Abigail Elizabeth Stern

Abigail Elizabeth Stern was born March 27, 1957 in Saratoga Springs New York to Edward James Stern and Margaret Anne Stern. Edward Stern is a baker who owns Le Crepe bakery in Saratoga Springs. Margaret Stern is a veterinarian assistant for doctors Ray Charles and Daniel Dwyer veterinarians. Abigail has two older bothers  Cody James Stern program director at WQXR radio 105.9 FM New York. Mark Andrew Stern chef and owner of  Brooklyn Burger Bar  American burger joint.. Abby graduated from Saratoga Springs HS in 1975. Abby then went on to Parsons A New School for Design in New York City. Where she got both her bachelors (BFA) and masters in fine arts (MFA) She majored in photography and minored film. Abby knew how to use both still cameras and video cameras. Abby got her love of photography from her grandfather Joseph Goldwin her moms dad. James was a photographer for the New Yorker magazine. Her dads father Edward Stern  Sr. was a journalism teacher at Saratoga Springs High School. Abby started out at the New York Times as a travel photographer. Then she decided to go out on her own as photographer. Her first book was a coffee table book of photos of  fall in New England. She titled the book A Weekend In New England. Then she did books on New York City, Montreal, the south, the Big Easy (New Orleans), Seattle, France, Quebec and The Back Roads Of America. Abby had an idea for her next book. But first she had to ok it with Barry Manilow. Abby was thinking wouldn't it be cool if she did a book called A Year With Manilow. The book would be a year with Barry Manilow in photos. But then again he might not be interested in her idea. Abby lived in a studio apartment in Soho with her beagle Charlie. Abby did have a few boyfriends over the years but none you could write home to mother about. Maybe that's why she never got married. She never found a guy she wanted to take home to meet her parents. Beside a couple of the guys were very pushy. One even wanted to marry her right after their first date. He was a real looser. Abby  remembered the one time while she was still at the New York Times. When she was asked to photograph famous New York City mothers. One of the many mothers she photographed was Barry Manilow's mom Edna. This was when Edna was doing her cabaret act a clubs in New York City. She photographed Edna at Panache before and during one of her shows. She remembered Edna saying to her "Let me introduce you to my son Barry. He's a really nice and single." However her  great grandfather Elliot Stern passed away then. She and her brothers and parents had to go to his funeral. So she never got to meet Edna's son Barry back then. Abby though I ought to tell Barry about that. He just might get a kick out of hearing that story about his mom.

I'm Ready For My Close Up!

