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| July 31, 2008 | Crosby Herald | Can't Smile Without You, featuring the songs of Barry Manilow, comes to the Liverpool Empire from September 15-20" by Kathryn Carr |
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| Fans of singing sensation Barry Manilow are in for a treat this September as Bill Kenwright brings brand the show Can't Smile Without You to the Liverpool Empire. Running from September 15-20, Can't Smile Without You is a new musical love story featuring all the timeless hits from Barry Manilow. It tells the tale of an aspiring young band on a visit to New York who come across an opportunity not to be missed: Auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop music sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their unconditional blessing. But before Tony can realise his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leave him fighting for his life. Left with no memory, his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy... Barry Manilow, one of the most successful music artists of all time, has sold more than 75 million records worldwide and at the height of his success had five albums on the best-seller charts in the US. This new musical, fully endorsed by Barry Manilow and his music executive Garry Kief, includes more than 30 of Barry's hit songs including "Could it be Magic," "It's a Miracle," "I Write the Songs," "Mandy," "I Made it through the Rain," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" and of, course, "Can't Smile Without You," as well as many more. Tickets range from £8.50 – £30.50. For more information call the box office on 0844 847 2525 or visit www.LiverpoolEmpire.org.uk |
| July 24, 2008 | Liverpool Daily Post | "Manilow's music celebrated on stage" by Emma Pinch |
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| Theatre impresario Bill Kenwright is to bring his new musical based on the life of Barry Manilow to the Liverpool stage. Can't Smile Without You will feature more than 30 hits from the lengthy back catalogue of the Copacabana singer set to a musical love story, which, though not based on his life, comes with his endorsement. Running from September 15-20, 2008, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday, 2.30pm matinee, at the Empire, Can't Smile Without You tells the story of a young band whose lead singer, Tony, is offered the chance to star in a new TV show to find the next pop music sensation when they visit New York. But before Tony can realise his dream, he is caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life, with no memory and his dreams in tatters. His only hope lies in the power of music and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy. Hit songs featured include "Could it be Magic," "It's a Miracle," "I Write the Songs," "Mandy," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again," as well as "Can't Smile Without You."
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| July 19, 2008 | The Desert Sun | "Barry Manilow special gets Emmy nod" by Bruce Fessier |
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| Barry Manilow's PBS television special, "Barry Manilow: Songs From The Seventies," received an Emmy nomination earlier this week for Outstanding Music Direction. But Manilow said the credit belongs to his music director. "I just want to say how proud I am of Ron Walters that he got the nod," Manilow said in a statement from a publicist. Manilow, whose primary residence is in Palm Springs, is staying at his Malibu home while recording his latest greatest hits album focusing on the 1980s. A report in the Globe newspaper said he was ill and weighing just 100 pounds, but publicist Stephenie Hope denied that. She called to get Manilow's reaction to the Emmy nomination Friday, and, upon asking how he was, she said he jokingly replied, "Didn't you hear? I'm dying!" Actually, he's also rehearsing his new Las Vegas show, planning an arena show and enjoying the beach, Hope said. "Granted, he's pretty trim," she said. "But 100 pounds? Give us a break. Even Mary Kate and Ashley weigh more than 100 pounds. And no, he's not ill." Manilow won an Emmy in 2006 for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for his PBS special "Barry Manilow: Music and Passion." |
| July 11, 2008 | The Desert Sun | "Secrets Out: Even Hellboy loves Palm Springs' own Barry Manilow" by Bruce Fessier |
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| Palm Springs resident Barry Manilow has to be all smiles. His 1978 hit, "Can't Smile Without You" is creating a sensation in Guillermo del Toro's latest film, "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army," which opened Friday. Film critic Peter Hartlaub says the film's soundtrack, featuring music ranging from Manilow to Vivaldi, contributes to its "hip retro charm." Even del Toro has been telling reporters his favorite scene is when Hellboy, played by Ron Perlman, sings "Can't Smile Without You." "I think everybody is a secret admirer of Barry Manilow," del Toro recently told MTV. "When I was kid I used to be fully into punk; you know, the Sex Pistols, the Ramones - and/or progressive rock - Peter Gabriel, Genesis, Pink Floyd. But secretly, at the end of the day, the cassette that went into my car was 