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This show was as fantastic as the last one I saw! I'm still on a "show" high!
I was sitting next to a brother and sister who had never seen the show before. They had been Manilow fans their entire lives, but had never actually been to a show. There's actually more to the story. I was debating about whether or not to share it, but since I don't have names for any of these people, I think it's okay.
The brother has terminal cancer. When the family was told there was no hope earlier in the year, the siblings started talking about the days of going camping with their parents and having Manilow 8-tracks playing in the car. And then they decided they should just come to Vegas to see Barry - why not? Their tickets were toward the back of the theater. But they encountered a man who had seen the show many times. He heard their story and offered to trade tickets with them - he and his wife had 2nd row center seats. Just when you start to get jaded by everything that's going on in the world, you see something like this and realize that there are still good people.
Anyway, as usual when I meet a newbie, they questioned me about what makes me keep coming back. The only answer I could give them was that it was a "feeling." During the show I kept glancing over at them trying to gauge whether or not they were enjoying themselves - I couldn't really tell.
Okay, on to the review. The first thing that popped into my head when Barry walked into the spotlight was, "He looks fantastic!". I know, this is a musical show - I'm supposed to be concentrating on the music - but he *did* look fantastic! And was that a new jacket? It reminded me of the "jacket of many colors" that he used to wear - that one appeared to be silver, but would change color depending on the lighting. This one didn't seem to change color - it stayed silver - so I think it's new. And there was a matching tie. Very sharp!
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Barry opened the show with the standard medley, but all of the songs seemed even more upbeat and passionate than usual. He was almost beaming during It's a Miracle. And Somewhere in the Night has taken on a new life - very seductive.
After the first song, Barry started taking off his tie - which was met with vocal approval from the audience. He laughed and said, "Still? After all of these years?"
Next was The Old Songs, followed by Singing With the Big Bands. (still not enough lighting during that segment for me to get a photo of Brandon during the little sax solo) Barry walked over to the side to change into his white jacket - he turned to the audience to give us one of his "Am I gorgeous or what?" looks - he hasn't done that in a long time. It's so cute!
For Jump Shout Boogie, instead of the cotton candy piano (my description for the pink and blue colors that it was painted), it's now purple! When did that change? I noticed it before the show started, although I couldn't see what color it was until the lights were on it. It's kind of cool - goes with the color scheme of the costumes.
Barry put Moonlight Serenade back in for the dance girl number. White jacket, dreamy look in his eyes, stars in the background - so romantic. The woman he chose was obviously thrilled. Toward the end of the song, she slipped her fingers up under his hair to the nape of his neck. He said, "What are you doing with your hands??" As she was being led back to her seat, Barry turned to the audience and made one of his big-eyed goofy faces - and then stopped, turned back toward her, and gave her a thumbs up! LOL
For the ballads Barry sang a beautiful version of I Am Your Child, followed by I Made It Through the Rain.
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New York City Rhythm was next. I think it's turned into a piano competition! Barry started it out just by seeming to be even more into the music than usual. Then Ron P. came along and did an outstanding job - thought I was going to have to give him the award again. But then Joe came and he beat Ron P! Then Ron W. came and he beat both of them! And just when I thought we had a winner, Ron P. jumped back in there and stole it away! Seriously, outstanding playing by all of them. All of the guys looked like they were having the time of their lives. I even got a shot of Joe as he was running to dive into the middle for the final part of the song.
The show stopper of the night was Looks Like We Made It. Not just because Barry made it sexy - he did - but because he outdid himself with the amount of emotion and passion he put into the song. That was THE best performance I've ever seen of that song - not even what he did during the UK shows can compare to last night. I can't even put it into words - it was a powerful performance!
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The audience went wild after that one. It was a very receptive audience anyway. At one point Barry told us he wanted us all back in our same seats for the next show. Barry seemed to be really caught up in the crowd's reaction.
Barry put in the shortened version of the Mayflower medley. All of the backups seemed to be having a great time with that one - it was probably the most "fun" segment of the night. They really put a lot of work into it.
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The backups started to walk off the stage after the medley, but Barry called them back. He went on to explain that he had done a special song for Andy Williams during the Ella Awards earlier in the week - then he told us that he would share it with us. It was Born Free. He said that they still needed a lyrics sheet because they didn't have it memorized. As he pulled out the sheet, he put on one of his funny faces, and shook the paper, then stretched it out at arm's length. Someone in the audience yelled, "Do you want me to hold it for you?" The backups were cracking up behind him - and so was the audience. He said, "I couldn't hear what she said, but I don't think I want to know." LOL
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Lyrics or not, it was a beautiful rendition of Born Free. It's been a very long time since I've heard the song - amazingly the lyrics were coming back to me. I remembered that I would walk around the house singing it - I remember it from the very short TV series rather than the original movie. At any rate, it's a beautiful song and Barry did an outstanding job with it. Beautiful arrangement, too.
Barry talked about the upcoming 80's CD. He included his joke about an "emotional version of Like A Virgin" - but he played it for all it was worth and it was very funny.
Then it was time for the 60's segment. Barry just seemed really, really happy at this point in the show. He had a smile on his face the entire time.
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The same happy mood carried over into the closing songs of the show. Copacabana was just plain fun. During the It's A Miracle reprise, Barry was bouncing and dancing all over the stage. I've never seem him so animated. It was just adorable.
After the show, the sister that I mentioned earlier reached over to touch my arm and said, "I understand why you keep coming back - that was incredibly uplifting." Yep, that's what Manilow does to us.
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