This story originally ran in the Arizona Daily Star on June 24, 2002.
Barry Manilow put a dramatic finishing touch on his classic song "Somewhere in the Night," and up popped the female-heavy front three rows in a standing ovation.
At 56 and well past the prime of his almost 30-year career, the Brooklyn-accented king of the 32-bar love song is cool again.
Just ask the ladies five rows back.
With arms raised in triumph, emotion etched on his face, Manilow put a Broadway-style finish on another classic, "This One's for You," and up came those ladies.
Clapping, screaming, whistling, yelling out, "We love you Barry!" while their husbands or boyfriends who tagged along reluctantly shrank even lower in their seats.
Yep, Barry Manilow is cool again.
"Don't worry about the heat because I am the coolest man on the planet," Manilow boasted a few songs into his 90-minute show at Casino del Sol's AVA Saturday night.
From their thunderous applause and cheers, the nearly 4,500 fans - whose ages ranged from early 20s to early twilight - couldn't agree more.
They didn't mind if Manilow's voice wasn't as crisp when he sang "Daybreak." Or that there was a hint of a crack when he hit the climax of "Looks Like We Made It."
They allowed him his dancing style that harkened back to the late 1970s and that wretched disco era that history has tried to erase.
Dressed in black with a stark white dinner coat, Manilow looked the part of disco king, sans the schmaltz. His performance borrowed a little from that time - complete with disco lights dancing off the stage backdrop - and heavily from Broadway.
The audience indulged Manilow a couple show tunes he penned for his play "Harmony," which he hopes to launch on Broadway in February. And they allowed him a couple songs off his latest album, "Here at the Mayflower," which radio has ignored for the most part.
Afterward, the gals in the front row and several rows back jumped to their feet, which inspired a whole lot of other people to join them for a full-fledged standing ovation.
"There's no place I'd rather be on a Saturday night than making music for you guys," Manilow said in a voice dripping with sincerity. "Thanks for all the years. We've known each other a long time.
"I know it hasn't been easy being a Barry Manilow fan, so you guys get the prize."
And they jumped to their feet again, giving the coolest man on the planet a cool sendoff on a hot summer night.
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at 573-4642 or burchce@azstarnet.com.
