Everybody loves Barry Manilow. Resisting his music is futile. Manilow wrote songs that made the whole world sing, then had a hit written by someone else titled “I Write the Songs.” Manilow went from playing piano for Bette Midler at the Continental Bathhouse in the early ’70s to garnering a GRAMMY nomination for his production work on her album The Divine Miss M two years later.
Manilow wrote jingles for Band-Aid, McDonald’s and State Farm that became iconic before he became famous. He had feathered hair before Farrah Fawcett became famous. He was signed to a record deal by Tony Orlando, before Orlando became famous as a television star, and matched with a group of musicians called Featherbed. He wrote “Could It be Magic” with Orlando before becoming a solo star. Donna Summer turned “Could It Be Magic” into a disco hit in 1976. In 1977, ABC broadcast the first of four hit Manilow-starring television specials.
Barry Manilow lives to work and perform. He graze diets because the human body needs calories to be productive and he’s so focused he might otherwise forget to eat. Still, he would likely know if you raided his wardrobe.
His Fanilows are arguably the most faithful and considerate superfans any artist could acquire. Fanilows have contagious enthusiasm that supercharges every concert.
Yes, he plays all the hits. Yes, people cry during “Mandy.” Yes, “Copacabana” is part of the setlist and gets everyone on their feet to dance. Yes, Manilow has surprises for fans catching his long-running residency at Westgate Las Vegas Resort for the first time.
At 78, he has the apparent energy of a decades-younger Barry Manilow. He’s a great storyteller. His latest endeavor is a musical, Harmony, that opened in March for a limited engagement at National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene in New York. He made it through the rain, kept his world protected, kept his point of view, and found himself respected. Now he’s a living legend.
Westgate Las Vegas, ticketmaster.com
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