I've been reading the battles on the boards and the mixed reviews about the new show. To be totally honest, I was almost a little apprehensive about seeing it. (guess it just goes to show the power of words) So, before I start this review, and before anyone comes unglued if I say something that isn't 100% positive, maybe I need to make a few statements.
Yes, he does still look wonderful, and sound wonderful, and if he's about to die on us, he's hiding it well.
Yes, I still love him - trust me, there's no one that loves him more - so no problems there.
Lastly, it's been somewhat of a rough summer for me personally. The music I've listened to has been restricted to heavy metal or contemporary Christian (how's that for range!) - if the song had anything to do with love, I wasn't going to listen to it. So, here I am at a Manilow show - makes a lot of sense, huh? Shattered heart - Manilow love songs - great combination! I thought I was ready - I wasn't - Barry did what he does best, he found every single emotion I've been trying to hide. So, I guess that proves he did his job with the show, even though my emotional state lowered my enthusiasm level a little.
All of that totally unnecessary drivel aside, on to the review... Things may be out of order, I may miss some things - I don't take notes, I rely totally on memory - and there was a lot of change to keep up with.
Thursday morning I hopped on the boards and lists and groups looking for some word on the new show. The first things I read said "all ballads, no upbeat stuff" - okay, in my current state of mind, that didn't sound very promising. Then a little later I read reviews saying that nothing had changed. Well, those two points of view kind of contradict each other. So...
Change - yes, in my opinion, this show has changed. I realize some people don't think it has - but when I look back at all of the details, it really isn't the same show. There will always have to be similarities - do we want to go to the show and hear him sing songs that are totally unfamiliar to us? Just a guess on my part, but I would think that any changes to the show would have to balance out with the costs associated with those changes. I guess I really don't know what others expect when they hear "new show", so maybe that's why I can't quite understand when people say it hasn't changed. In my opinion, it *has* changed - a lot. And while I'm not necessarily crazy about all the changes, I do like some of them - and I'm willing to give the others a chance. Besides, we're talking about Barry Manilow here - he changes everything - he's never satisfied. This show will evolve into another masterpiece, I have no doubt.
All ballads - no, it's not all ballads. Yes, the energy level of the show is very different. I don't know if that's because the show is still a work in progress or if this will be a permanent change. (or maybe it was just me) But there definitely did seem to be a drop in the energy level.
The first thing I noticed was, of course, that "Ultimate Manilow The Hits" was displayed on the "screen" as we walked in the door. I like this new logo - I think it's a nice design - and it's blue - anything blue is okay by me! They have put draped material (couldn't tell what) over the railings between the side stage seats and the audience. They've also put up curtains along the far walls where you used to be able to look down the corridors. As someone else already mentioned, the side "stage" areas are now bare.
The intro to the show was very different. The graphics are lovely - the music is nice - but at the same time, something about it just didn't seem to fit Manilow. I'll see if my feelings about that change after a few shows.
Someone else mentioned that when the curtain comes up, you can see Kye there playing guitar. You could see Kye's silhouette - he was playing electric guitar, with a rock riff. On the right of Kye are the silhouettes of Chris, Steve and Brandon. On the left is the silhouette of David playing a drum. The brass section is also playing - excellently, I might add. It was all a very nice touch - a great opening.
The lighting, especially the choice of colors is fantastic. Somehow that statement doesn't convey just how great that part of the show really was. Everything was not only colorful, it was shiny and shimmery. The set was beautiful.
The sound left something to be desired - especially the beginning of the show. It wasn't good at all. But that did get corrected within the first few songs. Again, a work in progress. That's okay - these are the previews.
The graphics that are being displayed on the screen behind them as they perform are different for much of the show. Not only are they different, we can actually see them now. They were always much more visible during the arena shows than they were in Vegas. Now they're very sharp and clear.
Barry opened with It's A Miracle - I hope that never changes - it's perfect. This is where I first noticed a change in the energy level, though. I'm still questioning whether or not that was just me.
Next Barry sang the opening medley - Daybreak, Somewhere in the Night, This One's For You. He didn't perform this in quite the same manner even though it was the same songs. For one thing, he walked the stage during the songs - in the past, he would walk during Daybreak, but stay center stage for the rest of it.
A couple of times during the show, Barry mentioned the gratitude that he has for his fans. It sounded very, very sincere.
I think one of the things that has been receiving criticism is what I'm calling the "decades medley". I'm going to reserve judgment on that until I've seen the show a few times. It's new, it's not what we've been used to seeing - I have no doubt Barry will be tweaking it.
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What I do like about it - the way it starts off with Barry singing a snippet of The Old Songs, then Barry and gang sitting on stools on the stage. I also love the costumes, especially those silver jackets - just gorgeous. And I like the way they come out to the front of the stage during the medley, the curtain comes down behind them - the colors are just amazing.
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What I don't like about it... No, I won't say I don't like it - let's just say that it didn't "move me" - it didn't flow. And there wasn't "enough." And that takes some explanation, I know... I had to come to Vegas for a business trip in July, when Barry wasn't here. (Vegas without Barry is no fun!) I went to see Donny & Marie at the MGM Grand. I really can't say that I enjoyed the show - mainly because all they sang were tiny little snippets of their songs.
That's kind of how I felt during the decades medley last night. There just wasn't enough of each song. Now, Barry is a master at coming up with a great medley, so I'm sure I'll be loving this before it's all said and done. But last night it just didn't work for me.
The 40's segment was the most changed - would you believe I can't recall the song that Barry was singing? It wasn't one of the ones that he's been doing lately. (I don't think!)