'Mandy.'" Manilow's publicist, Carol Marshall, says Manilow often has songs placed in movies. But this one is getting unusual attention. "It is generating a lot of buzz," said Marshall, "but, it seems like anything about Barry generates a lot of buzz." Just last month, Janet Jackson admitted she had such a childhood crush on Manilow, saying, "I used to kiss the screen when he would come on TV." "A lot of people picked that up," said Marshall. "Every day was like, 'Janet Jackson! Janet Jackson!'" "Can't Smile Without You" is creating an even bigger buzz in Great Britain. A new musical by that name is previewing Aug. 28 in Kent featuring 30 Manilow hits. It begins a tour of England Sept. 15 in Liverpool. A reporter for The Mail of London recently interviewed Manilow at Hotel Zoso in Palm Springs for a rare story in which the singer discussed his personal life. Manilow says in the piece, which ran Tuesday, that his mother and step-father had problems with alcoholism. "I got through because of the music," he's quoted as saying, "but it wasn't a fun time and I really feel for young kids raised by alcoholics. I made a decision not to go that way myself." Manilow will go back into the recording studios next week to begin work on his fourth "decade" album for Clive Davis. This one will sample the greatest hits of the 1980s. His "Greatest Hits of the Fifties" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 2006. |
| July 10, 2008 | Top 40 Charts | Barry Manilow Adds To O2 Arena Dates In London Due To Popular Response |
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| Due to an overwhelming response to his non-stop hit-filled concert, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits...and then some," Barry Manilow has extended his previously announced appearance at London's O2 Arena on 4th and 6th December by adding a third show on Sunday 7th December. Tickets go on sale Sunday 13th July at 9 am through Ticketline at http://www.ticketline.co.uk, O2 Arena at http://www.theo2.co.uk, Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk, or See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com.
Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, reported that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," reported Miller, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will offer a larger-than-life experience, providing the audience with a truly unique evening of songs and memories! Manilow has been touted in Las Vegas as "one of the most popular singers in America" (NY Times), and is "among the best in the business" (Variety), with the Las Vegas Review-Journal urging concert-goers to "jump out of your seat and join the party!" The show Manilow will bring to London will be tailor-made for his beloved British fans. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK." Manilow says, "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" With worldwide record sales exceeding 75 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors and the distinction of being a powerful and commanding performer. Last year, Manilow released his 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which became his third top-selling album in the span of two years. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny - and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. Proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine "The Showman of Our Generation," Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, his career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as "Even Now," "This One's for You," "Weekend in New England," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)." In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously - a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Industry charts rank him the undisputed Number One Adult Contemporary Artist of All Time. Concertgoers will have a chance to enter a contest to win a wild weekend in Vegas to see "Manilow: Music and Passion," which continues at the Las Vegas Hilton throughout 2009. |
| July 3, 2008 | Mail On Sunday - You Magazine | "Barry Manilow: why we still love the King of Kitsch" by Lina Das |
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| With a career spanning four decades and sales of 80 million albums, there are few artists who can match Barry Manilow's megastar status. As The Mail on Sunday prepares to give away a brilliant 12-track CD of some of his greatest songs, we meet the legend who is attracting a whole new generation of "fanilows." It's a swelteringly hot day in Palm Springs, California, and guests at the luxury Hotel Zoso are quietly wilting into their cappuccinos when Barry Manilow strides in looking cool and crisp in a black shirt, grey trousers and black shoes buffed to a T. He's slim as a whippet, his trademark blond hair is bristling with energy and, at 65, he has the zest of a man half his age. He is just back from a series of sellout dates in Canada, where, instead of the aging audience you might expect, he was amazed by the "young, vibrant" reception he got. "Every year I think to myself, this is it, it's all going to stop. But," he shrugs, looking incredulous, "it just keeps going." It does indeed. In December, Manilow will be playing two dates at London's O2 arena. His songs have been covered by the likes