Toni Braxton, shown during rehearsal, says the choreography is the hardest thing to learn in "Revealed," her first real commitment to live performing since the birth of her two sons. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Toni Braxton's new Las Vegas show is called "Revealed." But these days, any public nudity is purely accidental.

Before she became a mother, the singer says her attitude was, "I'm not afraid to go sexy and bare it all." Many of her old videos, publicity photos and album covers will back her up on that.

"Afraid" is still the wrong word, she says, "but I'm cautious because I have a family, I have kids. I understand now that my actions will affect my children. So I'm cautious of that."

Still, accidents do happen. Sometimes twice in a row. In June, Braxton was in Germany performing the World Cup theme song, "The Time of Our Lives," with the operatic group Il Divo.

The performance came with pyrotechnics, "so we had to have fans to blow (the smoke) back. My dress blew completely up, but not Marilyn Monroe style. I had this thong thing on that was inside the dress, so it was like, booty everywhere. Not a good look."

The next day, she was walking away from a performance -- but not yet out of view of paparazzi lenses -- when an assistant stepped on the back of her long, low-cut gown, causing it to pull down in front "so you see all the family goodies. The cousins just pop out like that."

"In the past I wouldn't have cared about those things, but now I have kids."

Family life is Braxton's motivation for pursuing her new, open-ended run at the Flamingo. The idea of living in Las Vegas and working on the Strip was talked up by another working mom, Celine Dion.

But her husband and two sons also are the reason the show's title, "Revealed," doesn't mean what you think it might mean.

"I think the part of me that (fans) know is the part before I got married and had kids," she says. "So I think that part now of who I am, they may not know. So I'm going to reveal that part."

But fear not, gents. The show contains nine costume changes, and some of them are, well, revealing.

"I still want the show to be sexy. I'm trying to be married for 50 years; I still want to keep it sexy for my husband," she says of musician Keri Lewis, whom she married in 2001.

The 39-year-old singer doesn't want people to say "She's older, she has kids, the sex appeal's gone."

"No, you can still be sexy. I think that part is still important. That shows confidence to me. Especially as a woman, sometimes when you have kids you get uncomfortable with being sexy. I think it has to be placed differently is all."

Braxton's pregnancy with her first son -- Denim, now 4 -- conflicted with the promotional schedule and tour plans for her "More Than a Woman" album in 2002. Resulting conflicts led to her leaving Arista, the label that made her a star with her 1993 debut album and its 12 million-selling followup, "Secrets," three years later.

Her most recent album, "Libra," was underpromoted and a weak seller in 2005. During a rehearsal break last week, Braxton didn't delve into any rehashing of those music industry battles, and -- perhaps because of them -- seemed much more excited about her return to live performing.

Excited, yes. However, "I have to say it over and over again, I am a little nervous."

She did a short tour earlier this year as a tuneup, but "You can't do what you do on tour in Vegas. You've got to step it up a whole bunch."

Director Andrew Logan was brought in to work with the singer and five female dancers, adding as much production value as possible for the Flamingo's cozy, retro showroom.

"I think people are going to be surprised by what she's doing. We're giving them the unexpected," Logan says. The goal is to add "big costumes and big choreography, but not overwhelm her and what she does as an artist."

"People know a lot more of her music than they even think they know," he adds. Her hits, from "Breathe Again" to "Un-Break My Heart" are "sort of a soundtrack for a generation of people."

Still, Braxton is not a big fan of her own dancing skills, and says she and Logan sometimes come to some friendly head-butting in rehearsals. "He wants, of course, more of an elaborate production and I want more (just) lights and a mic. ... We've toned down some of the choreography. Just making it so it's comfortable, that's the hardest part, I would say."

Braxton previously stretched her wings with Broadway stints in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" in 1998 and the Elton John musical "Aida" in 2003. But during the latter show, chest pains and shortness of breath led to her being diagnosed with pericarditis, an inflammation of the protective lining around the heart. "I instantly thought of (the movie tear-jerker) 'Beaches'!'' she recalls with a laugh.

The good news is that it was caught in time to avoid a surgical procedure, and since then, she basically has been forced "to keep my heart healthy." With the new venture, "I find I'm not out of breath a lot. It was easier for me to get fit for the show."

And it doesn't sound like the singer will be concerned about cigarette smoke, late-night partying or other vices that ensnare Las Vegas-based entertainers.

She's happy the show starts at 7:30 p.m. so she has a decent shot at beating it out the back door and getting home -- to a leased house in Southern Highlands -- in time to put her two boys to bed.

"I'm a very involved mom," she says. "I don't want my kids calling a nanny 'Mommy.' I could not take it. I'm selfish that way."