Some stuff on Barry I thought was interesting!

From the November 27, 2005 issue of "The Desert Sun" (Barry's Hometown - Palm Springs - Newspaper)

A Typical 24 Hours For Manilow

A day in the life of Barry Manilow often looks like this when he's performing at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel:
After midnight: Manilow's often watching Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" on one of his home TVs in Palm Springs. "I could be home (for Leno) every night if I wanted to. I don't because we are treated so beautifully (at the Hilton). When we get off stage, there's a feast awaiting us of either Chinese food or Japanese food or Italian food and we all hang out for a good hour coming down off of the show. Then I put my jeans back on, I get into this private plane and I sleep in my own bed."

6 a.m.: It's daybreak and Manilow soaks up his morning view of the mountains and canyons in South Palm Springs. "I get up at 6 to feed the dogs, then I sit and read the newspaper and go online."

10 a.m.: The business calls start coming. "Usually by 10 o'clock, when the phone starts ringing, it's because of some project I'm in the middle of." Manilow says he deals with business matters "all day long." But he trusts his business manager, Garry C. Kief of Stiletto Entertainment in Los Angeles, to handle most publishing and licensing matters. If someone asks to use his song, "Copacabana," in a movie, Kief or his staff will call "only if they think it might upset me," Manilow says. "I'd say, 'Well, is it a put-down?' If it is insulting to the piece, then I won't let them do it." He has similar feelings about merchandising his name and image on clothing, coffee mugs and more. "If it's got taste to it and a sense of humor to it, I'm all for it."

"There's a store upstairs (from the Hilton Theatre) called the M Store, and month after month they run things by me ... for jewelry, wine, candles. Sometimes I laugh and say, 'Sure,' and sometimes I say, 'No.' But they always run it by me. I know everything that's up there and it's a great store."

Lunch time: Barry says he rarely has time to go out to lunch or shop in the Coachella Valley, but he has been seen at dining spots such as El Mirasol in Palm Springs or Native Foods. "He sits at the least popular table and he's so quiet," said Barbara Thrasher, a waitress at El Mirasol who was one of several restaurant workers rewarded by Barry with tickets to his first "Music and Passion" show in November. "To see him in the show is just amazing."

2 p.m.: Manilow often is mastering or mixing a recording, or arranging a live performance, such as the holiday program he has planned for Thursday's McCallum Theatre benefit. "That's been taking up my afternoons this week. It will be geared toward 'Home for the Holidays,' a show I've never done. I've done those songs, but I've never done anything like that. We're rehearsing for two full days at the McCallum and we put it together just for that one night."

4 p.m.: Manilow guards his voice throughout the day when he's performing in Vegas. Even when his pace is hectic, he'll try to calm himself before leaving his serene surroundings in Palm Springs. "I'm like an athlete. I've got to take care of my throat. I'm drinking tea all day long and I'm not talking. I don't go anywhere. I try to just cool it in the afternoon and I try to do my best every night."

Early evening: Barry flies from Palm Springs International Airport to the Las Vegas Airport. He changes into his formal work attire back stage at the Hilton and is on stage at 9 p.m. He does a sound check only the first day of his monthly runs. For the rest of the time he's in Vegas, his equipment is rarely touched so it's always ready to go. "It's my favorite gig I've ever had. Ever."

"Being in my own room. There is nothing like not being on the road. I mean, certainly an audience of 20,000 at Madison Square Garden, I'm not complaining about that. On the other hand, getting there is a hassle. And, after 30 years on the road, even that didn't make it worthwhile."

10:30 p.m.: "Manilow: The Music and the Passion" is over after 90 minutes. On the night Thrasher and her El Mirasol colleagues saw the show, Barry and his assistant, Marc Hulett of Palm Springs, opted to "make like Elvis" and leave the building quickly to get back to Palm Springs before midnight. Manilow is one of the few Las Vegas superstars who still does two shows on Saturday nights, and he has seen his colleagues Elton John and Celine Dion in their Las Vegas theaters. But he's not one to party all night in Vegas. "I just don't get out. It's too much of a hassle for me to get out."