MANILOW MAGIC FAN CLUB
- DALLAS
Raves, Rants and Reviews
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/bmanilow50s_p.htm>
About.com
Barry Manilow - Greatest Songs of the Fifties
From Bill Lamb, Your Guide to Top 40 / Pop .
Restrained, Melodious Readings of Classic PopTunes
Guide Rating - 3 1/2 stars! (out of 5)
Barry Manilow has recorded an album similar in approach to Rod Stewart's bestselling set of Great American Songbook albums. However, Manilow is more tightly focused on the 1950's, and he avoids any attempts at cute gimmickry resulting in a straightforward, pleasing, if unspectacular, collection. It will be difficult to avoid singing along. A Worthy Reminder of the Pop Music of the 1950's One of the best aspects of Barry Manilow's exploration of classic songs from the 1950's is that it reminds us all that rock 'n roll was only one part of the pop music of the decade. The 10 years that gave us Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, and Buddy Holly is also the same period that gave us such evergreen tunes as "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing," "Young at Heart," and "Sincerely." Manilow covers a collection of songs that were squarely in the mainstream of pop music 50 years ago. Lacking in Classic Manilow Bombast One of the most frequent criticisms leveled at Barry Manilow's classic hit songs such as "Mandy", "I Write the Songs", and "Even Now" is that they are overwrought, over-produced, and even bombastic in tone. His approach on this album is to reduce the layers of crashing sound in favor of focusing on the melodies present in the songs. Compared with the classic Phil Spector production of "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers, Barry Manilow's version is mellow and introspective.
Top Tracks From the Album
* Unchained Melody
* Love Is a Many Splendored Thing
* Sincerely / Teach Me Tonight
* Are You Lonesome Tonight?
* Young at Heart
Rewarding, Diverting Listening Experience
Although Greatest Songs of the Fifties is unlikely to convert the legions of Barry Manilow skeptics, it is a rewarding album to hear with a number of pleasant surprises. The McGuire Sisters' Phyllis McGuire makes a guest appearance to turn in a solid reading of "Sincerely," a tune made famous by she and her sisters over 50 years ago. Barry Manilow's arrangment of "Are You Lonesome Tonight" drops the sticky sentimentality of Elvis Presley's version in favor of an elegant production reminiscent of Henry Mancini's classic movie themes.
Whether this album will gain new followers or simply satisfy the solid fan following Barry Manilow has maintained over the past 30 years is an open question. However, it is worth noting that the collection Ultimate Manilow debuted at #3 on the album chart just 3 1/2 years ago. Perhaps the world is ready for a bit more Manilow magic.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Mar-04-Fri-2005/weekly/25970337.html
LV Review-Journal
March 4, 2005
SHOW REVIEW: 'Music and Passion'
The 'Passion' of the Manilow: New show doesn't have much to inspire the
mildly curious
By MIKE WEATHERFORD
REVIEW-JOURNAL
Barry Manilow never makes it easy for nonbelievers to decide what they think
about him.
At one point in his new "Manilow: Music and Passion" show at the
Las Vegas Hilton, he emerges on a side stage, decorated as the "Rock
Bottom Bar," in a lime green blazer. This serves to illustrate how
every entertainer starts somewhere, usually in the lounge.
Then he sang an understated, almost a capella rendition of "Somewhere
Down the Road" that came off with taste and sincerity.
But at another point, Manilow sits down at a piano in one of his many normal
jackets to "pull out a ballad." He proceeds to offer a version
of "Weekend in New England" that piles bombast upon bombast, including
an echo chamber to punch up his long, drawn-out note-stretching -- not once,
but twice in the same song: "And tell m-e-e-e-e-e ..."
In other words, something you would expect a lounge lizard in a lime green
blazer to do.
But the opinion of nonbelievers isn't likely to matter much with Manilow's
residency, which will have him in the 1,600-seat theater for 24 weeks over
the next 12 months.
"Music and Passion" isn't a drastic departure for Manilow, nor
does it demand that we reassess him. For better or worse, it feels like
a show from a veteran Las Vegas entertainer that could have been there a
long time already.
While another contentious pop icon, Celine Dion, went to some effort to
broaden the appeal of her Las Vegas show beyond loyalists, this one may
be more like Elvis Presley's final years on the same stage: a necessary
pilgrimage for the devout, but nothing to inspire the mildly curious.