of Take That and Westlife, and though the critics have been savage at times, frankly, what do they know? Sinatra, who knew a thing or two about a good tune, heard Manilow sing back in the 70s and declared, "He's next." Bob Dylan cornered him at a party in the '80s when the critics were being particularly ferocious, and implored Manilow, "Don't stop what you're doing, man. We're all inspired by you." And now the man we love to call King of Kitsch is winning a whole new generation of fans through shows such as American Idol, on which he has made guest appearances to coach the contestants. Two years ago, he made headlines when his new album debuted at number one in the US charts. It would have been labelled a comeback but for the simple fact that Manilow had never actually gone away. And it forced even his harshest critics to concede that the man who had sold almost 80 million records worldwide was worthy of legend status. As legends go, though, Manilow is surprisingly modest. "I come from nowhere and since none of my family or friends had a career in this business, I never took any success I had for granted," he says. "I was just happy being a musician and was hoping to get out of the poverty [he grew up in Brooklyn, the son of Russian immigrants]. I never cared about having hits or money or fame – I just wanted to do what I wanted to do." Certainly no one could accuse Manilow of not singing from his heart. He was the inventor of the power ballad, and the last decade in particular has seen him accorded due respect for his writing talents in his native America. His fan club is thought to be the largest in the world. And it is really only in Britain that he has suffered both from juvenile cracks about his famously beaky nose ("No, that doesn’t bother me at all") and from the perception that his fan base consists almost entirely of females of the screaming persuasion. His most ardent followers have been dubbed "fanilows," but Manilow shudders at the expression. "I don't like the word fan. The people who come to see me are loyal and some of them come to so many shows that they feel like friends now." An intensely private man normally, Manilow has always preferred to let his music rather than his personal life do the talking. Music, he says, provided him with a means of communication and an escape from the difficulties of his upbringing. Born Barry Alan Pincus (Manilow is his mother’s maiden name), he experienced poverty and abandonment in his formative years. The only child of Harold and Edna, who divorced when he was two, he rarely got to see his father. Instead, he and his mother shared their household with Edna's parents, Esther and Joseph. "My mother worked as a secretary, supporting the family, and my grandparents worked in a hat factory. It was a struggle at times. My playgrounds were alleys lined with rubbish bins. But I knew there was a better life out there. And what I had in abundance while I was growing up was love, and that can really take you far. Whatever I did, I was told I was great. My family were like, "Oh my God, he blew his nose! Isn't he amazing?" And when you're told you're great as a child, you believe it. Because of that I've never felt like a failure." His grandparents encouraged him to take up the accordion, and when he started singing tunes for his family, they soon realised they had a huge talent on their hands. "My whole family knew I was musical," he says. "They were unsophisticated and didn't know anything about the music business, but they never stopped encouraging me." A huge turning point came when Barry was 13 and his mother married for the second time. Her new husband, Willie Murphy, "was a truck driver for a beer company – quite a tough, scary guy for a boy who'd been raised largely by women up until then. Had I missed my father? Well, I didn't know the difference at that age because it seemed so normal to me and I was just this happy little moron doing his own thing. But then [Willie] came along; he was the first real father figure I had. He had great taste in music and his stack of albums was like a stack of gold to me. Albums by Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Sinatra – that was like a real epiphany. He also threw out my accordion and got me a piano, and that, basically, changed my life." By 15, Barry had started writing his own music and had formed a jazz band. "I knew I was good at music, and I loved it, and to be young and to know what you want to do with your life is a great thing." Around this time, however, Barry's home life began to suffer. His mother and stepfather had begun drinking heavily and, says Manilow, "they both had problems with alcoholism. I was older by then and able to deal with it, but it does affect you. You spend your life looking over your shoulder, wondering what's going to happen next. I got through because of the music, but it wasn't a fun time and I really feel for young kids raised by alcoholics. I made a decision not to go that way myself." Though his mother died in 1994, his stepfather is in his 80s and very much alive "and he still has the most incredible musical taste." Manilow had no contact with his birth father when he was growing up, although when Barry had become famous, Harold turned up to visit his son backstage. "I was pretty stunned to see