I can say is “Wow!” What began as just a crazy idea is now officially my
personal tribute
show to Barry Manilow, the best selling solo artist of all time. And what a long
journey it’s been
in preparing this show. It all began at the 1st Annual Sunburst Celebrity
Impersonators and
Tribute Artists Conference in Orlando in the spring of 2004. There were Tina
Turners, Elvises,
Marilyn Monroes, a Rod Stewart, Elton John, Madonna and many more, but
“Wait, no Barry!”
And that’s when it hit me! “Why not me, I’m a professional singer and musician
and at my pianobar
events, people frequently tell me I look and sound like Barry Manilow.” And so,
just nine
months and countless hours of rehearsal later, I arrived onstage with my Copa
Dancers and a
baby grand piano and won the IGCITA / Sunburst award for “Best Showcase
Presentation.”
And that was all the encouragement I needed.
I’ve always openly been a Barry
Manilow fan - a tough thing for most men to admit, but
here is a man whose achievements include Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards,
44 albums, & 38
Top 40 Hits. The man is simply amazing. I seriously believe that if mankind
could create the perfect
musical human prototype, the end result would be Barry Manilow: a pianist, a
composer, an arranger,
a songwriter, an accompanist, a musical director, a commercial jingle writer, a
scorer of Broadway
musicals, a producer, an incredible vocalist, and a spectacular showman.
Nobody alive even comes
close to excelling in all of these categories - Barry Manilow is the perfect
“Musical Prototype.”
I grew up playing piano in the heart of the pop Manilow era. By 1976, you could
find Mandy in most
Greatest Hits Piano Books, and with Barry always on the radio with hit after hit:
Could It Be Magic,
Tryin’ To Get The Feeling, I Write The Songs, American Bandstand,
Copacabana, This One’s For You,
Even Now, The Old Songs, Somewhere In The Night, Weekend In New England
and many more, his
songs naturally influenced my musical style. And still today, Barry songs always
connect. Women
still go crazy over Copacabana and melt over Mandy, and the men reluctantly
join in on I Write
The Songs, but they always finish up strong. (As I suspected all along, the men
knew ALL the words.)
I would have never guessed that this - a Barry Manilow Tribute Act - would be
such a ticket to
adventure. Go Figure! However, there can be a downside to being compared
to a musical icon.
When the curtain opens, some people might think “Does this nutcase actually
believe he is the second coming of Barry Manilow?” To them I say, “Chill out!
It’s just me, a Manilow impersonator, performing Barry with a twist.”
And besides, I could think of no better reason to wear a wig and have my
picture taken with a beagle.
Not a bad job. And honestly, that’s what this whole thing is all about - having a
great time through song.
It’s beautiful, “Beautiful Music.”
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