Yes, there is production value. But when Manilow does a "Mandy"
duet with a giant overhead video of his early-'70s self performing on "The
Midnight Special," you realize this isn't "Cirque du Celine"
so much as a semi-private party.
If the past 30 years have done anything to put the powder blue heyday of
Manilow in perspective, they have extracted his showman's instincts from
much of the '70s baggage. His songs were rooted in older traditions than
the sequined disco they blended with, while much of the classic rock that
seemed so anti-Manilow back then had more similarities behind the guitar
chords than we noticed.
While a 90-minute show points out the redundancies in formula ballads such
as "Even Now" and "I Write the Songs," it also brings
out the Brill Building finesse that rounded out the albums, from the show-tuney
"It's A Miracle" and "Daybreak" to the low-key "(Why
Don't You) See the Show Again," which he offered on another side stage
outfitted as a piano bar.
The singer structures the Hilton show as a salute to Las Vegas entertainers.
He teases an original theme song twice before delivering the full-blown
"Here's to Las Vegas," a "Chorus Line"-derivative shout-out
to "Elvis and Sammy, Dean and Jerry and Frank. They're in our hearts."
And at 58, the voice and enthusiasm are as strong as anyone who still worked
Vegas at that age. He's all over that big stage with his four backup singer-dancers
and doesn't even let the grand piano stay in one place, thanks to some kind
of motorized platform.
At one point, "New York City Rhythm" takes a Latin jazz break
while Manilow and his three keyboard players rotate among each other's stations.
At another, he dons one of his many jackets -- this one red -- and pretends
to trade dance licks with dancer Kye Brackett.
If Manilow has the motions of the classic showman down pat, he may also
be too versed in the smarmy patter.
The first couple of quips about people "coming in from all over the
place just to see little ol' me" may be construed as self-effacing.
But after a few more mentions of the Barry Manilow slot machines, or the
Hilton elevators playing "me 24 hours a day," one fears he's just
way too into it.
But maybe you are, too. Both the "remix" overture and the big
"Copacabana" finale -- a thumping house beat taking Manilow and
the singers out over the audience on a riser -- are meant to inform us that
this is a celebration of someone who remains as current today as he was
in 1976.
If you agree, jump out of your seat and join the party. If not, you might
want to skip the confetti and see what other beloved showmen are in town.
A final consumer warning to fans: Have serious doubts about the so-called
premium seating that will put you on risers on the far sides of the stage.
Yes, Manilow sings one song directly to each group when he's doing the piano
bar and "Rock Bottom" bits.
But the first few rows sure seem to be a lot closer to the action for the
rest of it, and the $88 difference from a $165.50 orchestra seat is an awful
lot for one song. Don't be surprised to see these seats sell for a lot less
once the message boards spread the news.
http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2005/MERC-Mar-03-Thu-2005/25963954.html
Las Vegas Mercury - March 3, 2005
Stage: Barry Manilow: Music and Passion Always in fashion: Laugh all you
want. Manilow rocks
By Jessica Kruse
Go ahead and make fun of Barry Manilow. Crack jokes about the man who "writes
the songs." Mention the strange fate that his music frequently meets
as poorly produced elevator fodder. It's nothing new. Manilow has heard
it already. In fact, he likes to joke about it himself when he's onstage.
All jokes aside, though, he must be doing somethin right, since he signed
a yearlong contract with the Las Vegas Hilton for a new show that promises
to be a hit with tourists and locals alike.
Even if you've never been a huge fan of Manilow, Music and Passion is a
top-notch show that spotlights some great musicians and performers. What's
more important is that Manilow's voice is still unbeatable, and his energy,
charm and love of performing are evident as he sings all the old favorites
along with some newer fare, including a tribute to Las Vegas and its performers.
One of the highlights of the show is a duet of sorts, with Manilow performing
"Mandy" while behind him a screen projects a much younger Manilow
performing the same song years ago on the television show "Midnight
Special." There's also a bit that has Manilow and three of his musicians
playing a game of "musical pianos" as they trade positions while
keeping in time with the music.
One slightly odd moment in the 90-minute show is a rap breakdown during
the middle of the crowd favorite, "Copacabana," which appears
to be nothing more than a half-hearted attempt at appealing to a younger
generation of showgoers. Maybe it seemed like a good idea on paper, but
the audience just looked confused.