Harmony was being produced by Robert Zemeckis  and direct by Tony Speciale for Paramount Pictures. Robert Zemeckis saw Harmony when it played the Ahmanson Theatre in 2014. Robert wanted to turn it into a motion picture then. But he figured Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman would want to get it on Broadway first. So he waited until Harmony was fully established on Broadway before he went calling. Barry was surprised to hear from Robert Zemeckis. Barry remembered the day Robert called. Ring Hello is Barry Manilow there? Yes this is Barry Manilow. Who is this please? asked Barry. It's movie  producer Robert Zemeckis. Oh   said Barry. Barry I was calling because I would like to talk to you about your musical Harmony. Really said Barry. Yes said Robert. I saw Harmony back in 2013 when it played the Ahmanson Theatre. I knew then I wanted to turn it into a movie musical. However I knew you would want to take it to Broadway first. So I've been waiting till Harmony had been on Broadway for while before I contacted you. Now what I'd like to do is keep the Broadway cast intact for the movie. I'd even like to keep your director Tony Speciale on as the movies director. I would do double duty as both a producer and director so I can give Tony help if he needs it. Now I'll give you and Bruce Sussman some time to think about it then I'll call you back for your answer. Bye for now said Robert Zemeckis Bye back said Barry. As soon as Barry hung up with Robert Zemeckis he called Bruce. Ring! Hello said Bruce. Bruce you'll never guess who called. Barry is that you said Bruce? Yes said Barry it's me. Ok who called? asked Bruce. Movie producer Robert Zemeckis said Barry. Ok what did he want? asked Bruce. Bruce he wants to produce Harmony. He wants to what? asked Bruce. Robert Zemeckis wants make Harmony into a move musical Like  all those Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals were turned into movie musicals. You're kidding said Bruce. No I'm not kidding said Barry. Robert Zemeckis said we would be filming in Germany, New York and a London studio which would be used for all the other places. He also mentioned something about doing the concert scenes  at Carnegie Hall, Philhamonie  in Germany and Royal Albert Hall in London. Robert said he's call back in a few days for our answer said Barry. Bruce told Barry yes about Robert Zemeckis turning Harmony into a motion picture musical. Days later Barry called Bruce to tell him he told Robert Zemeckis yes to turning Harmony into a movie musical. Barry then called Shayne Kennon, Chris Dwan, Tony Yasbeck, Douglas Williams, Will Blum,  Will Taylor, Lee An Larkin and Hannah Corneau. He told them he and Bruce wanted to take them out for dinner. Barry also called Tony Speciale to tell him about the dinner. Barry and Bruce took them all out for dinner to tell them the great news. Everyone you've heard of movie producer Robert Zemeckis. Well he called me recently to tell me he wants to turn Harmony into a motion picture musical. Like all the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals were turned into movie musicals. Robert said he wants to keep the entire cast for the movie. Plus Tony he wants you to direct the picture. Robert said he'll do double duty as the producer and executive director to give you some help if you need it. When I said the entire cast that includes the secondary cast members. We' ll start filming late August in Berlin Germany. Then we will also film in New York City and a London studio. If you've ever thought about being a movie star here's your chance to do so said Barry.

Barry Manilow

Barry and Bruce got their first big break with a musical titled Jump Shout Boogie. They couldn't believe it when Jump Shout Boogie got rave reviews. The musical was about the swing era and two young kids who just loved to dance. They were even more shocked when Jump Shout Boogie got nominated for a bunch of Tony's. Then on Sunday June 17th the day of the Tony awards. Barry and Bruce couldn't believe their ears when Liza Minnelli announced Jump Shout Boogie won best Broadway musical. All Barry could say was he was freaking out. Bruce was no better with  his oh thanks speech. After that Barry and Bruce had a string of hits and misses. Then  Bruce introduced Barry to friend another songwriter named Jack Feldman. Then together in 1994 they wrote a musical based on the 1940's. They called their musical Copacabana after the famous nightclub in New York City. The musical dealt with aspiring Broadway songwriter  Anthony Stern (Tony Starr) and aspiring Broadway actress Luella Higgins (Lola Lamar). Plus Sam Silver the owner of the Copa. Rico Castilli the owner of the Tropicana nightclub in Havana Cuba. Actually Tony Starr was a guy named Stephen Goldberg who was a Broadway songwriter. Stephen was the one who came up with idea for Copacabana. He also imagined his wife Samantha as Lola Lamar, his father-in-law as Sam Silver and his mother-in-law as Gladys Roberts the cigarette girl. The very next year in 1994 their musical went to London's West End. It finally ended up on Broadway in the fall of 2001. Copa was nominated for a bunch of Tony's.in 2002 best book, costume, choreography, director, musical,  musical score, producer, set design. When Copacabana swept the Tony awards by winning all the ones they were nominated for Barry and Bruce again couldn't believe their eyes. At least this time they were prepared with acceptance speeches. In 1984 Barry wrote some jazz songs. He did so with his songwriting partners Adrienne Anderson, Enoch Anderson, Jack Feldman, Marty Panzer and Bruce Sussman. At first they thought about turning it into a musical about a jazz club called the Paradise Café. But tit didn't appeal to them.  So Barry decided to record it as a jazz album which he did. He titled it 2:00 AM Paradise Café and the album shot straight to number one on Billboard's Hot 200 album and jazz charts. For the album he gathered some jazz greats like Mel Torme, Sarah Vaughan and Gerry Mulligan. He also did a VHS tape of the making of the album. Barry decided to do a small tour to promote the album. So he put together a band. He added Mark Scholl on drums, Vanessa Brown percussion,  Larry Antonio on bass, John Pondel on guitar, Joey Malotti on keyboards, Billy Kidd on keyboards,  Dana Robbins on saxophone, Brian Claxton on horns and Doug Fender on trombone. Everyone but Mark, Brian and Doug sang backup. For this tour Barry and company would hit the jazz clubs. He was kicking off the tour  at the Manchester Craftsman Guild in Pittsburgh. This show was sold out within twenty minutes of the tickets going on sale. Because of that he added a second show at the guild which sold out in the same twenty minutes.

