Barry Manilow has to pinch himself.
After more than 20 years in the works, his long-awaited musical “Harmony” — co-written with Bruce Sussman – is finally Broadway bound.
“Standing in front of the theater is really surreal,” the “Mandy” warbler, 79, exclusively told Pvnew at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, where the show will open in October.
“It’s really happening!”
The show was first staged in 1997 at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. There have been productions over the years in Atlanta and Los Angeles.
However, it wasn’t until a critically acclaimed run at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York – that producers finally managed to put it all in place (funding included) for a highly anticipated Broadway run.
“We held on because the piece is so important to us,” Sussman, 74, shared. “We thought that it was a story that needed to be told and wanted to tell it.”
The musical is based on the true story of a massively popular German singing group, the Comedian Harmonists, from the 20s and 30s. The sextet – which was comprised of three Jews and one member who was married to a Jewish woman – was split apart by the rise of Nazism.
The show began because Sussman saw a documentary about the singing sextet and called Manilow about it.
Sadly the show is especially timely because of the themes of anti-Semitism.
“As these years have gone by there’s always been something about anti-Semitism as we put this show on, the “Copacabana” singer shared. “But this year it’s very loud.”
Sussman added that during the show’s downtown run, there were lines about anti-Semitism that elicited audible responses.
“I was actually worried that people thought I was writing to the headlines,” he explained. “Those lines had been there for years so it’s resonating more than ever.”
Despite this, Manilow stresses that it’s “is a funny show, filled with music and a lot of laughs so it’s not a serious, serious play. This is a real musical.”
