Barry Manilow is coming to Sioux City's Orpheum Theatre Friday, June 21st! With worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, Barry Manilow’s success is a benchmark in popular music. His concerts sell out instantly. Get your tickets today! Prices range between $39 to $129.
Barry is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R (Radio & Records) and Billboard Magazines. Rolling Stone crowned him "a giant among entertainers… the showman of our generation," and Frank Sinatra summed up Manilow best when Ol’ Blue Eyes told the British press, "He’s next." Music is Manilow’s passion -- both in the studio and in the classroom.
While he has released over 40 albums, Manilow has also raised millions of dollars through his Manilow Music Project. In response to drastic budget cuts in arts programs across the U.S., the Manilow Music Project is keeping the music alive by ensuring that middle school and high school students have instruments in their hands to use in their music classes.
Because of a scheduling conflict, the date for the Barry Manilow concert at The Ford Center in Evansville has been changed. The concert is now set for Wednesday, June 26, and tickets from the original June 20 date will be honored. The artist will perform songs from his massive catalog of work, including such hits as "Mandy," "I Write the Songs" and "Copacabana (At The Copa)." Tickets are still available at the Ford Center Box Office, online Manilow.com or www.thefordcenter.com, or charge by phone at 800-745-3000.
The June 7 Barry Manilow concert at the Rose Quarter’s Theatre of the Clouds has been canceled because of a scheduling conflict. All tickets purchased using a credit card via phone, on the Web or box office will be refunded automatically. Tickets purchased at Safeway/TicketsWest outlets must be returned to the place of purchase to receive a refund. Cash purchases at the Rose Quarter Box Office must be returned to the box office for a refund. For more information, go to www.rosequarter.com.
Singer Barry Manilow's upcoming Rose Garden show has been canceled due to a scheduling conflict, the arena announced Thursday. From the a Rose Garden's announcement: "All tickets purchased using a credit card via phone, internet or box office will be refunded automatically. Tickets purchased at Safeway/TicketsWest outlets must be returned to the place of purchase to receive a refund. Cash purchases at the Rose Quarter Box Office must be returned to the box office to obtain a refund." For more information, contact the Rose Garden Box Office at 503-797-9619.
Barry Manilow has spent five decades writing the songs that make the whole world sing. After spending the winter on Broadway, he’s taking that concert show on the road, landing for a return engagement in Cedar Rapids.
This member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame has not only brought us the jingles that immediately jangle through our heads ("Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there," "I am stuck on Band-Aids" and "You deserve a break today" for McDonald’s) but songs that sustained us pre- and post-disco: "Mandy," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can’t Smile Without You" and "I Made it Through the Rain." He’s won a Grammy, two Emmys, a Tony and even scored a 1978 Oscar nomination for "Ready to Take a Chance Again" from the film "Foul Play."
The details: Barry Manilow. Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. U.S. Cellular Center. Tickets: $10-140. Artist’s website: Barrymanilow.com
He's ready to take a chance again. Barry Manilow will [be returning] to the west lawn of our nation's capitol on July 4 to headline PBS's annual A Capitol Fourth live concert event.
Manilow performed at the concert four years ago and tells me his best memory occurred as he was belting out his inspirational classic, "Let Freedom Ring." "On the last key change, as the song built to the most powerful moment, the most brilliant fireworks shot into the sky and continued until the last note of the song," recalls Manilow, who will conclude this year's performance with the same number. "The fireworks were timed precisely and exactly to the beat of the modulation. It was one of the most thrilling moments I can remember."
This year's concert and fireworks spectacular, airing live at 8/9c, will be hosted by Dancing With the Star's Tom Bergeron. Other performers have yet to be announced.
I happened to spend last Independence Day with Manilow at the Hollywood Bowl. When I asked the Brooklyn-born legend what he thinks make him so darned American, he said he makes an effort to include in his songs feelings of gratitude, pride, joy and inspiration — all attributes he associates with America. "Maybe that's the connection," says the man behind "Can't Smile Without You" and "I Write the Songs." "I believe in the goodness of the American people. And I believe that American people will always come through and do the right thing."
When he's not writing songs or touring the world, Manilow, who turns 70 on June 17, makes time for his favorite TV shows, which include Modern Family, The Big C ("so inspiring"), Breaking Bad, Homeland ("edge of your seat" entertainment) and The Newsroom, which he calls "the best show on television."
TVGuide.com reports exclusively that Barry Manilow will headline the annual PBS live Fourth of July celebration A CAPITOL FOURTH. The gig marks a return for the superstar who performed at the event four years ago. Recalled Manilow of his memorable PBS performance of "Let Freedom Ring," "On the last key change, as the song built to the most powerful moment, the most brilliant fireworks shot into the sky and continued until the last note of the song." He continued, "The fireworks were timed precisely and exactly to the beat of the modulation. It was one of the most thrilling moments I can remember." The same number will serve as Manilow's finale at this year's event. PBS will air the live concert beginning 8/9c. Emmy-winning Dancing With the Star's Tom Bergeron will host the event.
Grammy Award-winning superstar Barry Manilow's hometown concert event, Manilow on Broadway, recently ran its limited Broadway engagement at the St. James Theatre (246 West 44th Street).
With worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, success is a benchmark in popular music. Rolling Stone crowned him "a giant among entertainers... the showman of our generation," and Frank Sinatra summed up Manilow best when Ol' Blue Eyes told the British press, "He's next." He currently has 50 Top 40 hits. And now, Manilow is returning to the place where it all began, his hometown, New York City, with a new concert series on Broadway - marking his return to The Great White Way for the first time in more than two decades with Manilow on Broadway.
Manilow's roots remain in his native Brooklyn, where music was an integral part of his life. By the age of seven, he was taking accordion lessons and playing on a neighbor's piano. Choosing a career in music while still in his teens, he attended New York College of Music and the Juilliard School of Music while working in the mailroom at CBS. He subsequently became musical director for a CBS show named "Callback" (the predecessor to "American Idol") which led to a lucrative sideline on New York's advertising jingle circuit.
Since then, Manilow has been ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R (Radio & Records), with no less than 25 consecutive Top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 between 1975 and 1983. The list includes all-time favorites that Manilow still sings today: "Mandy," "It's A Miracle," "Could It Be Magic," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin' To Get the Feeling Again," "This One's For You," "Weekend In New England," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You," "Even Now," and the Grammy Award-winning "Copacabana (At the Copa)." Manilow's Broadway show is destined to be as legendary as the man himself.
Direct from Broadway, following a critically acclaimed sold out run on New York's Great White Way, Barry Manilow, the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all time, brings his hit-packed concert to northwest Iowa. Manilow will be in concert for one show June 21, 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theater. For ticket information call 1-800-745-3000.
Don't miss this rare opportunity, as Manilow performs songs from his massive catalog of hits - From "Mandy" to "I Write the Songs" to "Copacabana," "Weekend in New England" and many more. The New York Times said of the current show, "The magic is back!" "You can't help but dance in the aisles," adds Entertainment Weekly.
Barry Manilow, a classic pop icon who’s sung in Houston 14 times, plus at the Rodeo twice, rescheduled "Manilow in Concert Direct from Broadway" to Sunday, June 30, in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in The Woodlands. All who bought tickets for the May 19 concert will have those tickets honored on June 30, and those who delayed purchase get another chance. Manilow had to cancel on May 19 because of bronchitis.
In addition, the vocalist pledged to donate a Yamaha piano to the Conroe Independent School District as he launches a local instrument drive benefiting Conroe public schools. If you have a lonely violin, drum, horn or such languishing somewhere in a closet, get it out, donate it for the schools and you receive instant gratification of two complimentary tickets to the Manilow concert. The instruments must be delivered to the Mitchell Pavilion during weekdays from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and you will get the free tickets on the spot for pre-selected seat locations. You can do this all the way up to May 30. Call 1-800-745-3000 for more.
If your forlorn instrument was abandoned in Dallas, it can be delivered to Metroplex Piano on LBJ Freeway and you get the free tickets to use here. Another location that trades tickets for donated instruments is Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie.
Manilow’s album sales have run to 80 million with tunes like "Mandy," "Copacabana," and "I Write the Songs." He has earned every prestigious music award known to man — twice! As he once said, "I’m hundreds of years old." But we know better -- he was born in 1943.
Since the beginning of his breakthrough in 1973, Manilow, who also attended Juilliard, has teamed up with the most famous of celebrities from Bette Midler to Elizabeth Taylor, even the Prince and Princess of Wales.
In the early days he made his living writing and singing advertising jingles such as the Allstate tune, and "I’m stuck on Band Aids" which he recorded in a childlike voice. Sometimes Manilow includes a VSM " -- Very Strange Medley -- " of his ad jingles in a concert, just for fun. He has been beset with some physical ailments, but very rarely does he allow any of that to interfere with performances.
A dedicated humanitarian, Manilow lends his super-abilities to all kinds of aid efforts. One that comes readily to mind is the $300,000 he contributed to replace musical instruments ruined at the only high school in Joplin, Mo., during a catastrophic tornado there two years ago.
BOISE -- The Barry Manilow concert scheduled for June 8 at Taco Bell Arena has been moved to Saturday, July 13. The concert will start at 7:30 p.m. Tickets purchased for the June 8 show will be honored for the July 13 date. If you cannot make the new date or have any questions about the change, call the Taco Bell Arena Box Office at 426-1766.
Due to a scheduling conflict, the Barry Manilow concert at Taco Bell Arena has been moved to Saturday, July 13th. Tickets from previously scheduled June 8th concert date will be honored.
Barry Manilow, the undisputed #1 Adult Contemporary Artist of all time, brings his "Manilow In Concert… Direct from Broadway" to Boise, Idaho. Don’t miss this unprecedented concert on its new date as Manilow performs songs from his massive catalog of hits. From “Mandy” to “I Write the Songs” to “Copacabana (At The Copa)” and so many more.
Tickets are also available for purchase at the Taco Bell Arena Box Office, online Manilow.com or www.tacobellarena.com, or charge by phone at 208.426.1766.
The pop icon is also donating a Yamaha piano to launch a local instrument drive for Boise School District. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument to the Taco Bell Arena will receive 2 free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations) for Manilow’s July 13th concert in Boise. The Taco Bell Arena will be the base for the instrument drive in Boise, from now through July 13th. The instrument drop off location is open between 10:00 am – 4:30 pm Monday through Friday.