Barry Alan Pincus Manilow

Barry Manilow was born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943 at Beth Moses Hospital. Barry is the son of Harold Pincus and Edna Manilow Pincus. Edna proclaimed her son the most beautiful baby you had ever seen. Edna mother Esther hated her son-in-law Harold so she called him a monster. Hence Harold the Monster. So two years after Barry was born Edna divorced Harold the Monster. Barry and his mom moved in with his grandparents Joseph and Esther Manilow. When Barry was little he use to dance around the room in his dippers. By the time Barry turned seven his family rented an accordion for him to play. Because that's what all Italian and Jewish kids learned to play. Barry wasn't half bad at the accordion. When Barry turned thirteen three things happened. One he got braces. Two he got a step-dad named William Murphy. Third he got a spinet piano. Barry had a choice to make live with his grandparents or his parents. Barry chose the latter and ended up sleeping in a closet. Barry also had two cool friends. Fred Katz and Larry Rosenfield who he hung out with. Barry went to Eastern District HS. Barry also met this raven haired beauty named Susan Deixler. Soon after high school Barry and Susan got married. They were married one year and four months when they divorced. As Barry said the music was coming out of his ears. Plus Barry had just become friends with a guy named Bro Harold who worked at the Thirteenth street theatre. Bro had Barry put a score to a melodrama called The Drunkard and off Broadway production. Barry knew Susan wanted a nine to five husband which Barry was not. So Barry moved back to Brooklyn from Manhattan. He settled in to a studio in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. However soon after he moved in so did his parents. Barry figured his mother just couldn't let go of her twenty-four year old baby boy. So he just went with the flow so to speak. Barry decided to get a sofa sleeper which allowed him a place to sleep at night. Also loads of room during the day. Barry figured by living in Brooklyn he could save some buck towards an apartment in Manhattan. Barry had quit his day job at CBS-TV in New York. He took on the job of vocal coaching. As Barry said "If the check cleared I was there." He vocal coached for Lorna Luft Judy Garland's daughter as well as many others. Plus he played piano in lounges ad piano bars throughout Manhattan. One time Barry went into a restaurant where he meet Bruce Howard Sussman a waiter. Barry and Bruce hit it off right from the start. They both realized they wanted to write musicals for Broadway. So by golly that's what they were going to do. Be Broadway songwriters like Bernstein and Sondheim, Rodgers and Hammerstein, George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter and many others. They started by going to theatre workshops at night while still keeping their day jobs. Around the same time Barry and Bruce met Ron Dante a jingle singer who introduced them to a guy who was looking for jungle writers. Barry and Bruce got commercials for Chevy, Dodge, Polaroid cameras, Comet, Pepsi, KFC, Mickey D's, State Farm insurance, Dr. Pepper as well others. Barry wasn't half bad as a singer so he actually sang on a few of them. At least it paid the rent, bills and groceries.

Barry Manilow's 2001 album Here At The Mayflower. "Do you know who's living next door? Right here at the Mayflower. who who!"

