This is Our Time

Today on my daily bike ride, I had my MP3 player on shuffle--yes, I'm the ONLY person left that doesn't have an Ipod! Anyway, one of the songs was "This is Our Time" from Harmony. I am absolutely in love with those songs. The message of the entire catalog is perseverance in the midst of trials with music being at the core of their common bond.

I got to thinking...we live in trying times. There's no arguing, no matter where you stand politically, that it's been a "lousy year of lousy news". Most recently, the horrible massacre at Ft. Hood. I don't know about you, but I will never understand the rationale behind the hatred that makes someone kill so many people to make some sort of personal or political statement. Something on that scale leaves all of us feeling helpless; but it also draws us together. When tragedy happens, we all pull in close and seek comfort in sharing that common grief.

I also asked myself: Is this "our time"? Are we standing at a crossroad with the times we have "inherited" and are we just going to "roll over and die" or are we going to "rise above it all"? The sad fact is that everyone has an opinion but nobody wants to listen. I've seen this happen first hand personally and socially.

What's the key? Living and working together. It sounds simple but it is so incredibly hard. Add to this, the willingness that we all have to pigeon hole people into the place we feel they belong: Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, Christian, Jew, gay, straight, rich, and poor. Does it really matter? When it comes down to basics we are all created equal. We may have different views, morals and lifestyles but we are all equal in God's eyes (and if that labels me, so be it!)

If this really is "our time", (and I'd like to think it is), we should stop pointing fingers and start grabbing hands. We should be encouraged and inspired by these words from the song:

Help it happen
Draw the plan
You can't do it
Nor can I
But...
WE CAN!

Together, we can "rise above it all".
Texas Fan

Brian D'Arcy James and Barry

I just read an article about Brian receiving a Tony nomination. *HEAVY SIGH*. Oh how I wish it was for Harmony and not Shrek. Listening to him on the DVD of the Farewell Tour makes my heart stop. Barry can sing...no dispute there...but Brian's voice is powerful and always gives me chills. And when he belts out Every Single Day you can hear the passion in his interpretation of that romantically penned and brilliantly composed ballad.

Any time there is an opportunity to sing the praises of Harmony, I'm on it. It's one of those "unfinished" projects that Barry has on his plate and one of the ones that I wish could be completed. Harmony is the soul and spirit of Manilow. It's him composing music and arranging it all together to make an unbelievably moving musical. It's where he began (with The Drunkard) and where he always thought his career would take him. For those of us who are fans, it's our dream for him as well. It's always in the back of my mind and something I hope for and pray for often.

Congratulations to Brian D'Arcy James and all the best, but I can't help but *sigh* when I think about what could have been,
Texas Fan

Harmony

It's that time of year...time for the annual Palm Springs Film Festival. And as I was reading the history of the festival in the Desert Sun, there was an interesting tidbit in the article about a moment that happened during the 1999 festival:

The moment: Manilow slipped into a lecture hall in the Palm Springs Convention Center to see “The Harmonists,” a film about a pre-World War II German vocal group that Hitler broke up because three of its members were Jewish. Manilow wrote a full-scale musical based on the group and debuted it at the La Jolla Playhouse in 1997. The original group, the Comedian Harmonists, featured Joseph Cycowski, cantor of Temple Isaiah in Palm Springs from 1974 to 1984. Manilow praised the film.

And then there was "Harmony"! "Harmony" has such special meaning to me. There was one very early morning that I was listening to the music and I had an epiphany. It was one of those rare moments where you know without a doubt what the music is saying to you. I still believe that the entire score is God-inspired (lyrics and music) and one day this musical will be a great inspiration to so many others.

The recent news of so many Broadway closings might delay it's appearance. But there is a time and a season for everything. "Harmony" will arrive when the time is right. And when it does, the world will know the hope that this musical brings.

And tonight I'll be listening to it again and reminiscing about that moment when God's voice seemed so incredibly clear.

First..and always...there will be Harmony,
Texas Fan

Hope for Harmony

This new news came from a UK Blog in the Entertainment business who recently met with Barry in Las Vegas:

But if Manilow - who at 65 years old still cuts an impressively slim and athletic onstage figure - is sometimes in reflective mood onstage, I also found him in reflective mood offstage, when I went to meet him privately after the show. While fellow pop singer-songwriters like Elton John, Paul Simon, Phil Collins and now Dolly Parton with the aforementioned 9 to 5 have gone on to write musicals for the Broadway stage, Manilow is yet to reach it with one of his own shows; in the West End we’ve had Copacabana (at the Prince of Wales in 1994), and right now Bill Kenwright is touring Can’t Smile without You, a new show that cleverly folds the Manilow back catalogue into a new story, with the engaging Chesney Hawkes providing a terrific stand-in for a Manilow-like (or maybe Manilow-lite) himself. So Manilow is still holding out hopes for his original musical Harmony, co-written with Bruce Sussman, that was aborted on the eve of its Philadelphia try-out in 2003 when its then-producer failed to raise the full investment to take it forward, even though the cast were in the midst of rehearsals already.