There are still a few kinks that need ironed out (mainly in the transitions
between songs), but the show runs relatively smoothly, leaving no doubts
the crew will only get better when it has a few more performances under
its belt.
Manilow vowed to retire after his tour last year, and unless he's trying
to top Cher's record for highest number of "last" tours, this
year might be one of the last opportunities to see this musical legend perform.
He may not be making the young girls cry anymore, but he's still writing
the songs.
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117926362?categoryid=1266
Posted: Sun., Feb. 27, 2005, 3:46pm PT
Manilow: Music and Passion
(Hilton Theater, Las Vegas Hilton; 1,700 seats; $253.50 top)
Presented by the Las Vegas Hilton. Opened and reviewed Feb. 24, 2005; runs
through Aug. 13.
Band: Barry Manilow, Ron Walters Jr., Ron Pedley, Joe Melotti, Russ McKinon,
Michael Lent, David Rozenblatt, Ian Martin, George Shelby, Stephen Baxter,
Chris Gray, Monica Pege, Keely Vasquez, Kye Brackett, Melanie Taylor.
By PHIL GALLO
Neither a reinvention nor a reinterpretation of a songbook, Barry Manilow's
sit-down show in Las Vegas is a shortened version of the greatest-hits revue
he shuttered last year with a "final performance" at the Arrowhead
Pond of Anaheim. A few production numbers, a couple of film clips and a
tune saluting Vegas have been added to the routine, but it remains a celebration
of all things Barry, including a big blush over the Hilton's copious promotions.
Yet as greatest hits revues go, Manilow is among the best in the business,
and "Music and Passion" retains the qualities that made him an
amphitheater perennial.
Manilow maximizes his charisma and mellifluous high tenor -- only minimally
changed in the 30 years since "Mandy's" debut -- in "Music
and Passion," which showcases the singer's love of swing, crooners
and Broadway on a level equal to the blockbusters. There is no lavish theatricality
or presentations to make listeners rethink a song, which makes it less ambitious
than the shows of Celine Dion and Elton John down the block.
He does have a few surprises, including "Luck Be a Lady" (the
Sinatra hit from "Guys and Dolls") as an opener, and before night's
end, he pays tribute to Count Basie, funk, lounge acts and Motown. Using
old-school thinking that a performer should have a wide appeal, what could
be more Vegas-y than that?
Opening night's 18-song set -- which is expected to change almost nightly
-- included eight Manilow classics from his 1974-78 heyday, when his bombastic
balladry stood out from the Adult Contemporary wallpaper music of the era.
Even now (pun intended), the show-stopping nature of his hits is played
to the hilt; "Weekend in New England," with a scrim covered in
gray raindrops separating Manilow and his piano from the band, gets a colossal
swell from the band as well as Manilow's voice, which is pushed through
some sort of electronic enhancer that produces the sound of an octet of
Barrys singing. For "Daybreak," he precisely dueted with a live
version filmed in 1975; on "Can't Smile Without You," as he has
for years, he brought up an audience member to sing along with him. (Fortunately,
the victim -- a nurse from Long Island -- had a pleasant voice.)
A high-spirited block in the middle of the set brought together "New
York City Rhythm," Basie's "Jumpin' at the Woodside," the
1975 hit "Bandstand Boogie" and "Dancin' Fool," which
appeared in the musical "Copacabana" he wrote with Bruce Sussman
and Jack Feldman. Segment, which included the four keyboardists playing
musical chairs at their instruments, was a neatly parlayed history of American
dance music, non-sequential, mind you.
Later, he segued from a throbbing "Copacabana" into Prince's "Sexy
M.F." as he sang with his backup dancers on a secondary stage suspended
over the sixth row. It made for a splashy, if not meaningful, moment, as
did their group rendition of Martha and the Vandellas' hit "Dancin'
in the Street," which Manilow sang as if he wanted to take it in a
direction different than where the band was headed.
But both banks of songs reinforced Manilow's motivation in doing the show.
"When I was in the middle of my farewell tour -- and unlike Cher I
meant it -- I looked around at the state of the world and said the world
still needs uplifting music," he said before launching into "Daybreak."
So regardless of how much he changes the act, the key will be to uplift
-- which he does considerably well.