him," says Manilow. "My girlfriend at the time, Linda [Allen, a TV production assistant], was blubbing at the reunion, but to tell you the truth, I felt so distant from the entire subject and from him that I was more of an observer to the scene. Willie was the father figure in my life and we're still in touch; he changed my life." After leaving home, Manilow studied at the New York College of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, working in the CBS TV network's post room to pay for his tuition. He began his career as a commercial jingle writer, also singing on adverts for KFC and Pepsi. In 1971 he met Bette Midler and went on to become her pianist and music director; at Midler’s insistence, he helped produce her first two albums. In 1973, at the age of 30, he recorded his debut album, simply called Barry Manilow, and when the label he was signed to was taken over by Arista Records, its founder, the renowned impresario Clive Davis, insisted on keeping Manilow. It was Davis who became Barry's mentor and who gave him his big break by insisting he record a song that Manilow was initially reluctant to sing because he hadn't written it himself. That song – "Mandy" – went on to become his first number one, and he then enjoyed a string of hits through the 70s and the early 80s, including "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana." Success, though, brought pressures of its own. As he says, "You can get books on grief and self-help, but there aren't any books on how to handle success. Generally, you get it when you're quite young, and you get it quickly, and that's a difficult combination. After 'Mandy' came out, I fell into the trap of thinking I was so great," he says. "About three or four years into my success, I looked around and realised that I didn't have any friends left. Everyone around me I was paying, and they were "yes-sing" me to death. So I started calling up all my old friends and pulled myself together, because I wanted a real life. But it's so tempting to give in to the success, and maybe that's what we're seeing with Amy Winehouse and Britney Spears. It's hard because when you become successful the people around you are too scared of losing their jobs to say no to you; I've been there and I know that you have to want a real life and be firm about getting it." With a Grammy, an Emmy and a Tony to his name, there seems little left for the man to achieve. His songs are his "babies" although real babies seem to have eluded him ("Having children just doesn't seem to have been on the cards for me"). His marriage to childhood sweetheart Susan Deixler was annulled in the '60s after less than two years, and since then he has remained tight-lipped about his private life. His relationship with Linda Allen lasted for more than two decades, but they have since split. "We're still friends. I'm a bachelor, but I'm having fun," he says. To echo the words he sang, he writes the songs that make the whole world sing. And if that continues, millions of fans won't be complaining. |
| June 12, 2008 | Press Release
(Source: Barry Manilow) | Manilow Returns to the UK: Tickets for Exclusive Appearance at the O2 Arena Go On Sale Saturday, June 14 |
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| LOS ANGELES, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Barry Manilow, a true legend of our time, finally returns to the UK with his non-stop hit-filled concert, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some," December 4 and 6, 2008 at the O2 Arena. Tickets go on sale Saturday, June 14 at 9 am through Ticketline at http://www.ticketline.co.uk, O2 Arena at http://www.theo2.co.uk, Ticketmaster at http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk, or See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com. After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will offer a larger-than-life experience, providing the audience with a truly unique evening of songs and memories! Manilow has been touted in Las Vegas as "one of the most popular singers in America" (NY Times), and is "among the best in the business" (Variety), with the Las Vegas Review-Journal urging concert-goers to "jump out of your seat and join the party!" The show Manilow will bring to London will be tailor-made for his beloved British fans. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK," Manilow says. "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, reported that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," reported Miller, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." With worldwide record sales exceeding 75 million, his work as a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer has earned Barry Manilow the highest honors and the distinction of being a powerful and commanding performer. Last year, Manilow released his 60th album of his career, The Greatest Songs of the Seventies, which became his third top-selling album in the span of two years. Billboard Magazine recently stated: "Among the few things one can count on in life: the taste of McDonald's cheeseburgers, 'I Love Lucy' reruns are still funny -- and Barry Manilow never wearing out his welcome at the top of the charts." The pop icon has written hundreds of songs and performed around the globe thrilling millions of fans, winning a