On Friday, Barry Manilow announced that his long-in-the-works musical Harmony is finally coming to Broadway. But he tells ABC Audio he wouldn’t want to turn his life into a musical, like fellow stars Neil Diamond and Carole King have done.
“I’m not interested in being a part of something like that. And I’ll tell you why: I don’t have the drama,” he notes. “My life is pretty boring…I haven’t got enough drama in it to keep the curtain up for two acts!”
“Yeah, I got the music, but I haven’t got the story that other other guys have…So I wouldn’t be interested in doing it myself,” he adds. “But if somebody else is? Sure!”
Harmony, which opens in November at the Barrymore Theater, has taken more than 20 years to hit Broadway. It’s the true story of the Comedian Harmonists, an internationally famous German vocal group whose career was essentially ended by the Nazis.
“It takes a long time to get a Broadway musical up. We all know that,” says Barry. “But..we would always hit some wall that would stop it from coming in to New York. But this time…we’re coming in!”
It’s just one thing Barry has going on at the moment: He’ll play five shows at Radio City Music Hall later this month and on Monday, he’s being honored by the New York Pops orchestra, which will perform his music with guest singers like Dionne Warwick and Melissa Manchester.
Barry says he’ll be “sitting there with my Kleenex, ready to applaud” during the tribute, and admits he’s most excited to see them do “Copacabana,” because of the guest vocalist.
“I asked Charo,” he says. “I mean, can you think of a better person to sing ‘Copacabana’ than Charo? And she said yes!”
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