The sucess of Broadway's Carole King story bodes well for a Broadway musical on Barry's life

[marvin]

Last night, the actress who played Carole King in "Beautiful: The Carole King Story" won a Tony Award as best actress. The musical is a commercial hit on Broadway, mainly based on the popularity of King's more than 100 hits that she wrote and that Carole became one of the first songwriters who became popular as a singer as well.
Given the success of this musical, I would not be surprised if Broadway investors would be interested in a musical based on the many songs and life of Barry Manilow.
I have no doubt that a Broadway musical on Barry's life would be a commercial success, given the popularity of his song collection.
Whether Barry would agree to give his permission to such a musical is another matter entirely. Although Barry does not want his private life to be public, he may grant permission for such a musical if it is based on what he wrote about himself in "Sweet Life".
There is a very dramatic story for a Broadway musical on Barry's life that would make a musical on his life interesting, given that Barry always wanted to be a behind the scenes man and never the singer or the star up through the time he left Bette.
If the story details Barry's roots in Brooklyn, his marriage and divorce from Susan, his success with Bette Midler, his journey from commercial jingle writer to Broadway accompanist to lounge singer, his battles with Clive Davis, as well as his tales of bankruptcy and friendship with Garry Kief all make for an interesting story, just as interesting as the Carole King story.
The title of the musical could be "Could It Be Magic: The Barry Manilow Story' or "He Writes The Songs: The Barry Manilow Story".
I really do hope that Barry would give his consent to a musical based on his life.
What are your thoughts on a musical based on Barry's life and would you want to see this musical? Marvin

[dcsharon]

Actually, after watching Ms. King on the Tonys last night (to paraphrase) she mentioned that she had to face alot of memories -- some were good, some were bad and she wasn't proud of some of them. I think it's very difficult for anyone (performer or not) to look back and reflect on the not-so-nice things one may have done or decisions they have made that they regretted.

I think if you were going to tell the Barry Manilow story, I think it would be wonderful -- however, it couldn't be the feel-good story of "Sweet Life". We know a little of the tough times, but I think it would be a very powerful musical and I'd pay to see it.

However, there are fans who didn't care for "Harmony" or "Copa" because Barry didn't perform in it. If he wasn't performing, they might not go, but I believe they would be in the minority.

And, just for the record, I think "Looks like I got me a Friend" from Pebble and the Penguin is just as catchy and toe-tapping as "You've got a friend in me" from Aladdin. I'm still hoping that someday that becomes a touring musical. :-)

(DC) Sharon

[starn...@gmail.com]

"Marry the Mole"...Thumbelina.... cracks me up every time I hear it. Genius.
CA Sharon

[Blintzy]

For this to happen, Barry will have to reveal more about his private life. I doubt he would. There have already been attempts at musicals featuring his music which could be developed.

[starn...@gmail.com]

Sharon..."You've Got A Friend In Me" is from "Toy Story", isn't it? I've not seen Alladin, but I've seen "Toy Story" more times than is healthy.
CA Sharon
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> (DC) Sharon

[dcsharon]

>> Sharon..."You've Got A Friend In Me" is from "Toy Story", isn't it? I've not seen Aladdin, but I've seen "Toy Story" more times than is healthy.
CA Sharon

You're right - it's "(ain't never had a)Friend like me" ... too many friend titles! I've seen Aladdin more times than I can count (the ankle biters know it's my favorite so when I babysit, that's the one we watch!).

The lyrics go so quickly (from Aladdin) here they are.

http://www.lyrics007.com/Aladdin%20Lyrics/Friend%20Like%20Me%20Lyrics.html

(DC) Sharon

[marvin]

On Monday, June 9, 2014 2:41:20 PM UTC-4, Blintzy wrote:
For this to happen, Barry will have to reveal more about his private life. I doubt he would. There have already been attempts at musicals featuring his music which could be developed.

Blintzy, we are both aware that there is more about Barry's private life than he would want revealed in a musical based on his life.
However, there are dramatic stories about Barry's life that he revealed publicly in Sweet Life that have tension and drama that are not well known about Barry to the general public that would make the musical interesting, such as the dramatic story revolving around the relationship between Barry and his mother involving her attempting suicide a few times,and the non relationship with his father as well as the story of Barry's near bankruptcies and his battles with Clive Davis over recording Clive's song choices over Barry's own written songs, as well as Barry's marriage and divorce, as the story is guided through Barry's adventures as a CBS mail room clerk, a jingle writer, a lounge pianist, music director for Bette Midler, and then becoming the singing star that he never desired to be.
I honestly think Barry's story as we know it is just as interesting as the life story of Carole King and her musical is a bona fide hit on Broadway, so I have no doubt that most of Barry's fans would flock to buy tickets to see a musical about his life.
I also think Neil Patrick Harris would be my choice, for both his acting and singing abilities, to play Barry.
If this musical would ever happen, which actor/singer would you like to see play Barry? Marvin

[Blintzy]

Those elements alone are not sufficient to create a successful Broadway show. Carole King's story is more interesting than Barry's as we know it. She has been married 4 times. One of her husbands died from a drug overdose. She was a victim of abuse and has been politically active. Even then the Broadway show of her life and career hasn't been what is generally accepted as a success as reviews have been mixed.