With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with a staggering 50 top 40 hits. Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career.
SAN ANTONIO - Fans who had tickets to Barry Manilow's postponed May 18 concert have a new date for the performance: June 29. Bronchitis forced the singer to postpone his performance at the AT&T Center Saturday night. Performances in the Dallas area and Houston were also postponed. Tickets from the original May 18 concert date will be honored at the rescheduled date.
The Woodlands, Texas – Barry Manilow is coming back! The Barry Manilow concert originally scheduled May 19 has been rescheduled for June 30 at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Last week, Manilow postponed three concerts including the one at The Pavilion due to a case of bronchitis. All tickets for the May 19 will be honored at the June 30 concert.
The pop icon also is donating a Yamaha piano to launch a local instrument drive for Conroe Independent School District. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument receives two free tickets to the concert. Donors can drop off the donated instruments at The Pavilion between now and the day of the concert.
With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Barry Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with a staggering 50 top 40 hits. Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career.
Barry Manilow made good on his promise to quickly reschedule his May 17 concert at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie, which was postponed because he fell ill with bronchitis. The new show date is June 28. All tickets for the May 17 concert will be honored. Also, the instrument drive to benefit Dallas schools continues through June 28. All the information remains the same. Tickets for "Manilow In Concert...Direct From Broadway" are on sale via axs.com. Prices are $9.99-$139.99.
Pop icon Barry Manilow comes to Taco Bell Arena June 8 on his "Manilow in Concert: Direct from Broadway" tour. But even before he arrives in the Treasure Valley, the undisputed No. 1 adult contemporary artist’s generosity is being felt.
Manilow has donated a new Yamaha piano to the Boise School District to help launch a local musical instrument drive. Anyone who donates a new or gently used instrument at Taco Bell Arena will receive two free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations) for Manilow’s concert. "I’m thrilled to be able to help bring the gift of music to these kids," Manilow said.
Taco Bell Arena will be the base for the instrument drive in Boise from now through June 8. The instrument drop-off location is open between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. "We are delighted to participate in the Barry Manilow Music Project and thankful for this opportunity," said Dr. Don Coberly, superintendent for the Boise School District. "We look forward to getting instruments into the hands of students who would otherwise not be able to participate in our award-winning instrumental music program."
The Manilow Music Project (MMP) is part of The Manilow Fund for Health and Hope. It was formed as a grassroots organization to assist local charities and programs. Its primary focus is to provide musical instruments to high schools and middle schools and to provide music scholarships at universities throughout the U.S., Canada and the U.K. More information on the Manilow Music Project can be found at manilowmusicproject.org.
Tickets for instruments -- WHAT: Barry Manilow Music Project. DROP-OFF: 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, now through June 8. WHERE: Taco Bell Arena, 1910 University Drive, Boise.
Barry Manilow’s "Direct From Broadway" concert tonight at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie has been postponed, it was just announced. Manilow is suffering from bronchitis and on doctor’s orders has postponed shows all weekend, which includes gigs in San Antonio and Houston. Scott Strong at Verizon Theatre urges everybody to hold on to their tickets because Manilow will reschedule all three performances. Tickets will be honored at the new dates, which will be announced shortly according to an official release from concert promoter AEG Live. For more information, go to axs.com.
Pop pianist, singer and songwriter Barry Manilow has postponed his Texas dates, including a concert scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the AT&T Center. Here’s the statement from Manilow’s Web site: "Due to bronchitis and on doctor’s orders, Barry’s concerts this weekend in Grand Prairie (Dallas), San Antonio and Houston will be rescheduled. Barry thanks everyone for their understanding and is looking forward to returning to Texas! All tickets will be honored for the new performance dates, which will be announced shortly." Stay tuned for news about the makeup date.
HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you have tickets to the Barry Manilow concert at Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion this Sunday, hold onto them a little longer. The show has been postponed. A message posted on the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Facebook page said the singer has bronchitis and his doctors have advised him to cancel concerts this weekend in Dallas, San Antonio and Sunday's show at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. They say all tickets will be honored for the new performance dates, which will be announced soon.
Barry Manilow’s concert scheduled for Sunday night at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion has been postponed. Manilow is suffering from bronchitis, and doctors ordered that his Texas tour, which included stops in Grand Prairie, San Antonio and The Woodlands, be postponed, according to a release. All tickets will be honored for the new performance dates, which will be announced soon. Refunds are available at point of purchase. Manilow thanked everyone for their understanding and is looking forward to returning to Texas, according to the release.
Barry Manilow has postponed a round of Texas shows, including Sunday at the Woodlands Pavilion, "due to bronchitis and on doctor’s orders." A new date will be announced soon, and all tickets will be honored. Refunds are available at point of purchase.
In the realm of guilty pleasures, Barry Manilow and his arsenal of pop classics rank near the top. He's sold more than 80 million albums on the strength of "Mandy," "Copacabana (At the Copa)" and "Could It be Magic," among oh so many others. (You're humming one right now, aren't you?)
He's using his current tour, dubbed Manilow In Concert - Direct From Broadway, as an instrument drive for schools. Anyone who donates a new or gently used musical instrument to The Woodlands Pavilion will receive two tickets for the concert. Instruments may be dropped off between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily through Friday. Manilow himself is donating a Yahama piano to Conroe ISD.
