Two weekends ago I saw Les Miserables (on stage) with my daughter, and on Saturday I went with some girlfriends to see Barry Manilow in concert.
I’ll wait til you are finished laughing at me. Yes, I’m a Fanilow. I make no apologies. And it was an excuse to spend the evening with three fabulous women, so stop your judging.
Obviously, these two shows were very different…but which was better? It’s like comparing high heels to yoga pants, but I’ll give it a shot. Who would win?
AUDIENCE
Les Miz: All ages, even kids as young as 7 or so, which is too young in my opinion. The content may go over their head, but there are so many other shows to take a child that young to see.
Manilow: Lots of bald and gray heads filling the seats. I was probably in the youngest five percent of concert goers. I was surprised by the number of husbands who accompanied their wives; my husband would not be caught dead at a Manilow concert unless I snuck in a keg in my purse.
WINNER: Les Miz. I prefer the all ages crowd to the octogenarian one.
ENTHUSIASM
Les Miz: Lots of polite applause, and a well deserved standing ovation at the curtain call. The girl next to me was literally waving her hands in front of her face and getting all verklempt like Linda Richman from Coffee Talk. I wanted to smack her. And you don’t generally hear woot woots at the theater, but the gentleman behind me yelled quite a few, accompanied by fist pumps. Holla for Jean Valjean! Eponine is da bomb!
Manilow: This crowd must have had a cup of coffee with their early bird special, cuz they were pretty lively. At one point, Barry sang “Weekend in New England” — And tell me, when will our eyes meet? When can I touch you? When he sang that line, a bunch of horny old ladies responded, “NOW!”
Enthusiastic, yes. Totally gross, also yes.
WINNER: Manilow by a nose; you just can’t be as openly enthusiastic at the theater,unless you are the guy behind me or the annoying girl next to me.
VOCALS
Les Miz: The best I have ever heard for this show. The range, the power – I am continually in awe of people who are vocally gifted. To bring an audience to tears with your singing is an amazing power to have.
Manilow: Barry is almost 70, and he still has vocal chops. He could belt out the notes, and other than a few quick breaks to change his sparkly blazer, he sang for almost two hours straight.
WINNER: Les Miz. Barry’s still got it, but he’s no match for the cast of Les Miz.
TEAR FACTOR
Les Miz: Lots of tears for me, as usual. It was my daughter’s first time seeing the show, so she was teary a bunch of times too.
Manilow: No tears, but it was a sentimental journey for me as he sang songs that I associated with certain boys, unrequited love, break ups, and singing into my hairbrush in my bedroom.
WINNER: Les Miz got the real tears, Manilow hasn’t made me cry since 10th grade.
SEATS
Les Miz: We were in row H; close enough to occasionally see the spit fly from the performers’ mouths as they sang. We were also pretty close to the bathroom, which is a plus for a three hour show.
Manilow: Nose bleed. Even the top portion of the jumbotron was cut off. But given the plastic surgery that poor Barry has had, I was fine with being that far away.
WINNER: Clearly Les Miz.
SINGING OUT LOUD
Les Miz: This is a no-no at a live theater performance. I sang in my head, though, and I sounded awesome.
Manilow: We sang our hearts out. No one could hear us anyway, and how can you listen to “Copacobana” or “Can’t Smile Without You” and not sing?
WINNER: Manilow, but only because I would have been thrown out had I sang out loud at Les Miz.
And the winner is…
Les Misérables.
No offense, Barry. I still love ya, but you just can’t compete with a Broadway musical in my book.
I’ve been meaning to read this for weeks! I think I mentioned to you that my sister and I took my mom to see Barry in Vegas about 4 years ago. BEST CONCERT EVER! We were by far the youngest there, but what a show, and what a voice still! I know you are comparing it to Lez Miz, but take away the comparison, and I’d go see Barry another time, any day. (for free)
I would see him again too, Jen. It was kinda unfair for me to pit him against Les Miz, but I couldn’t resist.
Barry was my first concert, my mom had an extra ticket. This year is one of those big birthday years so I got her and her husband tickets. In the 10th row. He asked me why I was punishing him!! Mom now has named me best child ever 🙂
Tenth row – wow! They’ll be able to see Barry’s plastic surgery work up close 🙂
I gotta say that I would have scored it the same way. Although I would love the opportunity to see either (or BOTH!) one day.
You definitely should if you have the opportunity, Kim!
Sounds like both events were pretty fun! Thanks for allowing me to live vicariously through your review of both. I sorta kinda feel like I’ve experienced both…firsthand! 😉 Good job!
Thanks, Mariann. I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to comment!
Regardless, it sounds like you had two great weekends!! I have not seen Les Miserables, but I just took my daughter and a friend to see Annie – the singing was amazing!!
I love Annie! Vocal talent really does blow me away; I really wish I had some!
I must say that I was rooting for Les Mis the entire time. I first saw it when it came out 25 years ago and I’ve been in love with it ever since. I got the entire musical on a 3 cassette pack and I know EVERY SINGLE WORD to the entire thing. I love it.
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it, but it gets better each time. I can’t speak for Barry Manilow, as I’ve not seen him in concert, but I would think Les Mis would bet out Barry without much effort. If anything, Les Mis is far younger and has looser joints.
I agree, Lisa – Les Miz gets better with age. Barry, not so much.
WHEW!!! For a second there I truly thought Barry was going to win this one. Thankfully you didn’t let your “Fanilow-ness” cloud your good judgement.
Lol – sorry to alarm you there, Marie. I do love Barry, but Les Miz is my first love…
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Thanks for visiting, Bev – I’ll come over and check your blog out!
awesome smackdown…loved it. I haven’t seen Barry in concert, but after seeing LeMes in the theaters I can only imagine how amazing it would be live.
Oh, it’s so amazing, Karen. I didn’t let my daughter see the movie until she saw the show first. I’m sure the movie is great, but a movie is rarely as good as a live show.
Les Mis…totally would be the show I would go to. You nailed the review in my book!
Sound slike you had two great weekends in a row. Sadly I have not been to a Broadway Show or Concert since I had my kids. Hoping to get to do both real soon again, fingers crossed!! 🙂
I hope you do to, Janine!