Friday, September 7, 2007

He writes the songs...

...and he'll be singing them twice next week in his hometown of Brooklyn!

Yes, Barry Manilow, the greatest showman of this or any other generation, will tape his second TV special for PBS next Tuesday & Wednesday at Steiner Studios.

The two shows (Tuesday at 5 p.m. and Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.) will be combined into one PBS special, which will air in December. They come a week before Barry releases his newest CD, "The Greatest Songs of the Seventies."

Next week's shows are invitation-only, and moments after I got the e-mail from his fan club a week ago today, I replied. Ever since, I've been checking my e-mail feverishly, waiting for the confirmation message they said would come by Sept. 10th.

(I actually didn't want to write about this until I got definite confirmation, figuring if I blogged about it before then, I'd jinx myself. Ah, whatever!)

And so I wait...

Barry did a similar dual-taping last year, when he filmed his first PBS special, "Manilow: Music and Passion." Barry's "The Greatest Songs of the Sixties" came out at the same time, and some of the then-new songs were on that show.

That taping, though, took place at the Las Vegas Hilton, where Barry's been doing his "Music and Passion" show for a few years. Hence, the Poughkeepsie-to-Vegas trip was kinda hard to swing at the last minute.

Still, Barry won an Emmy for that PBS special last year — when we saw him play Atlantic City back in October, he actually brought the Emmy on stage with him to open the show — so I'm looking forward to two great shows!

Over the past 12 years, I've seen Barry Manilow nine times (next week should make Concert No. 10 and No. 11), from Poughkeepsie to Tampa, from Cargenie Hall to Foxwoods, and he's never failed to put on an amazing performance.

I'm sure next week won't be different. Hopefully, I'll let you know!

Photo at top right courtesy of RCA Music Group, used with permission.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Barry Manilow is one of the greatest performers and song writers of our times.I think he's great !!

Anonymous said...

I saw him in concert in Vegas a few years ago and it was one of the most spectacular shows I have ever been to - I hope you get the tickets and blog away after the show...looking forward to your comments. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

nys1emt

joni said...

We are all waiting to hear if we got tickets.Hope to see you there,
and your right Manilow puts on one heck of a show!!!

Anonymous said...

oh i have been checking my e mail daily too!!!

i hope we both get the tickets

until then i am looking forward to tonights show

good luck to both of us!!!!

Anonymous said...

The "M&P from Las Vegas" was taped December 12, 2005 (almost 2 years ago), but it aired last year. We were fortunate enough to get tickets to both tapings, and it was a blast.

We're all anxiously awaiting news of the PBS taping from Brooklyn! Here's hoping everyone that wants to go gets in!

Anonymous said...

Hi Sean
I live in Brooklyn and I didn't hear about this! So happy to hear that Barry is remembering his roots. I hope you got the tickets!

Pat

PS: Bo Bice's new album SEE THE LIGHT is available for preorder on Wal Mart's web site!

http://downloads.walmart.com/swap/

Anonymous said...

Hi Sean,

I just moved to the West Coast...had I still remained in VA, I would be there in a heartbeat.

SS