He talked about his storied career, accordion beginnings and today's crop of singers:
Houston Chronicle: Do you have any specific memories of Houston? Barry Manilow: They've always been really very kind to me in Houston. I've played Houston 14 times. The first time I played it was in 1973 at the Hofheinz Pavilion, and the last time I played it was in 2004. I've played everywhere in Houston. The audiences there and I have a great time.
HC: You played RodeoHouston twice, in 1988 and 2001. BM: That was a trip. If I wanted to remember one big thing about Houston, it would be (that). It was really a thrill. Me and my three background girls got onto the back of a pickup truck, and they ride you around the entire arena. All I kept saying was, "What is that smell?" When I did "Can't Smile Without You" the last time, I sang it from the back of the pickup truck.
HC: What sort of emotion does looking back on so many shows evoke? BM: Gratitude. I'm hundreds of years old. I've been doing this for a long time. I remember they warned me when I began that a pop career, if you're lucky, lasts for five years. I'm going on much more than five years.
HC: Why do you think you've outlasted so many others? BM: I'm indebted to the audiences. My audiences have always been on my side, even when I was beginning. I thought I was terrible, and I was, and the critics agreed with me. I didn't know what I was doing. I was thrust into this performing world without any warning. I was very happy in the background. I was a music director, a musician, an arranger, a songwriter. That was gonna be my world. Suddenly, I wound up standing on a stage, trying to entertain an audience. The audiences never had trouble with it. They cheered me on, and in their own way, they were telling me, "Keep going. We like what you're doing." My career is all because of these kind strangers in the dark that have never given up on me.
HC: The strength of your songs is that, even today, they make people feel good and take them back to a certain moment in their life. BM: I'm one of the lucky ones who has a catalog of music that is still affecting people. My goal when I began, when I got this opportunity to make albums, was to write or record songs that would outlive me. It was all about doing the best work I could, whether it was writing songs or recording outside material or producing great-sounding records or doing the best performances.
HC: Was there a specific moment growing up when you realized music was your calling? BM: My family knew I was musical when I was very young, and they didn't know what to do with me. The only thing they knew was to get me an accordion, because every Jewish and Italian in Brooklyn had to play the accordion. It's the law. You can't get out of Brooklyn unless you can play "Lady of Spain." I was good on the thing. My mother remarried an Irish truck driver named Willie Murphy who brought with him a whole stack of albums that opened up a world of music to me, and he threw out the accordion and bought me a little spinner piano. As soon as I hit the keys of that piano, I knew where I belonged.
HC: Are there any current artists you think are doing things the right way? BM: The style of music has changed so much from the style of music that I grew up loving and grew up making. Melodies have taken a backseat to the groove. Now and again, you get Adele. You get Taylor Swift. You get Lady Gaga. My favorite these days is Bruno Mars, who is really a wonderful performer. They're still out there, but they're few and far between.
HC: Did you try to impart any lasting wisdom to young singers on "American Idol"? BM: I did it three times. All of them had something. Any of them could have won. What I did notice was that these talented, young people had no experience. They were as green as they could be. They really needed somebody to tell them something. When it gets down to it, "American Idol" and all the other ones, they are game shows. They can't help these kids. When I got on there, they figured out a way that I could actually have an extra week to work with all of them. Nobody had ever talked to them like that. They hadn't worked in the bars that we all had. They hadn't paid their dues. It's so important to have some experience before you dive in. If you want to do this, then you've got to go out and start to work.
Barry Manilow. When: 8 p.m. Sunday. Where: Woodlands Pavilion, 2005 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands. Tickets: $29.99-$139.99; 281-364-3010 or livenation.com.
SAN ANTONIO - Barry Manilow will not only be performing in concert on Saturday evening, but the music legend will also be holding an instrument donation drive, benefitting the San Antonio Independent School District.
Manilow, who has released over 40 albums and had 50 top hit songs, says music is important in the lives of students. "Since the budget problems, we're having such trouble in high schools and middle schools, they're running out of instruments, they're cutting music and arts classes," Manilow said in a phone interview with KSAT 12. "Whenever I speak to teachers and principals, they always tell me that the kids who are in music classes, their grades go up, they become better students, they become better people. It's not just play time."
Manilow will be donating a Yamaha piano to SAISD, and will give two free tickets to his show, for each new or gently used instrument donation. "We're so appreciative of how much he's supporting education, and of course, bringing music to schools, and of course we're so excited that he chose SAISD for this project," said Leslie Price, spokeswoman for SAISD.
The Alamo Music Center is serving as one of the drop-off points for the Manilow Music Project, and has received a donated piano, and seven violins as of Wednesday. The company will be refurbishing the instruments, before handing them over to SAISD. "Schools are desperate for those instruments," said Zach Marr, general manager for Alamo Music Center. "So if there's anybody who has some, just sitting on the shelf from when their kid went to college, please, they should bring them."
Manilow will perform on Saturday night at the AT&T Center.
Pop music icon Barry Manilow is donating a Yamaha piano to the Boise School District to help it launch a local instrument drive. Organizers said anyone who donates a new or gently-used musical instrument to the Taco Bell Arena will receive two free tickets (valid for pre-selected seat locations) for Manilow’s June 8th concert in Boise. "I’m thrilled to be able to help bring the gift of music to these kids," Manilow said.
