorn is NOT a mythical beast. I saw several in the crowd of "Little Monsters,'' as her fans are known.

And apparently Disney characters love Gaga, too, as a 6-foot Donald Duck was pressed close to the neon-lit stage that rolled through The Q like the board of an icy Candy Land game.

Dallas-worthy big-hair wigs, push-up bras, fishnet tights, stripper shoes, a much-too-sheer yellow body suit (dude, next time, try underwear!), bustiers, short-shorts, face paint and acres and acres of skin – male and female – made crowd-watching almost as much fun as Gaga-watching.

Long known as an advocate for LGBT issues – the singer-songwriter-producer-designer whose net worth in 2011 was estimated at $110 million speaks as much with her money as her mouth – it's easy to understand why she draws such a sexually diverse crowd.

And she clearly loves them as much as they love her. A large part of her stage banter really wasn't banter at all, but a plea for acceptance for all.

Well, all but press photographers. We were banned from taking pictures during the show. Apparently, SOME kinds of bias are OK.

But that doesn't detract one iota from the fact that Gaga is one heck of a performer. Yeah, there were backing tracks as she went through "ARTPOP,'' "G.U.Y.,'' "Donatella,'' "Venus,'' "Just Dance,'' "Manicure'' and more.

But she and a gifted crew of dancers kept up a manic pace that matched the frenzy of the evening. Truthfully, I think there MIGHT have been one or two times when the backing tracks weren't just BACKING, if you know what I mean. But the strenuousness of those dance moves makes it not just understandable, but I would think almost necessary.

I mean, think about it this way: The same day that Gaga was in town, hundreds of runners took part in the 2014 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon. Kenyan Phillip Lagat won with a time of 2 hours and 12 minutes. That's about the duration of Gaga's show ... and he wasn't singing!

The other thing that became clear in Gaga's show is that she is terribly underrated as a singer and musician. She has a powerful contralto that really showed up in "Do What U Want,'' off the "ARTPOP'' album, and her big hit "Born This Way,'' let her showcase a deft touch at the piano.

Gaga's greatest asset, though, may be what her detractors think is her worst fault: She's weird. I mean, she really is. Who else would don a costume with inflatable tentacles and dance around with hoofers pretending to be crabs, shrimp, and such?

But she EMBRACES that weirdness and uses it to her advantage ... and encourages others to do the same. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it works.

That other 1 percent? Well, let's just say that in all my years of covering concerts, I don't think I've ever seen Japanimation singer – introduced as Hatsune Miku – a singing synthesizer program – as an opener.

And I truly, truly could have done without techno DJ Lady Starlight, whose 30-minute set seemed interminable.

But maybe that all worked out in the end, because it made Gaga's show so much more memorable. Even if she IS so unusual.