Upstage Lung Cancer Fundraiser

Barry Manilow: A Tribute to a Master Showman

Mosesian Center for the Arts, Watertown, MA
Tuesday, October 27, 2026

By John Amodeo

Early detection saved Barry Manilow’s life, and it saved Hildy Grossman’s, as well. Nineteen years ago, Grossman tripped down a flight of stairs, which landed her in the hospital where a CAT scan searching for internal injury detected a small cancerous spot on her lung. Grossman was a non-smoker, and her doctors may not have known was caused it. They did know that early detection meant a high success rate of treatment and survival, often with only surgery, avoiding the trauma of chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

One year later Grossman, a cabaret performer, founded Upstage Lung Cancer (ULS), a non-profit foundation that uses cabaret revues and other forms of popular entertainment to raise money for early detection. ULS has since raised $5.5M in support of lung cancer early detection and research. Each year, Grossman produces a cabaret revue in tribute to legends of the Great American Songbook and popular music, often honoring those who have died from lung cancer, such as Rosemary Clooney, Nat King Cole, and Walt Disney. Because Manilow is a recent lung cancer survivor, this year, ULS will present its 18th annual fundraiser, Barry Manilow: A Tribute to a Master Showman, at the Mosesian Center for the Performing Arts in Watertown, MA, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. The event will feature popular local entertainment critic Joyce Kulhawik as emcee, along with local cabaret and musical theater performers Brian De Lorenzo, Michael Hammond, Paula Markowicz, as well as Grossman.

Manilow, 83, is a living legend who has racked up six decades in the entertainment industry as a singer, songwriter, and record producer, earning 15 Grammy Award nominations with one win. He has sold more than 85 million records as a solo artist, making him one of the world’s best-selling recording artists. Fifty-one of his singles made the Top 40, including 13 that made number one. In 1974, he released his first hit single “Mandy.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Nevertheless, early critics didn’t warm up to his string-heavy romantic arrangements and loved to trivialize his work as lacking grit, labeling his style as “pure old-fashioned easy listening.” Jon Parales of The New York Times described his style as “sticky-sweet perfection.” But with each new Top 40 hit and platinum-selling album, Manilow laughed all the way to the bank, while legions of fans packed arenas and stadiums to see him, even as recently as this year.

As hindsight is often 20/20, critics today have re-evaluated their position on Manilow, finding emotional depth in such tracks as “Looks Like We Made It,” which took a surprisingly mature and melancholic look at the pretense of surviving a divorce by finding a new lover. Ian Hunter, frontman of Mott the Hoople, said Manilow’s cover of his song “Ships” had a complex arrangement and emotional punch that were praiseworthy.

“The guy just has a way with a melody,” said Kulhawik, a celebrated Boston-area entertainment critic for decades who now hash her own webpage: JoycesChoices.com. “They are so accessible and stick in your head.” Kulhawik, who has been emcee for all 18 ULS concerts, initially thought she would do the first one, but she has been swept along. “I had no idea when this started that I was dealing with Hildy. The woman is a dynamo, and it is hard not to be pulled into her orbit,” she marvels. “She makes it easy, writes all the scripts, and plans the music and choreography; she even performs. I just try to tag along and connect the audience with what is happening on stage.”

Hammond, who has performed in the past nine ULS concerts, has been a lifelong Manilow fan. “Barry Manilow’s music is emotional; you connect to that. But then he also has the fun uplifting feel-good music,” he observed. “It’s like having a good meal, soup to nuts; you get everything.” Markowicz, who has 15 ULS concerts under her belt, grew up with Barry Manilow albums and confesses, “He was always a love of mine.” She elaborates, “He writes from a very human perspective with emotions we can all relate to. When you listen to his songs, you can picture what he’s singing about.” De Lorenzo, who, like Kulhawik, is a veteran of all 18 ULS concerts admits “I’m a romantic at heart, and the music is very romantic. The chord progressions, the key changes.” He then reflects, “Back then, it was the music itself that was grabbing me. Now, the music still needs to grab me, but the lyrics also have to resonate with me, and they do. When I’m doing Barry Manilow songs, I tend to favor the ones that aren’t the hits, because I think the lyrics are a little deeper.”

With so many songs in the Manilow canon from which to choose, the singers had a tough time narrowing it down. But through group discussions and much reflection, hone they did. Hammond notes, “I chose one of the songs that meant the most to me, ‘I Made it Through the Rain,’ which came along when I had some emotional issues at home with my sister going through a rough patch.” Hammond and Markowicz both selected “Weekend in New England.” So, being lifelong friends since first grade, they resolved things amicably. “We are doing it as a duet, as if Michael and Paula are having a little spat,” quipped Hammond. Markowicz also picked “When October Goes.” “I love fall,” she divulged. “October has always been my favorite month—Halloween, the changes that come with fall, and my late sister was born in October.”

De Lorenzo, who loves to sing Manilow’s more obscure songs, will sing “I Was a Fool to Let You Go,” a smoky jazz ballad that De Lorenzo recorded on his MAC-nominated album Toast of the Town, Vol. 1. He will also be singing “Every Single Day” from the Broadway musical Harmony. “In the show, this song is sung by a young rabbi to the woman he loves, who is Roman Catholic,” De Lorenzo notes. “They must decide whether or not they marry, and the ‘or not’ option means their lives would separate, because the story takes place during the Nazi regime in Germany. He leaves it open for her to decide but says he will love her no matter the decision.”

Grossman, who also has the job of determining the song order and scripting the show to form a cohesive whole, chose as the opening ensemble number “Copacabana” and has set up the stage with a nightclub theme. “I grew up in Cincinnati, and my dad had a night club, Beverly Hills Country Club, in Southgate KY, just over the bridge, and it was one of the top four nightclubs in the country,” she asserted. “As I try to think about a very simple set, I’m reminded of touches from my dad’s nightclub that I can build into the set.” Grossman also found an obscure number for her to sing, “Hey Mambo,” though it’s not the Rosemary Clooney one. And true to the mission of ULS, Grossman will also sing “It’s a Miracle.”

“Diagnosis should not be by accident,” declared Grossman, whose cancer was detected when the doctors were checking for something else. And because it was early detection that saved her, Grossman has been a champion of lung cancer early detection through the ULS Foundation. “Lung cancer is one of those diseases without symptoms until later stages,” she noted. “Even when symptoms appear, they may not look like lung cancer and not be detected.” She is also working with insurance companies to broaden their criteria for covering CAT scan early detection screening. Presently, insurance coverage will cover the expensive screening only if you were a smoker and have smoked a number of packs a day for a number of years. “But the largest increase in lung cancer has been in non-smoking women, of which I am one,” Grossman explained. “We have been able to get the insurance companies to somewhat broaden their criteria, but there is still so much more work to be done.”

Last year, Manilow, who has been a lifelong heavy smoker, had an 11-week bout with bronchitis, at which point his doctor recommended he be screened for lung cancer, and a small spot was detected. Because they caught it early, he needed only surgery. Cancer-free, he returned to performing in April of this year, though continues to struggle with chronic bronchitis and recently having to cancel performances and tours. Still, like Grossman, Manilow was saved by early detection. Now, that’s something to sing about.

Upstage Lung Cancer Foundation presents Barry Manilow: A Tribute to a Master Showman on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 7:30 PM at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA. General Admission: $51, Reserved Seating: $106, Benefactor Seating: $256-$506. For ticket purchase, visit: https://ci.ovationtix.com/34875/production/1290472?performanceId=11867024; For show information, visit: https://upstagelungcancer.org/performances/