Never mind arguing whether Manilow deserves all this fuss: The statue of
limitations has run out on the debate of Manilow's musical merits. Truth
is, he created an identifiable hit parade, which these days works better
live than on record and is even better when done in this 85-minute setting
rather than the 25-plus song marathons he was known for. His band features
two of his longtime associates -- keyboardist Ron Pedley and guitarist Michael
Lent -- and it is a tight unit, particularly the three-piece horn section.
Manilow is booked to perform 120 shows at the Las Vegas Hilton and he's
doing them five times per week for 20 weeks to start. Top ticket is for
28 seats located on the wings of the stage; orchestra is priced at $165.50.
What's On - The Las Vegas Guide
February 15-28, 2005
Manilow: Music and Passion are always the fashion at the Las Vegas Hilton
by Charles Tatum
Pop superstar Barry Manilow, who starts a lengthy run at the Las Vegas Hilton
Feb. 23, knows that Vegas audiences expect a little more. That's why he's
put his piano on wheels. "The piano rolls," Manilow revealed in
a candid interview with What's On conducted just before the debut of his
new show. "Well, it's Las Vegas, for God's sake. You don't just have
a piano sitting there. It moves!" Manilow will play five shows a week
at the Hilton throughout 2005 and into 2006, joining Celine Dion and Elton
John as superstars with permanent or semi-permanent gigs in Las Vegas. Dion
is the main headliner at Caesars Palace and John usually fills in with his
own lavish production when Dion goes on vacation.
Manilow describes his new production, "Music and Passion," as
one big thank you note to all the people -- the famous and non-so-famous
-- who toiled through the years to make Las Vegas the Entertainment Capital
of the World. "I'm so grateful to the Las Vegas Hilton for this opportunity.
That was the word that kept coming up in my mind when I was putting this
together: the word was 'gratitude,'" Manilow said. "And I didn't
want to just do my show that I do all over the country and just take it
to the Hilton. So I had to figure out, what do I want to say for 90 minutes
to these people who come to see me? And the word 'gratitude' just kept coming
up. Gratitude toward the audiences that are still there after all these
years. And gratitude towards all the people who came before me in Las Vegas,
from all those people who were on the marquees when I was a kid that we
all saw on TV, to all the people who continue to play in the lounges, to
the girls who work in all those big production shows, to the guys who play
until five o'clock in the morning in those bands that are always so great
while people are standing there smoking and talking -- and, of course, the
audience," he said.
Manilow, one of the best-selling recording artists in the world since the
mid-Seventies, is so excited about being in Vegas that he wrote a new song
for the show titled "Here's To Las Vegas." He played it for Las
Vegas Hilton executives and "they flipped out over it," Manilow
said. The opening verse to the song is as follows: "Here's to Las Vegas
/ It's one of a kind / Here's to the smiles all around / Neons are flashin'
'bout Music and Passion / All over town."
As for his many hits -- too numerous to list here -- Manilow said he will
alter the songlist every night to keep the show fresh. "I've got 30
years of material and my band knows all of them," said the singer,
who burst onto the pop scene in 1974 crooning "Mandy." "I
didn't want to be stuck with 90 minutes of the same songs every night, and
so I've invented little sections of this production where I can switch songs
around every night."
Manilow promised that "Music and Passion" will be "a beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful production" -- although it will be very different,
he said, from the Cirque du Soleil-inspired "A New Day..." production
that Caesars Palace built around Dion. Manilow added that he doesn't see
his entry into the Las Vegas entertainment market as triggering any head-to-head
competition with Dion or anyone else. "I actually flew in just to see
her opening night (two years ago), as a matter of fact. She's a friend and
so is Elton. I think there's room for all of us," Manilow said.
One of the best things about setting up shop permanently in Las Vegas, Manilow
noted, is getting to stay in one place for awhile. The Brooklyn-born star,
who played piano for Bette Midler early in his career, recently completed
a grueling 22-city tour in which he performed for a quarter-million fans.
"It saves me from packing every night and going to Boise, Idaho, and
then being late on the plane and then having bad room service in a hotel,"
he quipped.
The notion of the Las Vegas Hilton signing Manilow to a long-term deal was
first proposed by comedian David Brenner, a longtime friend of Manilow who
performs nightly in the Hilton's Shimmer Cabaret. It was Brenner who suggested
to Hilton execs that Manilow might bring to the hotel's main showroom a
level of excitement that hasn't been seen there since Elvis Presley worked
that room from 1969 through 1976. "He's fantastic," Manilow said
of Brenner. "He was the one who got this whole thing started. I'm very
grateful for him. He made the phone call.... I put all the business guys
in touch with each other."
