Barry Manilow had played Vegas before he became a permanent headliner here, including the two-hour special "StarSkates Salute to Barry Manilow," which taped at Mandalay Bay and aired on NBC on October 23, 1999. It featured numerous figure skaters performing to Manilow's music and the man himself also performed.
Manilow's Las Vegas residency commenced in February 2005, when he opened his Music and Passion show at the Las Vegas Hilton, where he was a fixture until December 30, 2009 and even had his portrait painted (twice) as a giant mural on one of the hotel's exterior walls by the same company that "wraps" our glass-façaded resorts.
In March of the following year, Barry moved to Paris, where he's been headlining ever since. There's been a lot of migration between the Strip's showrooms lately, however, with Blue Man Group heading to the Monte Carlo after a long run at the Venetian, and Jersey Boys taking over Barry's gig at Paris, which wraps up on December 11. What will become of the popular singer-songwriter after that has not yet been officially announced, but strong rumors are swirling that he'll be moving north to Harrah's... Watch this space.
