Singer and songwriter, Barry Manilow and his husband, Garry Kief are reportedly fighting over an unsuccessful turn on Broadway.
PageSix reports that Manilow wanted to do a short run on Broadway, perhaps ten days like Morrissey did in May at the Lunt-Fontanne. However, his husband pushed for him to do something more like Bruce Springsteen, who performed from October through December. The two decided to compromise and split the difference and did the three-week run, also at the Lunt-Fontanne.
But ticket sales haven’t been brisk, and it seems that the couple overestimated the appetite for the “Copacabana” singer. Richard Morgan of The New York Post reported that while opening night at a Saturday show early in the run were nearly sold out, “about half the seats for the next three weeks … are still empty.”
A backstage source shared that if Garry wasn’t Barry’s husband, he would have been fired by now, and the two are “fighting almost daily.”
The worst part is that because of the way things are set up, Manilow could end up losing money on this run, while his husband could end up cashing in. Kief takes a salary as an executive producer while the singer gets the gate but the cost of the production comes out of his take.
Barry Manilow Just Wanted to Write the Songs. He’s Still Singing Them. https://t.co/OZpzN6pYTy
— Barry Manilow (@barrymanilow) August 5, 2019
A source shared that the whole thing is awful.
“It’s terrible. Barry’s up there at 76 years of age, and Garry’s sitting in the back of the theater eating bonbons.”
The couple, who have been together for 39 years, were married in 2014. They are reportedly going through a difficult period.
However, Forbes says regardless of what is going on with his current Broadway residency, Manilow is still a “consummate artist.” Strategist Bruce Weinstein revealed that he saw the singer doing his Broadway show, and that Manilow’s songs hold up even years later.
“Barry Manilow is just as powerful a performer as he is a songwriter. He brings his A game night after night. It can’t be easy singing the same songs for almost fifty years, but he still gives them his all.”
While the singer may be stressed backstage, when he is on stage he’s grateful and gracious, according to Weinstein. He says that the performer constantly thanked his audience and his fans throughout the two-hour show. He also remarked that Manilow was funny, relatable and self-deprecating, joking that he looks like Taylor Swift on a bad hair day.