Grammy, two Emmys, several Tony Awards and an Oscar nomination along the way. Proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine "The Showman of Our Generation," Manilow's unparalleled career encompasses virtually every arena of music, including performing, composing, arranging, and producing. A Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, his career includes 25 consecutive Top 40 hits such as Even Now, This One's for You, Weekend in New England, I Write the Songs, Tryin' to Get the Feeling Again and Copacabana (At the Copa). In 1978, five of Manilow's albums were on the charts simultaneously -- a record rivaled only by Frank Sinatra and Johnny Mathis. Industry charts rank him the undisputed Number One Adult Contemporary Artist of All Time. Concertgoers will have a chance to enter a contest to win a wild weekend in Vegas to see "Manilow: Music and Passion," which continues at the Las Vegas Hilton throughout 2009. |
| June 13, 2008 | Undercover.com | "Barry Manilow Is Leaving Las Vegas For London" by Paul Cashmere |
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| Barry Manilow is getting out of Vegas to take his 'Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" tour to the UK. Manilow will perform at London's O2 Arena on December 4 and 6. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years. There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK," Manilow says. "I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" Barry Manilow has had a residency at the Las Vegas Hilton since 2005. Tickets go on sale Saturday. |
| June 15, 2008 | TVNZ.co.nz | Barry Manilow: Music and Passion |
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| Barry Manilow's residency at the Las Vegas Hilton has been constantly sold out since it began in February 2005 and received a stream of rave reviews. Barry Manilow: Music and Passion is a multi-faceted musical show that features contemporary hi-tech music and effects intermingled with the classic entertainment values of Las Vegas legends like Sinatra and Presley. Starring Manilow and a cast of 14, Music and Passion offers not only a full-scale production but also the intimacy of a state-of-the-art 1700-seat theatre and unique onstage seating. Featuring all the hits like "Copacabana," "Mandy," "Even Now," and "Weekend in New England," as well as songs from his album "The Greatest Songs Of the Fifties," Music and Passion is really the story of Barry Manilow's life told through performance.
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| June 12, 2008 | Ticket News | "Barry Manilow tour heads to the UK" by Bob Grossweiner & Jane Cohen |
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| Barry Manilow will perform at the O2 Arena in London, England on December 4 and 6 with tickets going on sale June 14. After hundreds of sold out performances at The Las Vegas Hilton in since opening in 2005, "Ultimate Manilow: The Hits ... and then some" will finally make it across the Atlantic Ocean. Danny Betesh and Andrew Miller, Manilow's UK concert promoters since 1978, report that they have never experienced such demand. "It's impossible to make an outgoing call," Miller said in a statement, "as my telephone has yet to stop ringing from friends calling for tickets." Manilow will bring a new, tailor-made show to England. "The British public and I have had a long standing love affair for over 30 years," added Manilow. "There is no audience for me like the people who party with me at a concert in the UK. I am creating a show that I can only do in Britain. If I tried to do the show I'm putting together for the December concerts anywhere else in the world, the audiences would think I was nuts! But my British fans and I know better. We'll have a ball!" |
| June 12, 2008 | Event Ticket Report | Barry Manilow Makes Waves Across The Atlantic |
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| In only two days tickets to see Barry Manilow's live performance at the O2 Arena in London, England will go on sale to the public. Manilow’s UK concert promoters since 1978 expect a greater demand than they’ve ever experienced before. Manilow is best known for such recordings as "I Write the Songs," "Weekend in New England," "Copacabana," and "Mandy." In the course of his career, Manilow has sold over 76 million records worldwide and at one point, five of his albums were on the best-selling charts at the same time. For the past few years, Manilow has been headlining hundreds of shows at the Las Vegas Hilton. Now, he will finally make his way across the Atlantic to the delight of many European fans. Manilow has two scheduled performances at the O2 Arena, one on December 4th and the second on December 6th. For more ticketing information, visit Manilow’s website at http://www.manilow.com. |
| June 7, 2008 | CANOE--Jam! Music | "Concert Review: Barry Manilow in T.O." by Jane Stevenson |