Jazzy Time At The Blue Note

After dinner Barry a hailed a cab to go to the Blue Note. Once there he got Abby a table next to the stage. He then told Abby he had to go to the men's room. The house lights went down before Barry got back. So Abby wondered how Barry was going to find his way back to the table in the dark. Out comes Russ McKinnon drums, David Rosenblat percussion, Stan Sargent bass, Mike Lent guitar, Ron Pedley  keyboards, Joey Malotti keyboards and musical director and Melanie Taylor vocals. Ladies and gentlemen Barry Manilow. Out walked Barry on to the stage. He started off with Paradise Café  from the album 2:00 AM Paradise Café.. Then Barry mentioned he was going to do some new stuff from his latest album Paradise Café II which was coming out in November. This was a follow up to his 1984 album 2:00 AM Paradise Café. Abby thought I didn't know that Barry was a jazz pianist. Or that he sang real good. Barry Manilow did about a ninety minute set. When Barry got to the table Abby said I didn't know about this. This is my secondary career said Barry. I've been doing this on and off since 1984. Starting in January I'll be going on the road and playing theatres. I hate arenas said Barry they're way too big. I love playing theatres with less than six thousand seats more intimate you know said Barry. We're kicking off the tour in Chicago Illinois at the Chicago Theatre  in December of this year. Then we're going all over the US through April 30th of 2019. December 28th through 31st.  I'll be at the Pantages Theatre in LA. So that's where I'll be ringing in  2020.  I'm also playing San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, Milwaukee, Seattle, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New Orleans Atlanta, Columbia, Charlotte, Washington DC,  New Haven, Philadelphia, and Boston. Then I'm headed up north to Canada. Montreal, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver.  This should be a fun road trip since I'm traveling by train instead of by air. I've always wanted to travel by rail. Oh by the way I heard Brian Murphy is touring Florida in January and the UK in May said Barry. I know he's not promoting anything new. But then his fans love it when he does his dirty boy moves on stage. You know the raunchier the better. So I guess they don't care that he doesn't have any new material to show them said Abby. I have one of his earlier albums Here's Murphy.  It's ok but it's not my kind of music. I'm not in to mushy gushy songs. Barry said I better get you home so I can get up early tomorrow. You know the Virgin Mega Store Cd signing  tomorrow. Oh yeah right said Abby. Barry got Abby to her door and gave her a peck on the cheek.

Hello You

It was Thursday morning. Barry went to his piano to practice. After practice Barry went the phone. He dialed up Abby's number. Abby picked up the phone and said hello. Hello you said Barry. Who is  this said Abby. It's Barry he said. Oh hi Barry said Abby. Abby I was wondering if you'd like to go out tonight. Ok why not said Abby. I'll pick you up at 5:30 said Barry. That's fine said Abby. Oh by the way you can dress casual Barry said. Abby decided to wear charcoal gray pants , navy sweater and a charcoal blazer. Barry had on navy pants, blue shirt, navy and grey stripped sweater vest and navy blazer. Barry pressed Abby buzzer. Abby asked who's there. Barry said it's me Barry. So Abby let him in.  This is interesting said Barry of her apartment. What do you call this type of apartment. Abby said it's called a micro loft. Interesting said Barry. There is this new restaurant called Mr. Wu's I hope you like Chinese said Barry. Love it said Abby. Great said Barry then after words I thought we'd hit the Blue Note for some jazz. I love jazz said Abby. I've been to the Blue Note twice. Once to see Lena Horn and once to see Nancy Wilson and Ramsey Lewis said Abby. They went down stairs and Barry hailed a cab. Mr. Wu's on thirteenth street said Barry. So off the cab went to Mr. Wu's on thirteenth street. Once there Barry ordered some pot stickers as an appetizer. When the waitress  came Abby ordered the sesame chicken. While Barry ordered the sweet and sour chicken. The both had a glass of zinfandel with their dinner. They talked so they could get to know each other. So where are you off to next asked Barry. Where am I off to next? Well said Abby I'm following the route John Steinbeck's  took in his book Travels With Charlie. John got himself a huge pickup truck with a camper on the back. He then went all across the outer edges of the US. His travels started in Long Island and ended in the same place he started. Only I've already made sure my dog Charlie is able to go to Canada. John Steinbeck wanted to go there however his dog Charlie a poodle wasn't ok for going to Canada. I'm going by RV said Abby. This is going to be turned in to a book like Steinbeck's was. I'll start right after Labor Day. I'm taking my MacBook Pro with me and iPhone 5s. I'm also taking my Nook color for reading the latest stuff. So I can't wait to go.