Concerning the ghost of Elvis in the Hilton Theater, Manilow knows all about
it, having worked many times in that showroom in the Eighties. Back then,
Manilow closed performances with his own arrangement of the inspiring Elvis
song "If I Can Dream" -- something he might do again in "Music
and Passion." Manilow said he won't be singing the Elvis classic "Viva
Las Vegas" in his new show ("That's not really me"), but
he will perform a few special Vegas-y numbers, including "Luck Be A
Lady" from the Broadway show "Guys and Dolls."
As for the title of Mr. Las Vegas, Manilow said he's prepared to let Wayne
Newton hold it a while longer. "I don't think I'm really Mr. Las Vegas,
honestly," he said. "I have an opportunity to make music and not
have to be on the road. I would never consider myself Mr. Las Vegas. I just
hope people like the show."
This one's for you, Las Vegas! Don't miss the chance to see Barry Manilow
up close and personal. Show Time: Debuting Feb. 23, Wed.-Fri. at 9 p.m.,
Sat. at 7:30 & 10 p.m.; Showroom: Hilton Theater at Las Vegas Hilton;
Show Price: $85, $115, $145 & $225, 702-732-5755.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Feb-26-Sat-2005/news/25947193.html
LV Review Journal - Feb. 26, 2005
NORM: Manilow basks in the limelight
Barry Manilow's VIP gala opening at the Las Vegas Hilton was a far cry from
his debut here almost 30 years ago.
"I opened for Helen Reddy" at the MGM Grand in 1976, recalled
Manilow, who was coming off his No. 1 "Mandy" and high-flyers
"Could It be Magic" and "It's a Miracle."
A galaxy of stars turned out Thursday for Manilow, whose last lengthy engagement
here was 1988.
Elton John's surprise arrival had the paparazzi in a tizzy.
During the after-party that attracted about 1,000 people, Manilow said he
was deeply grateful that John, the Caesars Palace headliner, braved the
red-carpet scrum, one of the few public appearances John has made since
starting his Las Vegas engagement a year ago.
"Elton John is the Shakespeare of pop music of my generation,"
Manilow told me during his tour of the after-party event.
Manilow had the crowd on its feet for most of the half hour.
The big finish saw a metal platform with glass sideboards and two sets of
stairs lowered from the ceiling, allowing Manilow and his backup singers
to perform "Copacabana" above the capacity crowd of 1,700.
VIP attendees included: Steve and Elaine Wynn with Steve Guttenberg of "Police
Academy" fame; David Brenner and Tai Babilonia (just back from the
25th anniversary of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics); Robert Goulet; Clint
Holmes; Larry Ruvo; Gordie Brown; Lance Burton; Bernie Yuman; Frank Marino;
Mimi Hines (who replaced Barbra Streisand in "Funny Girl" on Broadway);
Kimberly Locke and the Maynard triplets of "American Idol" fame;
Matt Dusk; David Foster; Robin Leach; country singer Shelby Lynne; Jeff
Beacher; Grammy-nominated singer Monica Mancini (daughter of iconic composer
Henry Mancini); Adrian Zmed; Ron Dante, who produced many of Manilow's albums,
including the "Mandy" and "Copacabana" hits; Desmond
Childs, who wrote for KISS; Bon Jovi; Aerosmith; Cher; Ricky Martin; and
songwriting hall of fame composer Marty Panzer, who collaborated on "Even
Now" with Manilow.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Feb-25-Fri-2005/weekly/25913422.html
Las Vegas Review-Journal - Feb. 25, 2005
'Here's to Las Vegas'
'I've never had a bad time here, ever,' Barry Manilow says as he launches
a new show at the Hilton
By MIKE WEATHERFORD
Barry Manilow has been called a lot of things, not all of them nice. But
he ventures to say that "oldies act" isn't one of them.
"Nobody's ever said that about what I do. And yet, I'm doing material
that was created many years ago," the 58-year-old entertainer notes.
"I don't think I've ever been referred to as an oldies act, and frankly,
they should."
Some might chalk that up to the stamina of his hits. Others might credit
the showmanship that continues to sell his grandiose ballads to more than
one generation of ticket-buyers.