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| Manilow mania hit the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night as Barry Manilow brought his Sin City show - An Evening Of Music And Passion - to Toronto for the first time since he began his regular gig of the same name at the Las Vegas Hilton three years ago after releasing three consecutive hit albums of '50s, '60s and '70s covers. "I'm Celine Dion," he joked about the Quebec songbird who recently wrapped up her five-year stint at Ceasars Palace. "Looks like we made it!" added Manilow, 64, whose perma-tan, streaked, spikey blond hair and sharp black suit accented by sequined black tie and fuschia pocket puff and matching lining screamed Vegas showman. "It's been a long time. (July 4, 1997, at Kingswood as a fan reminded him). We've got music, you've got the passion!" he said addressing the "Fan-ilows" who screamed and waved green glow sticks. The Brooklyn-born Manilow, whose began as jingle writer, theatre composer and piano player for hire in the '60s before striking big in the '70s with his first No. 1 hit "Mandy," is nothing if not audience friendly. And he's still in strong voice. A mere 15-minutes into his 95-minute show, he took a tiny lift down to the floor to pluck a female out of the front row and slow dance with her on stage during "Ready To Take A Chance Again." "That was romantic," he said afterwards. "That's what's known as foreplay. This is the main course," he said when his piano magically appeared on stage and he launched into "Weekend In New England" on a platform that raised him up and down again as the song reached its climax. He also made sure to make eye contact and deployed dramatic arm gestures during such songs as "It's A Miracle," "Daybreak," "Bandstand Boogie," and told personal stories like the one about his grandfather taking him across the bridge from Brooklyn to Times Square to a "record your own voice booth" during "I Made It Through The Rain." He even played a snippet of that recording and showed a picture of his grandfather who was the first to stand up when he played Carnagie Hall, just down the street from that booth, prompting the entire audience that night to give him a standing ovation. Aiding Manilow in his quest to entertain was a 10-piece band including four singers-dancers and an orchestra seated behind him on a tiered stage dominated by a lit-up backdrop that showed off video, vintage pictures and footage. [His] tribute to the '60s - he's currently working on a '80s covers album - saw him sitting on a stool on an orange shag carpet beside a lava lamp going through his old record collection and smoking a "funny cigarette," before breaking into a medley that included "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," "Where Did Our Love Go," and "What The World Needs Now Is Love." Say what you will about the schmaltz-factor that such ballads as "Even Now," "Somewhere Down The Road," "Old Friends," "Forever And A Day" evoke, but Manilow has written some major heavy hitters over the last four decades and apparently had famous fans ranging from Frank Sinatra to Bob Dylan. Other highlights on Saturday night included "Could It Be Magic," which he explained what a rip-off of a Chopin prelude; "Mandy," which was preceded by a 1975 clip of him performing it on The Midnight Special and segued to him rising from beneath the floor behind a white piano in a white blazer; and "I Write The Songs" that prompted the first real crowd singalong followed by "Copacabana (At The Copa)" complete with his singer-dancers dressed as Vegas showgirls and a confetti and streamer explosion. |
| June 4, 2008 | Canadian Jewish News | "Barry Manilow on tour for the first time in years" by Marvin Glassman |
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| When singer/songwriter Barry Manilow comes to the Bell Centre in Montreal June 5 as part of his first Canadian tour in 15 years, many of his fans will consider it a miracle (to paraphrase a Manilow hit song) that the 1970s chart-topper has ventured outside Las Vegas to perform at all. "When I agreed to perform in Las Vegas in 2000, I thought I said goodbye forever to touring," said Manilow in a telephone interview. "I loved the audiences, but hated the long journeys by plane and staying in hotels. But I missed seeing fans in Canada and elsewhere, so I agreed to do a series of one-night arena shows, which will be a little longer than the Vegas shows. Our show will have all the spectacular highlights of the Music and Passion shows that I do in Vegas," he said. Those who go to hear him will be impressed that Manilow, who turns 65 on June 17, still has an impeccable voice that resonates with emotion. And audiences at his arena shows thus far are so familiar with Manilow's 25 top 40 songs from the 1970s, including "Copacabana," "I Write The Songs" and "Weekend In New England," that many sang along with him. Manilow, who has sold more than 75 million records, loves sentiment and nostalgia. A highlight of the concerts will therefore be Manilow recalling his love for his late grandfather, Joseph Manilow, while singing "I Made It Through The Rain." "Grandpa coaxed me to sing Happy Birthday to my cousin in a Manhattan record-your-voice store when I was a toddler, and I wouldn't sing until years later. When I became a star in 1974, Grandpa gave me my first standing ovation and I was so nervous – but I knew that he was proud to see me at Carnegie Hall. How proud he was of seeing his grandson's star just blocks from the old record-your-voice studio," Manilow said. Manilow's willingness to share his emotional vulnerability is what makes him so endearing. Despite being a multimillionaire, he has never forgotten his humble