The Unpredictable Cyndi Lauper Surprises Fans With ‘Detour’ And Boy George

“She’s So Unusual” isn’t just the name of Cyndi Lauper’s 1983 breakthrough album, which catapulted her from obscurity to star status. The idiosyncratic singer-songwriter is not your garden-variety entertainer. You never know what Lauper will do in the studio or in concert.

During a 2014 show in suburban Philadelphia, Lauper jumped into the audience during her set to break up a fight. A sedentary fan took exception with a person dancing in their way and shoved her. Lauper witnessed the push and jumped into the crowd.

“Everyone has a different way of enjoying the music,” Lauper said from Chicago. “I prefer to see people up and dancing. I completely understand sitting and vibing but we need to live and let live and if someone wants to get up and dance, ya have to let ’em. Life is short. Never not let someone dance.”

So Lauper diffused the situation by mocking the bully and the crowd loved it and the concert hit its crescendo shortly after the incident.

Lauper, 62, remains unpredictable and the same goes in the studio. Lauper is at an age in which her peers tend to either ride the nostalgia wave and just play those old hits or throw in a couple of safe, new tunes.

However, Lauper, who made a name for herself crafting catchy synth pop, is going the other way when facing her golden years. Lauper is touring behind “Detour,” the follow-up to 2010’s surprisingly soulful “Memphis Blues.”

“Detour” is a good-time country and western album with a mix of ballads and raveups. Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris and Vince Gill joined Lauper for some duets. But Lauper is the star of the show. There’s balance, some camp and a number of great songs covered, such as Bob Montgomery’s “Misty Blue” and Marty Robbins’ “Begging to You.” However, the country album wasn’t calculated.

“I didn’t set out to do a country record,” Lauper said. “I knew I wanted to do another covers project. I had been doing a lot of writing but nothing for myself. I’m working on a new Broadway project and a few other cool projects I can’t talk about yet (including a television gig). I really wanted to get into the studio and sing. I was just trying to figure out the direction. I was pulled toward these great songs (from a bygone era). They happened to be country. To make a country record the same time as my blues record, created this kind of companion piece to ‘Memphis Blues,’ and I just lived the songs. Great storytelling back then and I knew I could sing those songs well.”

Lauper will showcase cuts from “Detour” as well as her familiar hits Friday, May 20 at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Fellow ’80s icon Boy George is also on the bill.

“We are going to have a blast,” Lauper said. “We have known each other for years and years but we’ve never played together until last year when we sang ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ at the Home for the Holidays concert in New York City last December.”

Defending the ’80s

It bothers Lauper that some arbiters of cultural taste have expressed disdain for the ’80s, which contributed the drum machine, leg warmers and the television series “Manimal.”

“People for some reason malign the ’80s when it was a great decade for music, fashion and art,” Lauper said. “It was a decade that celebrated individuality. How awesome is that?”

One of the most lionized figures from the ’80s, Prince, who died in April, penned “When U Were Mine,” which Lauper covered for “She’s So Unusual.”

“It seems like such a cliche to say Prince was one of the greatest artists of recent time, but he really was one of the greatest songwriters, possibly the best live performer ever,” she said. “He was brilliant and he was kind and he was funny. I’m going to miss him a lot. Prince was not a drinker, not a partyer. Music made him high, which really sounds stupid but it was true. I just hope he’s at peace now.”

Lauper, who looks great, laughs when told that she’s been labeled a sex symbol by some scribes.

“Ha,” Lauper said. “I don’t think I’m much of a sex symbol. Quirky is me. I’m fine with that. My secret to feeling so good at 60 as I did at 30, OK, maybe 40, is that I really try to live for each day, find beauty and awe in small things and, as long as I continue to be creative as an artist, I am free.”

Lauper, who has sold more than 50 million albums, has accomplished a great deal. She is one of just 20 artists who have earned GET status (winning a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony) and she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2015.

And there is still one more thing she’d like to achieve.

“I really want that Oscar,” Lauper said. “I have the GET but I need that EGOT. … I want to write a song for a movie, a great song, one that’s good enough to be nominated for an Oscar. I love movies and would love to be able to do that. Being part of the creative team for ‘Kinky Boots’ was one of the most joyous creative experiences I ever had. It was just awe-inspiring to see how the show developed. We started that first meeting sitting around a table and I sang a song. Three years later we created this magical world that transports people every night. When they leave the theater they have a smile on their face and a bounce in their step. What could be more perfect than that?”

CYNDI LAUPER will co-headline with Boy George Friday, May 20, at the Mohegan Sun Arena, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd., Uncasville. Tickets are $39. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. For more information: 860-862-8499, mohegansun.com.