Either bodes well for "Manilow: Music and Passion," an exclusive
run at the Las Vegas Hilton that will have the pop icon's fans doing the
traveling if they want to see him in the next 12 months.
In keeping with the new, not fully defined hybrid of theater and concert
in Celine Dion and Elton John's Las Vegas shows, Manilow will offer "the
biggest production I've ever had" for a new window into his old hits.
People who haven't kept up with either Las Vegas or Manilow might assume
this is business as usual; a longtime Las Vegas performer phoning in a greatest-hits
album.
Those who follow him more closely know better. "I think I would have
stopped years ago if I had to do that," the singer said last week during
a break in rehearsals for the show that debuted Wednesday.
And he was ready to stop touring after the tiresome travel and heavy production
costs of summer's "One Night Live! One Last Time!" tour wore him
down. "It was the road that had gotten to me," he says. "After
30 years of living out of suitcases, I just wanted my life back."
The tour was barely over when he got a call from comedian David Brenner,
a longtime friend who became new Hilton owner Colony Capital's first entertainment
commitment in the fall.
"David, I just unpacked," Manilow remembers saying. But he also
recalled seeing Dion's "A New Day ..." opus at Caesars Palace,
and thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if I could continue to make music
and entertain audiences but didn't have to go on the road?"
Now he figures to have both an easy puddle-jump to his home in Palm Springs,
Calif., and the ability to delve back into the theatricality that's long
interested him.
The new show harkens back to the "Swing Street" tour Manilow brought
to the same Hilton stage in 1988. That show included scenery, rear-screen
projections and costumed actors illustrating scenes from the singer's childhood
and early career.
The Hilton is his favorite Las Vegas stage, "because (it) is the size
of a football field. You can throw anything that you want on it. And yet
the house is not enormous," he says of the 1,600-seat theater. "That's
my favorite kind of house to perform to."
The set includes a sprawling bandstand and side stages to represent a piano
bar and comedy club.
"I feel that the songs land more if I can bring them into my experiences
or their experiences instead of saying, `Here's another one of my favorites.'
I've never been able to do that," he says.
"I've always kind of jumped off a cliff and been intimate with these
strangers out there. And they seem to like it. This offers me the opportunity
of actually getting literal now and again."
The new show is not so singly autobiographical. Manilow describes it as
more of a shout-out to Las Vegas entertainers, both the legends and the
unsung heroes of the lounges.
"What I wanted to do was say `thank you' to those talents who came
before me, that got Vegas where it is," he says. "These talents
that I have seen in Vegas, from lounge acts to piano bar players to showgirls,
and all these people (who do) eight shows a night, killing themselves while
people are playing the slot machines."
The premise came to him quickly, he says, like all of his good ideas. "If
I don't get the whole idea in 15 minutes, whether it's the melody for a
song or an idea for a show, I know I'm gonna have problems," he says.
"When this opportunity happened, I woke up one morning with the entire
show written."
The structure isn't so formal that he expects all audiences to pick up on
it. At least not until he gets to a new song called "Here's to Las
Vegas," which he self-financed to record with a 50-piece orchestra.
"It kind of snowballed into this tip of the hat to everybody that kills
themselves here in the music business."
Manilow himself didn't play Las Vegas until he had made it out of the piano
bars. He was three albums into a solo career -- spun from his work as musical
director for Bette Midler -- when he first played Las Vegas as Helen Reddy's
MGM Grand opening act in January 1976.
"I've never had a bad time here, ever. I've never had a bad show,"
he says. "I've always been warned that the audiences here would be
cold, that they would be out-of-towners who just came to check out the names
on the marquee (and) not as excited as the usual audiences.
"But I have never, even since the Helen Reddy days, never felt that.
They have always been very enthusiastic, very generous, very kind."
Manilow doesn't want his new show to be so produced that it doesn't leave
room to switch out songs from night to night. And he wants it to go beyond
"the handful of songs people have come to see" to include more
recent works from a 2001 concept album, "Here At the Mayflower,"
and jazz collaborations with Diane Schuur.
And he says he is always updating the arrangements, using the knack he always
had to make the songs he didn't write ("I Write the Songs," "Mandy")
fit the signature sound of those he did ("It's A Miracle," "This
One's For You").
"They call me the king of recycling," he says. "I've figured
out a way to continue to keep making these songs fresh for myself without
hurting the integrity of it for the audience. That's the trick ... I just
won't let it get stale."
