SAN DIEGO — Cyndi Lauper is just eight concerts away from concluding the U.S. leg of her “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour.” But this 71-year-old Grammy, Tony and Emmy Award-winning vocal star is clearly not the retiring type, as she was quick to remind her enthusiastic audience Wednesday night at SDSU’s Viejas Arena.

“I (have been) busy doing a lot of stuff for Broadway,” said Lauper, who has been working since 2016 to transform the hit 1988 rom-com film “Working Girl” into a world premiere musical.

“I’m finishing it,” she continued, “and it’s coming to La Jolla (Playhouse) in the fall (of 2025).”

Lauper flashed her trademark grin.

“You know, they don’t always invite me to those Tony (Award) things,” she said, “because they think I’m a ruffian, which maybe I am!”

Her excitement about “Working Girl” — her second Broadway musical after her 2013 Tony-winner “Kinky Boots” — was palpable. So much so, she spent five minutes discussing it shortly after her concert here began. That is a minute longer than her opening number, the masturbation-celebrating “She Bop,” and two minutes longer than her next selection, “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.”

Lauper also spoke at length about an array of other topics during her 16-song performance, which lasted nearly two hours and served as both a career retrospective and a well-deserved victory lap. Her extended chats illuminated a key part of Lauper’s spunky charm, a quality that has been key to the longevity of her career.

Wednesday’s concert was part of her first arena tour since 1986, the same year her second album, “True Colors,” was released. She was 33 at the time and had already spent more than a decade toiling in various New York cover bands and in Blue Angel, whose 1980 album was all but ignored.

Lauper’s performance touched on both those chapters as she mixed her biggest hits from the 1980s with inspired cover versions of Wanda Jackson’s 1961 rockabilly rave-up, “Funnel of Love,” and the soaring “I’m Gonna Be Strong,” a 1963 chestnut first recorded by the now-deceased Frankie Laine five years before he settled in San Diego.

She introduced “Strong” by saying: “I wanted to grow up and have the same civil liberties as any man, so I sang this song.”

And sing it she did, hitting and sustaining a drama-infused high note at its conclusion that earned her a standing ovation.

Not all of Lauper’s vocals were as strong, and she performed some selections in lower keys than when she recorded them decades ago. But what this plucky New York native has lost in range she makes up for with grit and determination, sounding very much like the seasoned survivor she is.

Lauper’s repertoire on this tour is designed to provide a nonchronological arc of her music. The results demonstrated that her best songs, including “I Drove All Night” and “Who Let in the Rain,” are as fresh and vital as ever. And watching her lead the audience, which included San Diego singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, through call-and-response vocal exchanges on her two most enduring songs — the anthemic “True Colors” and “Time After Time” — was a deeply moving experience.

Other selections, such as “Sisters of Avalon” and the rock-of-the-’80s-flavored “Change of Heart,” have aged less well. But their inclusion underscored the different phases of Lauper’s multi-hued oeuvre, as well as her steadfast tenacity.

“There are a lot of chapters,” said Lauper, whose Grammy-winning 1982 debut solo album, the aptly titled “She’s So Unusual,” catapulted her to stardom.

“I had to learn I’d never be like my peers … If you can have the courage to forge your path, there’s a place for every one of us.”

Messages of hope and unity were a recurring motif in the performance. Lauper also weighed in on recent political developments and the state of our fractured nation, lamenting: “I never thought I’d have to worry about becoming a second-class citizen again.”

While recalling that women could not obtain credit cards in their own name until 1971, she commented: “Not that far away, kids.” Lauper also spoke poignantly about inclusion and acceptance, a point amplified during “True Colors,” which saw her holding a fluttering, rainbow-colored flag over her head.

Later, Lauper referenced her nonprofit, Girls Just Want to Have Fundamental Rights, drawing cheers when she noted that all proceeds from its sale of $15 blue wigs “helps women get safe, legal abortions.”

The show saw her change outfits — and wigs — several times. In one of the most memorable moments, she removed one of her wigs to reveal a dark skull cap covering her close-cropped white hair.

“This is art,” said Lauper, who sometimes seemed like an affable den mother offering homespun advice based on her own hard-won battles.

Accompanied by a well-drilled seven-piece band that included two backing singers, she concluded the concert with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun,” her chart-topping 1983 hit.

“I am so much older than most of you out there!” Lauper said, as she bounced up and down. Her youthful exuberance suggested otherwise.

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