Lady Gaga is marking Christmas Eve with an unexpected gift for fans, the global premiere of Lady Gaga In Harlequin Live: One Night Only, an intimate concert film capturing a singular moment in her evolving career. The performance, filmed at the Belasco Theatre in Los Angeles, strips her presentation back to its musical core and places full attention on the songs, the voice and the space between performer and audience.
The concert film centres on Harlequin, Gaga’s jazz influenced companion album to the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux, in which she starred as DC Comics character Harley Quinn. Rather than serving as a promotional add-on, the film functions as a standalone live document, presenting the album exactly as it was conceived, performed start to finish in a tightly controlled theatre environment.
Recorded during a one-night-only performance at the Belasco in late 2024, the show was staged exclusively for fans and later shaped into a cinematic release. Gaga performs alongside a six-piece band, delivering a set that blends traditional pop standards with original material written in that classic idiom. The camera work remains restrained throughout, keeping focus on the performance rather than spectacle.
Gaga has described the Christmas Eve release as a deliberate choice. Speaking during a public discussion around the project, she framed the timing as fitting for something personal and slightly defiant. By her own description, Christmas offered the right moment to release a project that does not conform to typical industry rhythms, calling it “the perfect time to release something rebellious”.
The performance includes live interpretations of That’s Entertainment, If My Friends Could See Me Now and When The Saints Go Marching In, alongside the original song Happy Mistake. Each song is delivered without embellishment or reinvention, leaning into phrasing, tone and restraint rather than theatrical excess. The result is a concert film that invites full attention, rewarding viewers who sit with it rather than sampling highlights.
Harlequin itself occupies a distinct place within Gaga’s catalogue. While her pop work has defined much of her public image, her connection to jazz and traditional pop stretches back over a decade. That path was most visible through her collaborations with the late Tony Bennett on Cheek To Cheek and Love For Sale, both of which earned Grammy recognition. Harlequin continues that lineage, but for the first time places Gaga alone at the centre of the material, without a partner sharing the spotlight.
The album has already received significant industry acknowledgement, earning a nomination for Best Traditional Pop Album at the upcoming Grammy Awards. The live film reinforces that recognition by presenting the songs in their most direct form. There is no narrative framing, no intercut storytelling and no conceptual overlay. It is simply a concert, documented with care.
The project was executive produced by Gaga alongside Michael Polansky, with creative direction shared between Gaga, Polansky and collaborators Todd Tourso and Mel Roy of mtla.studio. Portions of the film were shot on traditional film stock to preserve the warmth and intimacy of the room, a choice that mirrors the album’s reverence for classic recording traditions.
Harlequin Live: One Night Only premiered publicly at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on December 18, 2025, accompanied by a discussion that treated the film as a finished artistic statement rather than a preview or promotional teaser. That context underscored Gaga’s intention for the project to stand on its own terms.
For fans, particularly those drawn to Gaga’s vocal precision and her work within jazz and traditional pop, the film offers something increasingly rare, a complete live performance presented without interruption. It is not designed to chase viral moments or convert casual listeners. Instead, it assumes an audience already invested in her artistry and rewards that attention with focus and clarity.
The film will premiere globally on Lady Gaga’s official YouTube channel on Christmas Eve, giving fans worldwide front-row access to a performance that was originally experienced by only a few hundred people inside a Los Angeles theatre.
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