[marvin]

Those elements alone are not sufficient to create a successful Broadway show. Carole King's story is more interesting than Barry's as we know it. She has been married 4 times. One of her husbands died from a drug overdose. She was a victim of abuse and has been politically active. Even then the Broadway show of her life and career hasn't been what is generally accepted as a success as reviews have been mixed.

Thank you for your eloquent post Blintzy. The one common element in Carole King's story that is the same as Barry Manilow is that they both wanted to not be performers or stars. That idea was fully detailed in "Beautiful" and could work to some success on a musical based on Barry's life.
I think you are right that there are many dark moments in Carole King's life that make it more interesting as a musical than what we know of Barry's life. Marvin

[Cozy]

<< She has been married 4 times. One of her husbands died from a drug overdose. She was a victim of abuse and has been politically active. >>

I just saw the show today, and did not get any of that info from the show at all. The show only portrayed her marriage to Gerry Goffin. None of the rest of her life that you mentioned.

It also included a lot of their friendship and competition with Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann.

It was an AMAZING show...smartly written book, fabulous songs, and great acting/talent on the stage.

I think it might be possible that what parts of Barry's personal life that he has made public along with his career story could carry a musical if it's written as well as "Beautiful" is. But if it leaves out the most important element of who he is personally, and only focuses on the career stuff, it probably wouldn't go deep enough to be satisfying.

If you're in NY, RUN to see BEAUTIFUL! It's fantastic!

[marvin]

If you're in NY, RUN to see BEAUTIFUL! It's fantastic! Cozy

Thanks for the post Cozy and you pointed out that even though Carole King's full life story is not detailed in "Beautiful" such as her three other husbands, that the story and of course her music is strong enough to make the musical worth seeing as it has become a commercial hit.
I think the Barry Manilow songs are strong enough to carry a musical based on his life, On the career side of the story, what might be interesting is the story on how Barry met and collaborated with Marty and Bruce and why Barry chose to have many lyrical partners instead of only one as many songwriting teams of the past did.
The era of the 1970s when Barry was constantly the target of ridicule by comedians, some rock musicians and rock music critics had to be frustrating and upsetting for Barry and would be interesting as part of his story.
Also, the ups and downs of working for Clive Davis- was there ever a point in Barry's long history with Clive that Barry had enough frustration of not having his written songs being recorded and thinking of leaving Arista as other artists did when Clive did not encourage them to record their own songs. There is both tension and admiration from both, and if the actors playing Barry and Clive can create deep emotional scenes (like we saw with the record producers with The Four Seasons in "Jersey Boys") it would give us an inside glimpse into what Barry had to endure for decades by working with Clive.
Other aspects of Barry's life- working with Bette and then leaving Bette for a singing career he never saw coming in 1971; Barry's ups and downs with his mother, especially dealing with her suicide attempts, his marriage and divorce from Susan; his romantic involvements with Adrienne, Linda, Lorna, choosing not to be married to anyone are all dramatic and personal topics in the life of Barry Manilow that are deep in emotion that would come alive on stage
Also central to the story, especially from the 1980s on, is the importance of Garry as Barry's business manager and best friend, on how Garry rescued Barry from near bankruptcy and kept his career going and how the critics and public alike started to admire Barry more as the years rolled on, especially for his devotion of keeping music education alive in the public schools.
Overall, there is enough tension, drama and deep raw emotion to the Barry Manilow story that would be compelling on stage. As Blintzy pointed out, a deeper understanding of the Barry Manilow offstage (As opposed to the BARRY MANILOW on stage) is crucial for a musical on Barry's life to be both a commercial and critical hit.
Whether Barry would consent to such a project is another matter altogether. But I hope he does. Barry's life story as told though his music would make such a compelling, entertaining musical that I can see being a hit on Broadway. Marvin

[bookworm]

Not in a million years because Barry is too private. There was a special about Barry's music career already on TV but I forgot which channel it was on. JW

[marvin]

Agree with JW that Barry is very private and the most interesting thing about a musical on his life- his life in Palm Springs and all that happened in his private life from the 1960s through now- he probably will never consent to reveal to us. Perhaps if Barry ever was to retire from performing, maybe then he will share, but until that happens, there won't be any musical about his life that would be compelling to attract audiences. Marvin