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.

Lennie Watts appears at the Metropolitan Room on July 15, 22, 29 at 7 pm with Manilow '73 - '83.

Elizabeth Ahlfors
Cabaret Scenes
July 15, 2007
www.cabaretscenes.org