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For the 50's, he did snippets of Bandstand Boogie and Love Is A Many Splendored Thing. For the 60's, he did *very* short snippets of Can't Take My Eyes Off You and You've Lost That Loving Feeling. I think these were the weakest points in the medley. There really wasn't enough of these songs - so little that it seemed as if they were out of place, they didn't even belong in the medley. Of course, those are fan favorites, not civilian favorites - I understand that. Time-wise, I can't tell you if he literally sang more of one song than another during the medley - it's just my perception.
At some point during the medley, when Barry and the backups are all standing at the front of the stage with the curtain lowered behind them, each of them does a little dance step. Then Barry "pretends" to be tap dancing. It's very cute. Oh, I remember - that was during the 50's segment. Then they all gather together and pretend to be waving at the camera, with Barry trying to block each of them. That's definitely a carryover from the old show, but it's cute.
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Where the old 60's segment featured each of the girls singing a song from the Supremes, this featured much shorter segments by each of them singing...something...I can't remember. Can't believe I've forgotten that, too. During this part Barry is on the far right and Kye is on the far left - after the girls finish singing, Barry and Kye walk toward each other at center stage, singing together. Then the girls come down and join them. It had the same feeling of camaraderie that What the World Needs Now Is Love segment.
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Another spot that didn't quite work for me was Ready To Take A Chance Again. He does a little of it, but then moves on to something else. And then later comes back to it, walks over to the right side stage, grabs a girl, and has a very quick dance. I saw someone else post that he danced to Somewhere in the Night. I honestly don't know - I just remember that it lacked the emotion and personal touch it usually has. I'm sure it was still very emotional for the lucky lady! I just mean from a spectator point of view, it seemed kind of hurried.
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Somewhere in the first part of the show, Barry introduced a song by saying it was the most romantic he'd ever done. It was Weekend in New England. He did a beautiful job with it. There was a lot of yelling out during the song - at the beginning it was kind of cute. Barry had some cute facial expressions. But some still yelled out at other points during the song and I found that a little irritating. Surprisingly, only a handful of us gave a standing ovation - it deserved much better than that.
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New York City Rhythm is basically unchanged. The keyboardists all come down and play their little solos - which they all did very well, by the way. (It's a 3-way tie!)
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Copa in the middle of the show is different. But it worked. It starts out with Kye and the girls coming out in the costumes that they used to close the show with - Kye in the green jacket, the girls in those smaller feathered headdresses. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Barry standing just off stage in the red crushed velvet jacket. Then he came on stage to do Copa.
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He finishes with "Don't fall in love", and then runs off stage. Stairs appear in the fog at the back between the 2 band sections. Kye bounces down the stairs in the outfit that he's been wearing for the arena shows. He gets a little solo moment. Then the girls come down the stairs, first Melanie, then Monica, then Keely. They're wearing those huge feathered headdresses from the arena shows. Then Barry comes out in his bright yellow jacket - and I agree with another person's post - I love that jacket and I hope he doesn't change it. The platform is lowered, and Barry walks up the stairs to do that portion of the show alone.
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After Copa was finished, Barry introduced each of his backups at center stage. I thought that was a nice touch, in contrast to the introductions he did during the old show as they ran off stage. Barry had already introduced the band in the same way he always has - but that's really the only way he can do that.
Somewhere in there Barry sang Can't Smile Without You. Again, a drop in energy level. Again, I'm questioning if it's just me.
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The last half of the show seemed much more cohesive. This was also where we got all of those heart-wrenching ballads. Barry started with Memory - no jokes about cats tonight. He did a beautiful job with it - that was his biggest standing ovation of the night.
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Barry also did I Made It Through the Rain, complete with Grandpa Joe. He got another standing ovation for that one.
The highlight of the night (and also my lowest point, go figure) was the combination of Somewhere Down the Road and Ships. There was no lack of emotion in this. The vocals were beautiful. He mentioned having lost his father before the age of two. There were tears in his eyes during the songs. I was, quite frankly, dying - it was all I could do to keep from crying. But it was worth it. And I certainly hope he doesn't take this bit out anytime soon. After Barry finished the songs, he walks out through the fog. This really was the best part of the show.
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Some joker yelled out in the middle of this portion of the show - that wasn't amusing.
There was a glitch in the Midnight Special showing prior to the Mandy/Could It Be Magic medley. Baby Barry froze on us. But they unstuck him after a few seconds. :-)
One of my favorite moments of the show was that Barry wore my favorite white jacket for the Mandy medley. (this is supposed to be a show about music and I'm thrilled about an article of clothing - nothing wrong with me!)
Mandy/Could It Be Magic were very, very good. There didn't seem to be as much emotion as there normally is. That was something that I noticed about the entire night - not only a drop in energy, but also a drop in emotion. And once again, I'm questioning whether or not it was just my state of mind.
I Write the Songs was basically unchanged - it was very good, and the audience sang along well with him.
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I'm not remembering the details, but somewhere in there Barry does a jacket change and moves into the It's A Miracle reprise. Again, I hope that never changes - I think it's the perfect song - something upbeat to send out the audience.
As someone else mentioned, the streamers are now a silver material like mylar. I had learned to protect my eyes when the paper streamers came down because I had been hit in the face so often by wads of streamers that didn't unroll. Well, I got smacked with a bullet of mylar that hurt worse than the paper! But I'll live. LOL These new streamers are really pretty. I'll bet they're a lot easier to clean up, too (although, more difficult to try to walk through because they're hard to break).
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The show seemed longer than normal - no idea if it was or not - again, I don't keep up with those things. It could just be that because so much was different, I couldn't anticipate and it made it seem longer.
And despite the few downers I experienced, I'm really looking forward to tonight's show. (Anyone know where I can get a Prozac? LOL) And I already dread knowing that when I leave tonight I won't be seeing it again for a month.
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