Lady Gaga Reveals Christmas Plans for Concert Film (And It’s All Connected to Joker: Folie à Deux)

With all of the big things happening in the DCU these days, it can be easy to forget that at one point, the most anticipated DC sequel wasn’t Man of Tomorrow. Instead, it was the sequel to the $1 billion dollar hit Joker, and the sequel, titled Joker: Folie à Deux, garnered even more hype when it added music star Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. That film ultimately didn’t meet expectations, but now Lady Gaga has revealed Christmas plans for a new concert film, and it’s actually connected to that much-discussed project, just not in the way you might expect.

Gaga announced a new concept film titled Lady Gaga in Harlequin Live – One Night Only, which will debut on YouTube the night before Christmas at 4 PM PT. The project premiered at the Grammy Museum and was shot at the Belasco Theater in LA on September 30, 2024. The concert took place after midnight and was performed in front of an intimate audience, and in a Q&A, Gaga revealed the original plan was to just do 3 songs to celebrate the project after the premiere of Joker, but it ended up turning into a full album performance that has become legendary amongst fans.

In an interview with Variety, Gaga reveals how the project transformed from its initial idea. “What’s so interesting is, I was meant to do that performance as three songs, as just kind of a celebration after the premiere of ‘Joker.’ And a couple days before, Michael and I were like, ‘What? We’re just gonna do the whole album’,” Gaga said. “I had just filmed the ‘Disease’ video [for the ‘Mayhem’ single] a couple weeks before, and I just loved working with Marcell (Rev, the director of photography). He’s this incredible artist, and he gets like right in there. So after doing ‘Disease,’ we thought, ‘What if we worked with him on this?’”

Lady Gaga’s Harlequin Is The Project, Not The Character, So Don’t Expect Harley Quinn

There are obviously connections between the Harlequin project to the Joker sequel that featured Gaga as the beloved DC villain Harley Quinn. Most of the songs on Harlequin were used in some form or fashion in Joker: Folie à Deux as well, but the interview makes it clear that those connections actually made it more important for her to recast those songs for her album in a way that is purely her, and that carries over to the concert as well.

During the concert, fans will hear directly from Gaga about aspects of her life that influenced her music and vice versa, and at times she even refers to herself in the third person, almost as if she were a character in the story. That might just be theatrical eccentricity, but what isn’t happening is any sort of method acting or playing the character of Harley Quinn.

Lady Gaga in Harlequin Live — One Night Only will stream on YouTube at 4 PM PT on December 24th.

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