Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2006 09:10:46 -1000 (HST)
From: Jackie M. Young <jyoung@lava.net>
Subject: OMG--I "Lei-ed" Barry Manilow!!! ;=)

Yes, your little eyes read correctly, I *lei-ed* Barry Manilow (too bad it
wasn't the _other_ kind of "lei", but that's for another time and
place.....;) ). ;=) LOL

Just came back from the Thurs. 3/30/2006 show, and am typing this up on my
iBook at the hotel (will try to send this out tomorrow from the Hilton cafe,
since the Stardust--where I'm staying--doesn't have free wireless ;=( ).

I wasn't really sure it would work, and I took a chance I'd be rejected
publicly (when hasn't Barry been *finicky* about certain things? ;( ), but I
went ahead and "chanced 'em" (like we say here in Hawai'i ;) ), and I
brought two lei with me to Vegas--one for Russ McKinnon, Barry's drummer,
and one to give to Barry at the Thurs. show where I had side stage seats
(Dew Drop Inn side).

I just left Russ' lei for him at the front desk, but Barry's I brought with
me to the show.

Mattie, the house manager, had told me she thought it might be OK that I
give the lei to Barry, but the security guard on my side told me he didn't
think it would work because Barry doesn't like his routine to be upset.  I
agreed with him and knew it might not work, but I told him if he wouldn't
mind I'd try and if I was rejected, I'd just give him the lei afterwards to
take backstage to Barry.  The guard seemed to be luckily agreeable.

Although the crowd seemed to be mostly civilian, there were a few fans to
liven things up (of course, I was one of the most vocal cheerleaders :) ),
and amazingly sometimes the civilians actually took our lead and stood up.
;P LOL

For a Thurs. night, the few of us were quite raucous, and even Barry
commented on "where did you guys come from on a Thurs. night?--a few weeks
ago we had a cement mixers convention here!" ;) , and he seemed to enjoy it
and give us his all as usual and was in very strong voice.

When he got to the Dew Drop Inn segment I kinda pulled out my lei (tuberose
braided with ti leaf) to show him and I eyeballed him and he eyeballed me
and nodded, so I knew he would accept it.

For some reason I wasn't really nervous (maybe because I had already played
out all the possible rejection scenarios in my head, so I felt either it
would happen or not, there wasn't anything I could do to control it), but it
felt good when I did it and he seemed pleased and let me (of course) give
him a kiss on his right cheek.  He had on light make-up, but nothing
outlandish, pretty much what I saw two years ago (can it be that long?) at
my Platinum in Denver.

He said it was sweet of me to bring the lei and asked my name and then said
something about how he was scared it would be hard to pronounce or
something, and then he quickly moved on (I was about to tell him how the
name of our local club might be harder for him--Manilow Menehune--but he cut
me off).  I kinda felt like he didn't want to spend too long with me, either
for time reasons, or because he didn't want to show favoritism to one
person, etc. ;/  Oh well.

Afterwards, during other "audience handholding" segments (HATM dance number,
Copa), he avoided my side of the front row, and I understood that he was
trying to give chances to other folks. ;/

I still can't believe it worked out.  I wasn't dying, but it did leave a
semi-permanent smile on my face, and I still feel like a fool walking around
in public. ;=)

It was all worth it to *drag* those two packages around with me in my
backpack on the plane, worry about crushing them, and then worry about
keeping them cold in a fridge I had to ask to be brought up to my hotel
room. ;=^

I was pleased that Barry kept my lei on for the rest of the segment, which
lasted until the '50s part.  He looked *absolutely stunning* with it on (you
know the white and green of the tuberose and ti leaf contrasted nicely with
his white coat), and I have pictures to prove it. ;=)

However, it naturally didn't last forever--he had to take the lei off for
the coat change for Venus, and I saw him push the lei off the piano where he
had put it because Monica (?) faux-faints on the piano during that segment
and it would've been a prob for her. ;(  Oh well--it was nice while it
lasted.  And it was treated like the prop it was. ;/

The rest of the show you folks know about from the PBS special, etc.  He's
doing the '50s segment and the HATM segment, and tonight he did It's Not For
Me To Say on the Rock Bottom Cafe side, sung to a lucky girl he picked from
the front row--*very* romantic, as he swayed with her from side to side
while he sang to her!!!  Every woman's fantasy come true!!! ;=)  Oh, how I
wish that could've been me!!! ;=) *sigh*  I saw that lady after the show in
the line to pick up our audience photos they were selling in an album with
Barry photos (new item, for $40), and she seemed *ecstatic* that she got the
chance to do that with him. ;=)

He's also doing a new medley of hits at the end starting off with IWTS, then
seguing into Some Kind of Friend (!), LLWMI, Ships (!), Ready to Take a
Chance, and then back into IWTS (the guy's an arranging *genius*!). *Very*
cool. ;=)

He also did Are You Lonesome Tonight (which one of my friends doesn't like
because he doesn't do it the way Elvis did ;P ), which I thought was very
heartfelt and tender. ;P

He was so *naughty* during Copa tonight--he faux-mooned the balcony with his
a** ("this one's for *you*"), and otherwise really *grinded it* whenever he
could!! ;)

He ended with the usual IAM/Dancing in the Aisles, and there was no encore
after that. ;=(  Oh well.

All in all a *great* show. ;=)

(Yes, I got this all on my trusty iPod, and will have MEs later on......;) )

(And *man*, I *really* needed this show to get me up, after all in one week:
1) cracking one of my teeth the day before my trip, 2) upchucking on the
plane on the way over [airplanes and I just DO NOT get along ;( ], and 3)
having to see an emergency dentist in LV and being told I'll probably have
to remove my cracked tooth. ;=( )

Two more shows to go!!! ;=)


Tired But Happy, ;=)

--Jackie


        ******************************************************
        *  Proud to have the same birthday as Lucy Lawless!  *
        *                                                    *
        * "I think New Zealand geographically comes from     *
        *  ... Hawai'i."  --Lucy Lawless, Late Show, 4/9/96  *
        *                                                    *
        * "Feel the fear and do it anyway." --Lucy Lawless,  *
        *                       Evening Post, 7/4/98         *
        *                                                    *
        * "I LOVED forgetting it because it really made it   *
        * so _live_ and so _immediate_...!!"                 *
        *           --Barry Manilow, Manilow Talks CD, 1998  *
        *                                                    *
        *           JACKIE YOUNG, JYOUNG@LAVA.NET            *
        *            <www2.hawaii.edu/~xenitehi>             *
        *            <www2.hawaii.edu/~manilowm>             *
        ******************************************************