Barry Manilow By a Fanilow

The fun started in the lobby bar of the St. James Theatre, which featured fruity cocktails in adult sippy cups with fun names for the occasion. I got a a black T-shirt with diamond rhinestones that spell out Manilow. If you’re going to buy a Manilow T, it’s gotta have sparkle! Go all the way!

We had great seats in the center. I’m settling in, cracking my glow stick (passed out by the ushers) into action, when Joan Rivers, with about a five-person entourage, sauntered in. The tiny Joan, with perfectly coiffed immovable blond hair and a big white fur coat, was larger than life. As she sat down toward the front, I thought, “It’s too good! Barry and Joan in the same room! This is going to be a great show!”…and it was.

Not only can Barry write hit songs and sing them like no one else, but he’s funny, quick with a joke, including self-deprecating humor complete with “I’m old” quips. He’s a charming professional with perfect timing, musical and comedic. He knows just who he is and knows just how to sell it to us.

A gifted talent spanning multiple decades, this seemingly genuinely happy man from Brooklyn bestowed us with “I Made it Through the Rain” as tribute to our dealings with Sandy.

The concert was like participating in a romantic comedy sing along! His 50 Top-40 hits were all payed tribute to. “Somewhere Down the Road” was an unplanned request that Barry graciously accepted as he joked about remembering the words, and proceeded to bring the house down! Not a dry eye in the place. The whole collective experience was to laugh, cry, singalong and laugh some more! Barry was glorious in all his delicious crooniness!

We, the audience, gushed along to “Mandy,” swayed through “Can’t Live Without You,” gyrated through “Copacabana” and could not get enough of the big finale, “I Write the Songs.” Although Manilow did not come back for an encore, like a man who knows when to leave the party, he tied it up with a pretty bow and left us wanting more.