Manilow works his magic at Westgate
THE Kats! Bureau at this writing is the International Theater at the Westgate, where I have been outfitted with a pair of 3D glasses and two glow sticks (in case one runs short of glow).
This can mean only one thing: Manilow Live!
Barry Manilow is back in the showroom made famous by, among others, Elvis, Liberace, Wayne Newton … and Doug Henning. Yes, the late magician star of the 1970s and early ’80s was an inspiration of Joe Labero from “Inferno” at Paris Las Vegas, one of Manilow’s old Vegas haunts.
Labero, who is seeing Manilow for the first time, told me he last was in this venue in the mid-1970s, when he was a teenager and Henning was all over network television. The jeans, the long hair, the long-sleeved cosmic T-shirt … the magician would eventually be the subject of a terrific Martin Short impression.
Manilow opens with a video splash of album covers — “Manilow II,” “Duets,” “This One’s for You,” “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling.” His name is spelled out on the LED screen, which covers the width of the stage. “Hello Los Angeles,” “Hello Houston,” “Hello Denver.” He is taking us on a road trip. No “Hello Boise,” sad to say.
Samples of Manilow’s hits are played in a mashup, too, as a taste of what’s to come. Some artists would be averse to playing segments of their own music before a show. But not Manilow. He’s just tryin’ to get the feeling again. The crowd, rife with Fanilows, is all worked up.
“It’s a Miracle” kicks it off. “Hi, up there in the balcony!” the superstar shouts, an indication the balcony is indeed open. The Super Bowl party and Barry Manilow: That’s when the balcony is open at the International.
Manilow asks a question to which he knows the answer. “Where did the melodies go? They are right here tonight! We have loads of melodies.”
Love that. “Loads of Melodies” should be the subtitle of this show.
As he leads into “This
One’s for You,” Manilow tells us he was raised by two Russian immigrants. “They just thought I was the Kats’ pajamas!” he says, obviously a sly shout-out to yours truly.
As he faces the audience at the piano, I want to see an overhead shot of Manilow’s hands, moving across those keys. I’ve made this point before. When a world-famous pianist is playing live, in front of you, the scene begs for a look at his artistry.
As the opening bars of “On Broadway” play, Manilow shows up in a leather jacket on stage right. Like magic (#Henning)! His arrival startles those on house left.
“Scared the (stuff ) out of you, eh?” Barry the Badass says.
We’re in 3D mode for “This Is My Town,” and we take an aerial tour of New York. “Superman, eat your heart out!” Manilow calls as we fly up the side of the Empire State Building and out to Yankee Stadium and Coney Island. It might be fun to use this time-honored effect for a tour of Las Vegas.
If you can actually hear swooning, you hear it at the start of “Weekend in New England.” “When can I touch you?” Manilow sings, and there are shouts of “Now!” He laughs, breaking the song and saying, “Thank you!”
Wonderfully constructed song. This is a real story, and as Manilow always says, the phrase “Weekend in New England” isn’t in it.
Oh, maybe we know this one: “I am stuck on Band- Aid! ’Cause Band-aid’s stuck on me!” Manilow runs through a few of his commercial jingles from the ’70s. “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is theeeere!”
Displayed grandly behind Manilow is an image of his debut album, from 1973, or as he says, “1821.” He glances at the screen and says, “I look like the Mona Lisa there.”
I’d forgotten Donna Summer covered “Could It Be Magic?” Manilow performs that version. With his backing dancers in red sequins … we have groovers.
“So!” Manilow asks at the end of that dance-fest. “What’s your 75-year-old grandfather doing tonight? When I was a kid, the only thing my grandfather could bring up was phlegm!” But as he says, “Age does not matter — unless you’re a banana!”
The song written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, “I Write the Songs,” has the crowd waving glow sticks.
A full-splash “Copacabana” closes this one, with Manilow decked out in a blazing fuschia jacket. He and the backing singers take to a horseshoe-shaped catwalk built especially for the show. This room has had a lot of work over the years, I say from a booth designed for “The Elvis Experience,” a short-lived show from a few years ago.
“Copacabana” might seem twice-dated by now, a 1970s song reminiscing about the ’50s. But in three crisp verses, the song tells a whole story. I’ve long felt there are two types of people in this world: Tonys and Ricos. Except for Barry. He stands alone.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal. com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @Johnnykats1 on Instagram. As of 9 p.m. Friday:
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