The Taco Bell Arena will be the base for the instrument drive in Boise, from now through June 8th. The public can drop off instruments between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. "We are delighted to participate in the Barry Manilow Music Project and thankful for this opportunity," said Dr. Don Coberly, Superintendent of the Boise School District. "We look forward to getting instruments into the hands of students who would otherwise not be able to participate in our award-winning instrumental music program."
The Manilow Music Project is part of The Manilow Fund for Health and Hope. It was formed as a grass roots organization to assist local charities and programs. Its primary focus is to provide musical instruments to high schools and middle schools and to provide music scholarships at universities throughout the US, Canada, and the UK.
With worldwide record sales exceeding 80 million, Manilow is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time with a staggering 50 top 40 hits. Manilow has produced, arranged, and released over 40 albums over the course of his career. His hits include "Mandy," "I Write the Songs," "Copacabana (At The Copa)" and many more.
UNCASVILLE, Conn. – It may be fashionable to dismiss Barry Manilow as irrelevant in the music industry, but the legion of "Fanilows" who turned out on Friday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena to listen to their hero sing were proof positive of his lasting endurance as an entertainer. After all, how can you dismiss an artist who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide and who has won Grammy, Emmy and Tony Awards for his recordings and appearances on Broadway – where he returned triumphantly in January after over two decades – and his many television specials.
Manilow, who keeps writing the songs – in 2011 he released "15 Minutes," a risky concept album of all new songs, his first since 2001 – is playing it safe on his current tour by performing the bevy of hits and recognizable tunes that most know.
Bursting onto the stage at 8:15 p.m. in a shiny blue coat, [Manilow] began the evening with the thumping "It’s A Miracle" and "Could It Be Magic," before telling his fans "It’s going to be magic tonight" and asking them if they "had gone to the bathroom," referring to the nearly non-stop 90-minute hit factory he was about to perform.
Most of the favorites were there – "Even Now," "Weekend in New England," "This One’s For You," "New York City Rhythm," "Tryin’ To Get the Feeling Again," "Mandy," "I Made It Through the Rain," "Can’t Smile Without You," "Copacabana" and so many, many others.
Making use of a video screen behind [him], he rolled out clips of "American Bandstand" and the late Dick Clark when singing "Bandstand Boogie," as well as his 1975 appearance on NBC television’s late night, musical variety show, "The Midnight Special," where he performed "Mandy." Sitting down at the grand piano on center stage, Manilow performed a duet with himself on the television show in what was one of the highlights of the show.
What was missing from the show were any of the newer songs Manilow has written over the past decade featured on the albums "Scores," filled with songs from his two musicals "Harmony" and "Copacabana," as well as "Here at the Mayflower" and his latest, "15 Minutes," although he did perform "Every Single Day" from "Harmony." He also bypassed, except for a cover of Frankie Valli’s "Can’t Take My Eyes Off You," all of the songs from his tribute albums to the music of the 1950s, '60s, 70s and '80s.
Manilow ended the evening with "I Write the Songs" before coming back on stage for a quick reprise of "It’s A Miracle" ... Friday night’s show proved Manilow still has it. In fact, comparing his voice to his appearance on the "Midnight Special," it now has a more satisfying deeper and richer tone. Yes, Barry Manilow doesn’t have to "try to get the feeling again" as he sings, he’s still got it. And he truly was, as he proclaimed on stage, "the Justin Bieber of the '70s."
He writes the songs that make the whole world sing. Except that one. Strange but true. Barry Manilow, performing in Englewood on Sunday and Monday nights, could justly claim to have written or co-written as many hits as any performer now living, including "Copacabana (At the Copa)," "Could it Be Magic" and "I Made it Through the Rain." But perhaps his most iconic tune, "I Write the Songs," with its seemingly boastful title, is actually by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys. And just for the record, it isn't about Manilow either. According to Johnston the "I" is God (there had been speculation that it might be Brian Wilson).
As a matter of fact, several of Manilow's other big hits were by other hands, including "Mandy" and "Can't Smile Without You." Conversely, Manilow is sometimes overlooked for other tunes, some of the most famous of the 20th century, that are directly from his pen. For instance, "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there," and "I am stuck on Band-Aid, 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me," all from his apprentice work as a commercial jingle-writer. In the early days, part of his show used to be a medley of his TV jingles. And that's just a small part of what Manilow has done in his 40 years in show business.
Starting in the early '70s as Bette Midler's musical director, the Brooklyn-born Manilow went on to a spectacular soft-rock career, selling more than 80 million records, winning Grammys and Emmys and Tonys, headlining Vegas, starring in TV specials, writing books and musicals. He's played Broadway several times, most recently in January's "Manilow on Broadway" show. This weekend, he'll be coming to bergenPAC with a six-piece band, two singers, a trunkful of music and a career's worth of memories.
NorthJersey.com: How do you keep songs like "Mandy" and "Copacabana" fresh for yourself? Barry Manilow: The audience does it. Because I'm an acting-singer... I figured the best thing I could do is interpret the lyric like a story, and that's what I've been doing all these years. I interpret the lyric like a story. And when you do that, every night the story is different. And that's one of the things that makes it fresh for me.