roots, knowing there would have been no career without Grandpa and others in his life. His grandfather was the dominant male figure in the young Barry's life. Manilow was born in Brooklyn as Barry Alan Pincus, but his parents (a Jewish mother, Edna Manilow, and an Irish Catholic father, Harold Pincus) were divorced when Barry was two, and Pincus and his son never bonded from that point on. Manilow was raised by his mother and grandparents Esther and Joseph Manilow, Jewish immigrants from Russia who lived in a small Williamsburg apartment. Barry changed his surname to Manilow shortly before his bar mitzvah out of love for his zaide. He began his musical education on the accordion and refined it on the piano that he received as a bar mitzvah gift. "I hated the accordion. It seems that every Jewish kid had to play one. But when I played the piano, I knew music would be my passion and my ticket out of Brooklyn." For a time, things were dire for Manilow financially and emotionally. He nearly went bankrupt twice and had married and divorced his high school sweetheart by the age of 25. But he knew the craft of songwriting. For a time he coached singers wanting to audition on Broadway and was the musical director for Bette Midler. Manilow produced Midler's first album, as well as many more for several singers, before starring on his own in 1973 and developing a large fan base over the years. In addition to his many hit songs, Manilow also wrote the music for two musicals, Copacabana and Harmony. Harmony, a musical set in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, is based on the real-life story of The Comedian Harmonists, a group of three Jews (one a rabbi) and three non-Jews who were a popular singing group in Europe. The story, a mixture of comedy and drama, recalls how the group fell apart when they returned to Nazi Germany in the late '30s and disbanded because of the Holocaust. "The story is uplifting and may mean more to me because my relatives went through the Holocaust. [It has] songs that I wrote from Jewish cantorials and klezmer music." Harmony has never had the same success as Manilow's other projects, despite receiving positive reviews when the play debuted in San Diego in 1997, and despite many attempts by Manilow to stage it on Broadway, the play has not been seen in over a decade. "It's frustrating, because what is artistically good is not necessarily a commercial success. I am not producing Harmony anymore, but there are some producers that are willing to try again, and I hope Harmony can still come to Broadway. To this day, Harmony is the project in my career that I am most proud of." |
| June 4, 2008 | What's On Stage | "Barry Manilow's Musical Smile Tours Pre West End" by Terri Paddock |
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| Can't Smile Without You, based on the songs of American singer-songwriter Barry Manilow, will hit the stage this year. The new compilation musical opens on 28 August 2008 at Bromley's Churchill Theatre, where it continues until 6 September ahead of a three-month regional tour and planned West End transfer next year. Barry Manilow has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. At the height of his success in the late 1970s, he had five albums on the best-seller charts in the US. His many easy-listening singles include "I Write the Songs", "Mandy", "Looks Like We Made It", "Weekend in New England", "Ready to Take a Chance Again", "I Made It Through the Rain", "Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana". The last song was so popular that its story – about showgirl Lola and her jealous lover Tony – was made into a movie musical, which was aired in the US in 1985, starring Manilow himself as Tony. Following a shorter stage rendition in Las Vegas, Copacabana premiered as a full-length stage musical in 1994, running for more than a year at the West End's Prince of Wales Theatre. It was revived for a UK regional tour five years ago. Can't Smile Without You has a book by Tim Prager based on an original idea by Bill Kenwright, who also produces the show and co-directs it with Keith Strachan. The story centres around an aspiring young band who, on a visit to New York, come across an opportunity not to be missed - auditions for the latest reality TV show to find the next pop sensation. When the TV company offers lead singer Tony a chance to appear on the show, the other band members give him their blessing. But before Tony can realise his dream, he's caught up in a tragic sequence of events which leaves him fighting for his life. Left with no memory, his dreams are all but shattered. His only hope lies in the power of the music he loves and his feelings for a girl he once knew called Mandy. The new musical features more than 30 Manilow songs and is endorsed by Manilow and his music executive Garry Kief. The production is designed by Andy Walmsley with lighting by Ben Cracknel, choreography by Carole Todd and musical direction by John Maher. Following Bromley, Can't Smile Without You tours to Liverpool, Bristol, Manchester, Hull, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Northampton, Stoke and Newcastle, with further dates to be announced. Casting and London venue and dates have not yet been confirmed. |
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