If you've seen Barry Manilow on the Broadway stage, you know what to expect - rhythm, energy, volume, special effects and yes, those songs.

At the Metropolitan Room, four out of five ain't bad. The only thing Lennie Watts lacks in his new show, Manilow '73 - '83 are smoke machines and holographs. In their place, Lennie Watts substitutes interpretation, bringing the songs alive through his life. He is funny, he is winsome, he is heartbreaking. Nostalgia aside, and there is plenty of that, Watts' take on songs like This One's for You and a bluesy Let Me Go, strikes emotional chords.

As for the big stuff - the drama, theatricality, "damned key changes," - the Metropolitan Room rocked with Jean Pierre Perreaux's sound and lighting, Steven Ray Watkins' ebullient piano accompaniment and creative arrangements, bringing robust sound from Jerry Smith on drums and Matt Wigton on bass. Backup singers, Tanya Hall, Karen Mack, and Alisa Schiff, add to the energy. They were more than ready to burst loose with It's a Miracle and Beautiful Music. Barry, the million-seller singer/songwriter, could not do better himself with theatre stages of big bands and big sets.

Watts is an engaging personality with shadings of warm and bittersweet, witty, and astute in his patter that begins about Barry and somehow winds up about Lennie. Talking about Barry Manilow's accordion beginnings, Watts tells his own story of a "chubby boy who liked show music," sensing that adding the accordion to that mix might just work against him. It was a smooth lead in to A Nice Boy Like Me and Ready to Take a Chance Again performed in a credible tenor voice, ready, very willing, and honest.

Thankfully, Watts kept the medley section short, and while the songs he chose were mostly familiar, they were different tunes than he had performed before. He had an interesting combination of two cities - Copacabana, begun slowly and added to New York City Rhythm. I Write the Songs was waltz-time. He delivered two favorites, Weekend in New England and Mandy, with sincerity though Watts had been a tad sarcastic about them earlier in the show. Just a tad. Lennie Watts gladly admits he is a Fanilow, though he denies he goes as far as being a Maniloony.

Whatever. One thing is sure, Lennie Watts, a tender dynamo, will gather you into the spirit of Manilow-mania.

Elizabeth Ahlfors

NEXT MAGAZINE
By David Hurst
Lennie Watts: Manilow '73-'83

Written by Jan Wallman
Sunday, 22 July 2007

Lennie Watts is a singer of style and substance, with a voice like one of God’s angels. In his current show, he channels Barry Manilow in an exhilarating evening of songs and anecdotes about the man, the singer, the songwriter, the recording star. With admiration and affection, he speaks of Manilow in a presentation that is more than a tribute. It is almost a class (Manilow 101?) in which Watts entertainingly educates the audience, as he extols his idol and sings his songs.

Backed by the estimable Steven Ray Watkins trio, with sidemen Matt Wigton on bass and Jerry Smith on drums, and three adorable girl back-up singers, Tanya Holt, Karen Mack and Alisa Schiff, Lennie sings many of the songs that Barry made popular. Or was it the songs that made Barry popular?

I’ve been a “Fanilow” since those happy nights in the ‘60s, when I ran the original Upstairs-At-The-Duplex on Grove Street, and Barry worked there as an accompanist. This was very early in his career, pre the Bette Midler/Continental Baths period. He was a bundle of talent then, and a joy to work with. Now, some forty years later, we are ready for a retrospective of the “Songs That Make the Whole World Sing.” Hits like “Could it Be Magic,” which he wrote with Adrienne Anderson; “Mandy,” by Scott English and Richard Kerr; David Pomeranz’s “Tryin’ to Get the Feeling Again;” “Can’t Smile Without You,” by Chris Arnold, David Martin and Geoff Morrow; and “Copacabana,” written by Manilow with Bruce Sussman and Jack Feldman; were virtually the soundtrack of our lives, all these years.

Lennie Watts is not only a good singer and showman, he is also the booker of the acts for the Metropolitan Room. From the shows I’ve enjoyed there, I can tell you that, compared to the inconsistent grab bag of winner/loser acts that appear in many of the cabaret rooms in the city, the Metropolitan Room maintains a consistently high level of performances. This is entirely due to Lennie Watts’ taste and judgment. Booking his own act into the room shows his perspicacity. You have two more chances to enjoy this show, Sunday, July 22, and Sunday, July 29, both at 7pm. I suggest you call for a reservation, and invite a few friends to join you.

Lennie Watts
"Manilow: `73 - `83"
By: John Hoglund

Kicking off his show with "It's a Miracle," Lennie Watts has the confidence of a wild rooster waking up the neighborhood with his crowing. Tackling the hits of one of pop music's most successful singer/songwriters' is no easy task. The songs are vocally demanding, full of big key changes and don't always leave lot of room to catch your breath. In this walloping new show, "Manilow: 73-83," Watts ebulliently rises to the occasion like a true blue technicolor miracle as he belts through a high-energy hour of all things Manilow in song and silly musings with his zealous group.Accompanied by his remarkable band led by musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano with Jerry Smith on drums and Matt Wigton on bass guitar along with Tonya Holt, Karen Mack and Alisa Schiff on backup vocals, the stage is set for a big, big show. And that it is. In fact, it's one of the biggest shows to come out of the Metropolitan Room since it opened. Along with the songs are an ongoing series of jokes that poke fun at his idol worship as well as his declaration: "My name is Lennie Watts - and I am a Fan-a-low!" He goes on to tell that it all started at an early age, "I loved the emotion, the theatricality - and those damn key changes!" More than anyone on today's cabaret scene, Watts is a master at not taking himself or things too seriously on stage and yet, turning in performances worthy of a master class in how to set your inhibitions free and make the audience have a good time (at various points, they were clapping, singing along, holding up candles, etc.)

He recalls Manilow's early achievements such as his stint at Julliard, working for CBS, handling arrangements for the off-Broadway hit, "The Drunkard" and, of course, his famous pairing as Bette Midler's piano player at The Continental Baths. Manilow would go on to fame and fortune along the way selling over 75 million records including a boatload of hits that have been part of our musical landscape for decades. Watts also recalls rejecting his father urging him to play the accordion. He makes it all a lot of fun and the soaring excesses of Manilow's sometimes over the top crescendos and spitfire key changes can be a challenge to any singer. Watts delivers the goods. He is at his best on the likes of "Daybreak" and peaks with a 5-song medley of the "old songs" - "Somewhere in the Night," "Looks Like We Made It," "Even Now," "Trying to Get the Feeling" and, of course, "Mandy." Powerhouse arrangements by a powerhouse singer who does more than have the feeling.

Watts lights up the room with his energy alone. Yet, when he sings the reflective beauty, "Weekend in New England," he brings it down to a desperate immediacy that is filled with yearning and captures all that great love song is about. Watts maintained that high energy and fearlessly engaging drive throughout the hour. And to watch a performer go so freely on his nerve is an exciting experience in a nightclub.

Yes, the songs are often schmaltzy and sometimes frantically over the top. But isn't that what made Barry Manilow one of the most popular artists on the planet for several decades? Today, at 64, Manilow is still packing them in to Vegas show rooms and selling out stadiums. Between Barry and Lennie, it's okay to say, looks like they made it - which is what you should do.