Well, Santa Claus paid us a visit - Santa Barry that is! I got my Christmas wish - he sang two
Christmas songs for us. First Barry did a beautiful rendition of River. He told us that they
didn't know any songs from the new CD yet, but that he would do one from the second CD. Then he
said he might not be able to hit the two high notes, but that he would try. And he hit them just
fine - he sounded wonderful. The ending was especially pretty, not only his vocals but his
mannerisms and gestures. I think that was probably my favorite moment of the entire show.
After River, Barry sang Happy Holidays/White Christmas. I was trying to remember if I've ever see
him do that one live. If I have, it hasn't been more than once. I really enjoyed it. And the ending
of that one seemed to have a little more of a groove than the original.
Anyway, Friday night was a special treat with all of the extra songs, and Saturday night was icing
on the cake. It was 36 hours before I started suffering from post-Manilow depression this time around!
Barry had the old-fashioned mic out in front during Moonlight Serenade again. Before the song he
gestured toward it and said that he was a big band singer. I really do think that's a nice addition
to the song. I never would have thought that such a small change would make such a big difference
in the performance, but it really does make it sound like a new song (not that I was tired of the
old one). His gestures and performance add to it.
Barry still seemed up and bouncy. During Bandstand Boogie, he was trying to do the high kicks right
along with the backups. Well, he tried to do it once - then he switched back to small kicks. But
throughout the night we got a lot of cute little dance steps during songs. He also laughed a lot
during the show - he seemed to be in a great mood.
Tonight when Barry walked over to the cotton candy piano (I love calling it that) during Jump Shout
Boogie, he was giving us a little shake while he played. Now THAT was cute!
I keep forgetting to mention Looks Like We Made It. He's been doing that right after The Way We
Were during the 70's segment. And I don't know why I keep forgetting to mention it because it's
so great. It's the up-tempo version with a groove.
The last few times I've seen Looks Like We Made It performed, Barry has used his eyes to convey
the same effect that the old thigh rub used to produce - and it works! Amazing how many hearts
he can make flutter with a little glance and a pout!
There was a funny moment during What the World Needs Now is Love - when Monica came up to give
Barry a little hug (as they always do), she kissed him on the cheek. But she left a big lipstick
smudge on him. Keely tried to wipe it off, unsuccessfully. Then after they finished the song,
both Kye and Melanie were trying to wipe it off. They still didn't get it off completely - you
could still see a trace of it until Barry went backstage before beginning Mandy.
Keely and Melanie were especially funny during the 50's segment tonight - each trying to push
and/or pull the other away from Barry as he sang. Just picture Barry singing Love Is A Many
Splendored Thing (and he's cutting up, as well) with a mini cat fight going on in the background. LOL
There was either a change to lighting during the 70's segment or I just now noticed it - I'll
have to go back and look at photos from previous shows to see if I can tell... When they raise
they curtain to start It Never Rains in Southern California, the backdrop is a series of
rectangles. All I ever remember seeing in the past is purple - but last night the middle
section was green with both sides purple. I've never noticed it before - of course, that's
not unusual because it takes several shows to catch all of the fine details. But I thought
it looked cool, anyway.
In spite of everything that threatened to disrupt my 100th show weekend (from every different
angle you can imagine!), it turned out great. Memorable shows and lots of fun. Interestingly
enough, when I gathered up streamers to take home as a souvenir, they were all white! Not by
design - that's simply the only color that fell around me! Even THAT was special! (And will
make it easy to identify which show they were from!)
