Not much of a review this time, I'm afraid. In retrospect, making this last minute trip probably wasn't the brightest idea. Not feeling great and too rushed. And had to run out of the theater the minute the final curtain went down because of how early my flight home was. But it's interesting to note that if you do hit the aisle the second that curtain goes down you can actually get out of the theater without getting delayed! Don't guess it really matters much anymore - but that used to be important at the Hilton when I was trying to catch those midnight flights after the show.
I was told that the Friday show was pretty spectacular and that it had a totally different atmosphere than this show. Don't know, since I wasn't there. This seemed more like a regular show. There were no interruptions at all to redo anything. When Barry first came on stage, the audience erupted into deafening cheers. But that seemed to die down as the show progressed. The audience was still very receptive and good to Barry. It's just that at the very beginning it really did feel like a taping.
I don't have any photos for you. They were actually allowing photos - as I said, it seemed like a normal show. I got my camera ready. But then an extremely tall man sat down in the seat immediately in front of me, tall enough that he blocked most of my view for the entire show. So I just decided it wasn't worth trying to take photos.
My ability to write on the nuances of Barry's performances kind of depends on my ability to actually see what Barry is doing. And since I could only see when Barry walked to the far left side of the stage or when he was standing up front at center stage and further right, then I can't really go into much detail about how he performed anything. His voice was wonderful, though - he sounded great.
Even Now sounded great - couldn't see Barry when he was sitting at the piano unless I leaned over into the personal space of the person sitting next to me - and I didn't want to do that often. From what I was able to see, it looked like Barry was putting on one of his more expressive performances. His voice had a lot of feeling in it. When he stood up and walked to center stage, that's certainly what I could see. For the long note at the end, I saw Barry start reaching toward the audience - and then the cameras all raised up in front of me and I couldn't see anything else. So I watched the man with the video camera - and he was filming it, close to center stage. Maybe that will be included in the special so people can see it.
I was able to see all of the Grandpa Joe segment except for This One's For You. Barry was very cute during the happy birthday bit. I Am Your Child was absolutely beautiful. There was a little glitch - and I kind of expected them to redo the song - but I guess they had what they needed from the night before. Regardless, it was really, really beautiful - Barry's voice was heaven. Didn't make me sad this time - might have something to do with the heated discussions I had at home in regard to this last minute trip to Vegas... I wasn't feeling very sentimental tonight! Ha!
Kind of wished I'd used the camera for Nature Boy. During that segment they actually put some golden light on Barry - not that violet glow that's normally there. So you could really see him. He didn't play things up while baby Barry sang. He just sat there and smiled, looked kind of thoughtful at times.
As I said, I couldn't see This One's For You. I tried leaning around to see, but it just wasn't working. And the one time that I actually got a view, a woman in the front row stood up and started singing and dancing along to the song - and I couldn't see anything then at all. I think the camera man asked her to do that - not positive on that - but the minute he stopped filming her, she sat back down. I remembered thinking that just didn't fit with this ballad - but what do I know? I'm not a TV person. When Barry stood up and walked to center stage to finish the song, he seemed very emotional. I've never quite seen him gesture with his hands the way he did.
I could only see portions of New York City Rhythm - such as the part where Barry dances with the backups. He was cute, but he played it down from what he normally does. For instance, no Dancing With the Stars remark. Couldn't see him playing his solo. Got a good view of Ron Pedley playing Gershwin. Got a good view of Joey - he played something different again tonight - but he also toned his performance down a little. Couldn't see Ron Walters Jr for the most part, but could hear him play, and could that he was playing differently, too. All three were really great. Very talented musicians.
15 Minutes was an excellent performance. Because of where Barry normally stands, I was able to see most of that song. Couldn't see the very beginning - so I watched Mike play guitar instead. (I spent a lot of time watching the band play tonight since I couldn't see what Barry was doing) Lots of attitude and fire in Barry's performance. I just love the expressions in his eyes during this song.
I watched David play drums at the beginning of the American Bandstand segment - really watched him play. I mean, I watched to see which drum he would hit, what his feet were doing. It was interesting - I'll never be that coordinated! Couldn't see Keely slide through Barry's legs - he yelled "Wipeout!", but when she stood up she was smiling - I'm going to assume she didn't wipeout. I had a good view of Barry doing the silly dances - he toned that down a little - he toned down most of the antics that he normally does for us. He did "The Nose", though.
I was actually able to see a lot of Mandy. Barry seemed to start out strong. Then the camera man had a couple stand up while he filmed them - that made some of the audience react, some giggled. Basically distracted people from what Barry was doing. Distracted me, so I really can't comment on the rest of the song.
I couldn't see I Write the Songs at all (while Barry was at the piano). In fact, couldn't even see the backups - Keely was the only one I could see at all. I saw Keely quietly respond to Barry at one point - I'm assuming that was the part where he usually says "I love you" to the backups. And then I saw her respond again when Barry sang, "have my own place in your soul".
Barry did play around a little with Copa - nothing big - he mainly just used some NY accents as he sang the song. They put more light on the backups during the "she lost her love" bit. And again I wished I had been taking photos because you could actually see them. I couldn't see either the descent or the ascent through the trapdoor. I did see Barry as he got to the top - he had a really cute smile on his face.
Basically could only see bits and pieces of the rest of the show. They must have made some kind of adjustments to the streamer cannons because those things shot out like missiles tonight. Had a couple hit me that kind of stung - reminded me of the Hilton days! But at least I had some streamers to take home with me.
Saw almost none of Barry's final bows - caught a little of it as he first walked back to center stage. And was glad of that because I got a good view of him in his tux - that's always important, ya know! Have no idea what he did for that final bow - don't know if he waved, blew a kiss - couldn't see any of it. Finally got a glimpse of his feet as the curtain finished going down. And I headed for the aisle so I could get out of there and get back to the hotel.
Sorry for the lousy review, but for the most part I just listened to the show.
All I can say is Barry sounded wonderful. And since this is going to be on TV or DVD or something later, then I guess I'll see it then.
Not joining everyone in the countdown to the December shows - don't want to rush it. But have to admit I do think about what Barry will do for us - if the set list will remain the same or if he'll throw in a special song or two. I wouldn't mind hearing Christmas Is Just Around the Corner, either. Guess it won't be much longer until we know.