NJC: Your résumé is pretty incredible. How many projects are you typically juggling at any time? How do you do all those things? And you're not allowed to say, "brilliantly." Oscar Levant already used that line. BM: No, I never would anyway. You know, I'm a workaholic. People ask me, What do I do when I'm on vacation? What do I do to take off? I just love making music. I love having another project... I just won't sit down on a chaise longue in Palm Springs and get a tan. It's the most boring thing for me to do. I just love working. And I think people who stay young are probably busy and creating and working all the time. Those people who actually do retire and sit around and do crossword puzzles, I think they get older.
NJC: You've written some of the most famous advertising jingles of the past 50 years. Is that a harder craft to master than some people might think? BM: Well, it's a craft... I was always up against 10 other composers that were going for that same spot. And whoever wrote the catchiest hook got the spot. Frankly it was a real good training ground for writing pop songs. 'Cause you know the rules of writing a pop song are the same. You've got to write a real catchy hook within the first 30 seconds, or else you lose the audience, you lose the deejays.
NJC: I think I remember reading somewhere -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that you're a fan of hard rock. BM: Well, a fan? No. It's one of the things I studied... Foo Fighters really got me. That was the band that I said: They're the real deal.
NJC: What do you listen to that we wouldn't suspect? BM: I listen to a kind of music called electronica... They're groups like Underworld and Basement Jaxx. They're very inventive, it's all about the rhythm structure... You'll usually hear it in the background when I'm walking around the house.
NJC: Any war stories? What was the worst gig you ever did? BM: There was only one [in 1975]. It was in a place in Boston ... I was the opening act for Freddie Hubbard, the jazz trumpeter. I didn't have an audience yet... Where on earth they got the idea to put me on as an opening act, I'll never know. I got out onstage, and the audience was really quiet. They didn't know what they were seeing. I was fighting the daiquiri blender. I was fighting the bartenders, yelling. It was just the worst, worst gig ever. Freddie Hubbard heard me do the commercials medley ... and he wouldn't come near me, he wouldn't even stand next to me.
NJC: Have you ever played bergenPAC before? Let me tell you something. This is my first time saying this in years. I have never played Englewood. This may be the first time I've ever said that sentence. I've played everyplace.
WHO: Barry Manilow. WHAT: "Manilow on Broadway." WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. Monday. WHERE: bergenPAC, 30 N. Van Brunt St., Englewood; 201-227-1030 or bergenpac.org. HOW MUCH: $102.98 to $252.98, plus fees. GALA: Sunday's show is also the night of bergenPAC's Spring Gala, beginning at 5 p.m. in the Performing Arts School, 1 Depot Square. Included are cocktail reception and dinner, VIP seating at the show and post-show champagne and desserts. Tickets range from $200 to $600; sales benefit the Performing Arts School. Call 201-503-8327.
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Barry Manilow fans, known as "Fanilows," made Thursday night a night of giving. They donated musical instruments in exchange for tickets. Before Manilow came to New Hampshire, he made a request of his Granite State fans, asking them to donate gently used instruments for the Manchester School District.
"We had a great turnout," said Jason Perry of the Verizon Wireless Arena. "We’re still collecting instruments now, as the doors are open. We’ve gotten keyboards." After the concert, Manilow is donating a piano to the schools.
Barry Manilow remembers watching Frank Sinatra on stage many years ago, itching to hear Ol’ Blue Eyes sing his expansive catalog of hits. Instead, he heard a mix of the hits peppered with concert filler -- the kind of songs that bring an audience to its feet, but for all the wrong reasons. They become an excuse to visit the concession stand. So when Manilow crafted his current show, "Manilow in Concert ... Direct From Broadway," which ran on Broadway this winter, he was determined to sidestep that mistake and give the audience what it paid for. "I’m one of the lucky guys with a big catalog of familiar songs," Manilow says on the phone from his home in Palm Springs, Calif. "So I’m doing as many of the familiar songs as I can squeeze in."
This is the man who once claimed to write the songs, even those that make the young girls cry, so there is plenty to choose from. He racked up nearly 30 top 40 hits in a nine-year span, including karaoke club favorites "Copacabana (at the Copa)," "Can’t Smile Without You," and, of course, "Mandy." Manilow brings his Broadway show to Mohegan Sun Friday.
Boston Globe (BG): I’m glad you’re on the road touring, but I once read that you were done with touring. Barry Manilow (BM): I’m done with touring with a capital "T." The kind of tours when I was out for six weeks at a time. I decided to stop that, and tour with a lower-case "t" instead. I decided to stop when I got an offer to play Las Vegas, and, as you know, Las Vegas is close to Palm Springs. I would take a plane to Vegas, work my three nights there, and then come home. For the first time in 30 years I actually had a life again.
BG: I’m sure your fans are pleased... BM: That I’m still out there and not giving up? I think they are. I hope they are.
BG: I saw your Broadway show and you’re a funny, chatty guy. Is your interaction with a Broadway audience different than the one you had while touring with a capital "T"? BM: I’ve done that all of my career. Even when I was terrible in the beginning, and I really was terrible in the beginning. This performing career came out of the blue. I wasn’t really a professional entertainer. They threw me up on stage to promote an album that I somehow lucked into recording. I spent years in the background conducting, writing, and producing. Suddenly I found myself standing on a stage. I’ve always connected, or tried to connect, with an audience because I really didn’t know anything else to do. It’s kind of scary to do that, by the way, to take down the fourth wall and just talk to a roomful of strangers. It’s much easier to crank up the volume and play your music.