Manilow wonders if some of the "young beautiful people" he's spotting
in his audiences are responding to the lost art of songcraft.
"I'm guilty of it myself, now and again, because I know how to work
those computers," he says. "I go to the computer and open up the
sequence and come up with a groove and some chords and I maybe even come
up with a melody.
"And then I go to the piano and try to play it. And it's not a song.
It's a great groove and could be a great-sounding record, but try to play
those things on your guitar... That kind of thing can't last."
But by all signs, the man at the piano for 24 weeks at the Hilton sure can.
http://www.broadway.com/template_1.asp?CT=8
Broadway.com - Sept. 21, 2004
CDs: Harmony at the Copacabana
by Ken Mandelbaum
MANILOW SCORES (Concord)
Barry Manilow's latest album features the pop giant performing seven songs
from each of his two major musical-theatre efforts to date. (There's nothing
from an obscure Manilow musical, an adaptation of the old melodrama The
Drunkard that received an early-'80s A&E telecast starring Tom Bosley.)
In 1978, "Copacabana" was a hit song for composer Manilow and
lyricists Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman. The song became the basis for
a 1985 CBS made-for-television movie musical, also called Copacabana, and
starring Manilow himself as an aspiring songwriter in the 1940s who falls
for a singer named Lola.
The screenplay was by James Lipton. In addition to the title number, the
TV film included such new songs as "Sweet Heaven" and "Who
Needs to Dream?" An homage to movie musicals of the '40s, Copacabana
is available on an Image Entertainment DVD.
After a test run in Atlantic City, Copacabana became a full-fledged stage
musical at London's Prince of Wales Theatre in 1994. Starring Gary Wilmot
and later Darren Day, the stage version included a new framework in which
a contemporary songwriter is composing the title number, which then unfolds
as the Tony-Lola story of the '40s. For the London Copacabana, Manilow,
Sussman, and Feldman added about eight new songs, the best of them Lola's
introductory declaration, "Just Arrived."
The London Copacabana survived for more than a year. In the 2000-2001 season,
there was a U.S. touring version, directed by David Warren and choreographed
by Wayne Cilento, with Franc D'Ambrosio and Darcie Roberts in the leads.
In 1999, a one-hour version of Copacabana was featured on Holland America
cruiseships. A new U.K. tour went out in 2003, and the show has also had
several international productions.
With book and lyrics by Sussman, Manilow's musical Harmony concerns the
Comedian Harmonists, the popular German vocal act that was torn apart by
the rise of the Nazis. (The Harmonists have also been the subject of a good
German film as well as the disastrous Broadway documusical Band in Berlin.)
Manilow's Harmony had its world premiere in 1997 at the La Jolla Playhouse,
with Danny Burstein, Rebecca Luker, Patrick Wilson, and Janet Metz among
the company, directed by Warren.
Harmony was a far more serious attempt at musical theatre than the kitschy
Copacabana, and Harmony has been announced for Broadway ever since La Jolla.
It came close in 2003, when a pre-Broadway mounting in Philadelphia was
shut down in rehearsal for lack of funds, with the authors thereafter reclaiming
rights to the show.
Copacabana got a full-length London cast recording, so the seven Copacabana
songs featured on Manilow Scores are familiar. They remain tuneful, lightweight,
show-biz-pop confections, from the lush ballad "Who Needs to Dream?"
to the snappy "Just Arrived" and the strutting "Sweet Heaven."
"This Can't Be Real" is performed here as a duet by Manilow and
Olivia Newton-John, and the Copacabana set concludes with a new dance-mix
version of the title song.
Of the Harmony tracks, the only number not heard in the La Jolla production
is "And What Do You See?" Because the elaborate orchestral and
vocal arrangements in which the Harmony songs are heard here lean toward
pop, these numbers may sound less theatrical than they would in the actual
production. Still, there's the infectious title tune; the dramatic ballad
"Every Single Day"; a haunting "Where You Go"; an attractive
"In This World"; the driving "This Is Our Time"; and
a stirring finale, "Stars in the Night."
Manilow's vocals are expectedly solid throughout this enjoyable program.
Note: Any news posted on this site is credited to the original source.
|
|
|
HOME | NEWS | PAST NEWS | HARMONY | BOOKS | PHOTOS | REVIEWS | MEMBERSHIP