Hours after superstar entertainer Barry Manilow ended his 2-year run at the Paris over the weekend, he wound up in a hospital for surgery as rumors swirled that his wrap party in the rival Las Vegas Hilton signaled a possible return there.
Before jumping to the Paris, Barry had a 5-year contract run at the Hilton. In all, his seven years here total an amazing 1,000 shows. But there was little time for the 68-year-old singer-songwriter to celebrate. He went to a Los Angeles hospital just 36 hours later for surgery to repair torn abductor muscles and treatment to his hips.
“It’s not hip replacement -- it never has been,” Barry said. “The only bummer is that on Monday morning right after the Las Vegas show, I go into the hospital for another operation on my messed-up hips. That’s what you get when you jump around to ‘Copacabana’ for 30 years. Wish me luck! I seem to have ripped the abductor muscles on both hips and messed up my bursas.” (The bursas is the tendon sheath of fluid over the muscles from the hips to the knees.)
Barry admitted that he will be under doctor’s orders not to walk for three weeks, and then he will have another three weeks of recovery until returning to perform in Chicago on Feb. 2 and then for four nights at Radio City Music Hall in New York over Valentine’s Day weekend.
Meantime, as Barry wrapped his two-year run at the Paris, I can confirm that it was executives from the rival Hilton that threw his farewell party. Ken Ciancimino, a Hilton entertainment executive, hosted the bash with cake and champagne for Barry’s band and singers and Hilton executives and their families.
It promptly sparked rumors that Barry might return there after he fulfils some of the 150 worldwide concert engagement offers next year from Manila to Moscow, Sydney to Singapore and Omaha to Oslo. “Never say never,” one of his friends told me. “He always loved the theater there.”
Barry toasted the group: “We’ve had seven great years in Las Vegas. My deepest thanks go to everyone who has helped make these years so unforgettable. The people of Las Vegas have welcomed me and my show family with open arms, and I couldn’t be more grateful. And now, after 1,000 shows, we still walk out every night to sensational audiences from around the world. Here’s to Las Vegas! We’ll miss you!”
I’m also reliably told that several Las Vegas hotels have their fingers crossed hoping to lure Barry when he returns here from his 2012 global concert dates.