BG: I know that you are a pretty private fellow. Did you have to think carefully about what you were comfortable sharing with folks? BM: I think anyone would be. But I never even think about that because most of my monologues are about the music. I don’t mention my dogs' names, or my Aunt Rose. I usually keep it pretty close to the song. I don’t have to worry about that.
BG: I think Aunt Rose would be a perfect name for a dog. Anyway, how thrilling was it to do a run on Broadway? BM: It was probably one of the top three experiences of my career. I didn’t expect it to be because it was my third time on Broadway. I said to my manager, "Before I croak, I’d like to do it one more time." I expected it to be fun, but I didn’t expect it to be as crazy and as thrilling as it was. It was like cousin Barry was back on stage. I felt like I was playing Passover dinner for my family.
BG: In that case, I’ll expect to hear "Dayenu" the next time I see you perform. Are there any of your hit songs that you wish you could ignore forever? BM: Never.
BG: Never? They’re all your lovely, lovely children? BM: Never. And if there were, I wouldn’t tell you. No, I’ll be honest. There was a year there where "Looks Like We Made It" was tough. I couldn’t find the truth in the song. I found myself thinking about other things while I was singing it. I was thinking, 'This isn’t fair to the song. This isn’t fair to the audience.' I took it out of the show for about six months, and then when I put it back in it was all fresh. But I can’t tell you that I don’t look forward to performing them. Every year they have more meaning.
Barry Manilow: Mohegan Sun, 800-745-3000. http://www.ticketmaster.com. Date of concert: Friday. Ticket price: $55-$175.
Barry Manilow has partnered with Yamaha to collect music instruments for the Dallas Independent School District. It's part of the singer-songwriter's Manilow Music Project. Manilow has already donated a Yamaha piano through Metroplex Piano to DISD. It's something he is doing for each city he plays at during his 2013 tour. He has also asked his fans to donate their gently used instruments, which will then be given to DISD.
Manilow was able to collect 125 instruments in Chicago. That's a number Cynthia Izaguirre challenged the North Texas community to beat. Anyone who donates an instrument will receive a pair of tickets to the May 17 Barry Manilow concert at the Verizon Theatre. Gently used instruments can be dropped off at the Verizon Theatre any time from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday until May 17.
Barry Manilow wants to keep music education in schools, so he’s spearheading a musical instruments drive to benefit the Dallas Independent School District. Bring in a gently used music instrument in exchange for a pair of concert tickets to Manilow’s May 17 performance at Verizon Theatre in Grand Prairie. That hits-heavy show has been dubbed "Manilow in Concert...Direct From Broadway."
Manilow has already donated a Yamaha piano through Dallas’ own Metroplex Piano, the local Yamaha dealer. It’s all part of his Manilow Music Project, which provides musical instruments to high schools and middle schools, as well as music scholarships at universities in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. "Yamaha is a wonderful company and we are grateful they chose to join in our fight to keep music in our schools," Manilow said in a prepared statement.
Darren Speir, president of Metroplex Piano, adds: "We knew about his donation of a Yamaha piano to the local schools here, but to be working alongside this wonderful organization that benefits our own local community is even more exciting for Yamaha and specifically Metroplex Piano." So here’s what you do, bring an instrument from now through May 17 to either of these two locations:
Verizon Theatre, 1001 Performance Place, Grand Prairie. 972-854-5050. Hours are 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
As Barry Manilow approaches 70, a milestone for anybody but especially for showbiz superstars, the singer/songwriter, who's sold more than 80 million records worldwide, is as passionate about his music as ever. And without a doubt, this apparently forever young performer, who says he never really wanted be a singer but only an arranger and a songwriter, retains one of his great but perhaps most sorely underestimated talents: his quick sense of humor.
Manilow, who recently did a telephone interview with The Courant to promote his latest touring show, which plays Friday, May 10, at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena, was even funny when faking shock and outrage when I confessed to him that I've never seen one of his fabled, live, in-concert performances.
"You've never seen my show!" he says with facetiously withering incredulity, lightly seasoned with mock shock and faux awe. "You've only seen me on YouTube, and you're in Hartford! I've been there a million times, and you've never seen my show!" he says in a tone righteously rising to a subtly scathing ironic crescendo.
Next comes a slight pause worthy of a master of comic timing like George Burns. Then comes the zinger: "What are you, 12 years old!" Again a Burns-like pause: "And now you're asking me if I do patter between songs?" again with his carefully calibrated fiery ire rising to exactly pitch-perfect comic effect. Then again, after another Burns-like pause, comes yet another deathlike, mano a Manilow zinger. "What do you think? I sit at the piano and play 'Mandy' all night long!"
If you've ever read Manilow's 1987 memoir, "Sweet Life: Adventures on the Way to Paradise" - a warm, sometimes amusing chronicle of a poor kid from Brooklyn laboring away obscurely in the CBS mail room who, almost reluctantly, skyrockets to stupendous superstardom - you know that his patter, whether on the page, on the stage or on the phone is leavened with humor. Self-deprecating, not vituperative, it's a bit reminiscent of Woody Allen's, but without Woody's intellectual allusions to God, existentialism and the metaphysical meaning of life and death.