Right now he’s in serious discussion with a leading West End and Broadway producer about reviving it again - and I, for one, can’t wait to see it come to reality. Nor, I’m sure, can the Fanilows - as Barry’s legions of fans are sometimes known - and I met two of the youngest on Saturday at the show: Grace, 6, and Ella, 4, were brought to the show by their parents, who revealed that their kids listen to him every day - and that when asked which song is their favourite, one replied, “They all are!”

Hopes and prayers that Barry finally realizes his dream!

Texas Fan

Jersey Boys AND Harmony

After seeing the Jersey Boys in Vegas last month, I've been enjoying the soundtrack and recalling the story behind the musical. Jersey Boys is a documentary-style musical based on the lives of one of the most successful '60s rock 'n roll groups, the Four Seasons. The musical uses many of the group's hit songs to tell the turbulent story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' rise to fame. The story is told from the viewpoint of each of the members of the group, giving the audience a different perspective and allowing you to actually see the personalities and the conflicts that arose during their rise to fame and subsequent success. Part concert, part Jukebox musical, Jersey Boys took in over $400,000 at the box office the day after it opened. Jersey Boys premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse.

I couldn't help but compare this successful musical to another musical about a group of male singers: The Comedian Harmonists. Barry's musical, Harmony, is based on the real-life tale of the Comedian Harmonists, a vocal group in Germany in the 1920s and '30s, around the time Hitler was rising to power. The story is focused around the lives of these six men and the music tells the story of their struggles and their eventual success. Harmony also premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse and received very positive reviews, prior to encountering legal issues that forced its shut down.



So here's my question? If Jersey Boys could be such a success financially and win numerous Tony Awards, why not Harmony? Perhaps now is the time. Perhaps now the public is primed and ready to receive a musical of such high caliber and creativity both in the writing of the story, lyrics and musical score.

I will continue to believe it's possible and keep the dream alive...
First..there was Harmony!
Texas Fan

What Do You See?

It's no secret that I'm a Harmony fan. I can't wait for the day when (yes, I'm the eternal optimist) Harmony gets on the stage and the world is able to see what absolute geniuses Bruce and Barry are for creating it.

But today that song reminds me of a blog that my friend posted last night about looking beyond the surface. In case you haven't read it yet, here's the link:

The Beauty That Lies Within

Take some time today to think about what she said. It might cause you to rethink how you view people, including Barry. It might help you realize that the outside appearance is not half as important as the heart.

Food for thought,
Texas Fan

Can we hold on through what lies ahead?

At times it appears that our happiness hangs by a thread...

Can we hold on through what lies ahead?

Charles Dickens starts his book Hard Times--it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The characters in Harmony were experiencing those times when they sang the words to this song. Looking ahead facing separation and death all they had to hold on to was each other.

Life really is like that. At times it seems that our happiness hangs by a thread and that we can't find our way. We feel lost and alone and we reach out to the constants in our lives: God, our family, our friends, and the one constant that always seems to be there for me: music.

I don't know if Barry reads this blog. But if some day you're surfing the net and come across this, I would just like to say "thanks man". Thanks for giving us a lifetime of music that is connected to our memories, our struggles, our hopes and our dreams. Thanks for inspiring us to "pay it forward" and to give back. And thanks, for being you.

Holding on,
Texas Fanilow

A Message of Hope

With all the talk of Philly and Boston, the CD/DVD release, the DVD releases of the TV specials and the upcoming media blitz, I can't seem to get my head and my heart off of "Harmony". I have been listening and relistening to the five songs that we have from the scores CD and they are among the most inspirational, motivational group of songs I've ever listened to. It's the combination of lyrics and passionate orchestral weaving throughout, and the message of hope that has me coming back again and again. I can't get enough of the way the music and the lyrics fit so perfectly together and how every line gives a resounding message of hope and God's never ending love. Here's some gems...and if you haven't listened in awhile, I mean really listened, sit down with the music and let it speak to you. You will be blessed.

Harmony
Troubles disappear
And what you feel is what you hear
Not what you see!
Yes, first there was
Harmony!

Where You Go
Where you go
I will go
Maybe scared
But together
With you, I'm prepared the rest is destiny
When it starts
Take my hand
And whether it's through hell or to the promised land
God knows where
I'll be there
Where you go

Stars In The Night
Look at the stars
How brilliant they are
How can they be shining now
When hope seems so far?
Look Look how they shine
These cruelest of stars
What promise inspires them?
What faith is it fires them?
Dare we lift our hearts as we lift our eyes
Are we fools to see what hope there is within the skies
Look...there's the light...Stars in the Night.

Every Single Day
Everything you doubt I will fight for
Every single day
Help me work it out, make it right for
Every single day
And this I swear and stake my life upon
If you go or stay I will love you as I do today
And I'll love you every single day from now on.

This is Our Time
This is our time
Maybe it's the last time
Who knows, but at least it's ours
And it won't be the first time
That men picked the worst time
To lift up their eyes to the stars!

In This World
In this world
That's lost all its reason
At last there's a reason
For hope in my heart

First there was Harmony,

Texas Fanilow