Dionne Warwick readies an unlikely, intimate new residency show at the Stirling Club

Unquestionably a musical legend, Dionne Warwick is the rare Las Vegas headliner who has starred somewhere along the Strip for seven different decades, beginning at the Sands in 1969 and most recently taking the stage at Caesars Palace (at the now-shuttered Cleopatra’s Barge) in early 2020.

The unforgettable voice behind timeless pop gems like “I Say A Little Prayer” and “Walk On By” returns this week, but Warwick won’t be singing in a flashy Las Vegas casino resort. “An Intimate Evening with Ms. Dionne Warwick at The Stirling Club" launches March 24 at 8 p.m. at the private club inside the regal Turnberry Place residential tower just off the Strip, and continues Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays through mid-May. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

“They decided they wanted to really create a showroom [environment] and that I should be the one to have a residency there, and so here it is,” Warwick says. “I’ve had the pleasure of having dinner there a couple times and it’s a lovely place, really lovely.”

She enjoyed the intimacy of performing at Cleopatra’s Barge — though that show was cut short by the pandemic — and is looking forward to connecting with Las Vegas audiences in a new way at the Stirling Club.

“It’s wonderful to be able to look directly into people’s eyes,” she says, adding that she’ll be running through as many of her hits as possible. “I think that’s the reason people come to see me, because I give them what they’re coming for.”

The Stirling Club is a private lifestyle venue spanning 73,000 square feet of dining rooms, lounges, gym, pool and spa, first opened more than 20 years ago but was completely renovated and upgraded in 2019. It’s hosted plenty of live entertainment since reopening but never a big-name residency like Warwick’s.

"The Stirling Club is elated to have been selected to host this very special and intimate residency at our private members-only club," said Debra Kelleher, owner of the Stirling Club, via email. "The lure of such an iconic performer will no doubt also attract locals and tourists to come in and enjoy this highly-anticipated performance at our prestigious country club."

Warwick, who recently released a new single called “Power in the Name,” says she’s on track for a European tour starting in May but expects to return to the residency for performances in July and August.

The singer is in the midst of a bit of a resurgence thanks to an entertaining social media presence — she recently popped up on “Saturday Night Live” to help poke fun at her own hilarious Twitter feed — and a new documentary film, “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” which will be broadcast on CNN Plus next month.

The movie explores her unique career as a crossover artist and tells the stories behind those hit songs featuring interviews with collaborators like Burt Bacharach and Clive Davis and musical colleagues such as Smokey Robinson, Snoop Dogg, Elton John and Alicia Keys.

Warwick is the first solo Black woman artist to win a Grammy. Her music transcended racial and genre categories, and later in her career, she became one of the earliest prominent AIDS activists, raising awareness through the famous fundraising single “That’s What Friends Are For.”

The chance to revisit stories like those is what compelled her to participate in the documentary. “Now you will know you are getting the story directly from me,” she says. “Most of it was done with film [footage] during other eras from places I’ve been, and people who knew me were asked to do interviews, and it’s a wonderful documentary. I was very pleased with it. And it brought back a lot of memories, and some things I had forgotten about. It was quite interesting to see me revealed to me.”