Recalling his poor, rundown boyhood neighborhood in Flatbush, for example, Manilow, the memoirist, writes: "The only time a limousine made an appearance there was when somebody died." Or when asked in his memoir in an imaginary interview with himself if there are rules to follow in order to write a hit song, Manilow replies: "Yes. There are three very important rules to writing a hit song. But nobody knows what they are."
Humor has been Manilow's shield over the decades against the slings and arrows of critics. They've savaged him mercilessly while, much like Liberace, yet another lifetime piñata for critics, Manilow, blessed with his pop music Midas touch, has laughed all the way to the bank. Asked about the source of his Woody Allen-like, self-chiding sense of humor, Manilow wryly replies: "Well, we all come from Brooklyn where you need a sense of humor to get by. Mel Brooks went to my high school. So there you are. That explains it," he says.
While humor is a recurring feature in his concerts, Manilow's Mohegan Sun show, instead of being rooted in promoting the concept of his latest album as in past tours, caters to an audience that "really wants to hear the songs that they know." "As I grow into my hundreds - I'm a hundred years old already and I'm still working," he jokes, "I know that audiences have come to hear the songs that either they grew up with, or their parents played, or they fell in love with recently. I stick in some of my album cuts and, you know, they're really polite. They indulge me. And then I do 'Ready to Take a Chance Again,' and the roof caves in. So, I know what they're looking for. I know what they want. And I'm happy to do it," he says.
"I'm one of the lucky guys. I can actually do 90-minutes on stage, and every song I do is something that they (audience members) know. I don't know how many people can say that. I've got this incredible catalog of well-known songs so that I can actually do a full show, and every song is something that the audience knows. So that's what I'm doing these days, and that's what this show really is about," he says.
Even now almost three decades after his then rather premature memoir was published, Manilow is still somewhat mystified by his enormous success, still pondering how fame came his way and its enormous, sometimes dizzying impact on his life. "It's astounding," he says, still sounding a bit like the musically talented, piano-playing, song-addicted musician (accordion was his first instrument), insecure teenager from Flatbush.
"I am still amazed. They told me in the beginning that, if you're lucky, a pop career lasts for five years, and I believed them. But after all these years, I'm still here. I give all the credit to the audiences, of course. I never started out wanting to be a singer or a performer, or anything like this, or making records. I was going to be a musician. That was my goal. On my passport, it doesn't say entertainer. It says musician. That's who I am in my heart," he says. "And yet I have got this career as a singing performer. And it's the biggest surprise ever...ever," deliberately repeating the word "ever" twice for dramatic effect.
"I've learned to accept it, but I resisted it for the first couple of years. I guess I just didn't understand it. I didn't know how to do it. Everybody else, I thought, was better than me. And they were. But I've learned to accept it, and I think I've gotten good at this job."
Reflecting on his legacy, Manilow acknowledges that he's not "the greatest singer," but, with a note of pride, rates himself, as "a decent songwriter." "My goal would be to be remembered as somebody that made you feel. That's what my goal is on stage every night - to make the audience feel something. There are so many of these performers these days who don't care about that. They really don't. The people that I grew up loving, made me feel something when they interpreted a lyric, or when they talked to me from the stage, or when they sang on records. I actually felt something. My goal is to make people feel better by the time they leave than they did when they came in."
Manilow, who was already in his late twenties when he experienced his giant breakthrough, urges caution and common sense on young performers swept up in today's instant stardom, unknowns miraculously transformed overnight into household names. "I'm very proud that my feet are still on the ground. This fame thing is really dangerous. If you're not grounded, it's going to blow you over. How are these kids going to deal with what I dealt with? I was already an adult. These kids are in their teens and they're wearing Gucci, Armani and lipstick, and being treated like stars. How are they going to deal with this hurricane of fame at that young age?" he asks.
Almost from his first steps as a professional singer, Manilow faced a special showbiz hazard when critics began using him as an easy free-fire zone, unloading what they considered to be their most clever, cruelest cluster bomb barbs. "I had a real tough time in the beginning," he acknowledges, "but they've eased off on me over the years. But I've got broad shoulders. You know, Ethel Merman once said, 'Screw the critics! I know when I'm good.' That's how I feel."
Despite his longevity as a performer (he turns 70 on June 17), Manilow has no secret method of preserving his pipes, no special training regimen or miracle diet to recommend for Manilow wannabes. "I don't consider myself a singer. So I never even think about it. I forget to warm up. I just go out there and hope that it's still there."
And, although he no longer does mega-tours, he gives no thought to retirement, a word that doesn't exist in his vocabulary. "I'm having a ball, and I still feel like the same person that I was. I've still got lots of ideas. I'm still hungry, and I've still got passion for the work that I do. If that leaves, then I'll retire. But I doubt very much that that's going anywhere," he says.
The subtitle for Manilow's 1987 memoir was "Adventures on the Way to Paradise." Asked if, after all his adventures in what he has called his roller-coaster career, he is now, at long last, in an earthly paradise, he says quite contentedly and utterly free of all irony: "Yes. I would say I am."
BARRY MANILOW performs Friday at 8 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena, 1 Mohegan Sun Blvd. Uncasville. Tickets: $175, $75 and $55. Information: 888-226-7711 and www.mohegansun.com.
