Barry Manilow Gives A GIFT OF LOVE This Christmas And Is BACK ON BROADWAY in 2013!

DG: If you weren't making music, what would you see yourself doing?

BM: I write pretty well. And I like doing that. It might have been that.

DG: So it definitely would be doing something creative.

BM: I really can't imagine what it would be like without music.

DG: Do you remember the first time you heard yourself on the radio?

BM: I do.

DG: Where were you and what did it feel like?

BM: My collaborator, Bruce Sussman, and I were in Florida. We were driving down – I don't know where, but – we were driving down in Dade County and an announcer came on and said "And now the number one record in Dade County is Mandy? And I'll never forget that. I nearly drove off the road.

DG: Did you have a special teacher or mentor who inspired you?

BM: No. No. I was on my own. David, I was on my own. I couldn't have been more terrified. I really had nobody to ask. I was making up my own rules. I remember that – I was a pianist, I played piano for everybody. I was everybody's accompanist. I'm good. I'm not a great piano player with concertos and classical music but I accompany good. I'm like a band, I dig in and all the singers love me. Anyway, I got this offer to conduct and music direct The Pajama Game in a local church production and I said "Sure I can do that". I had no idea what to do and they said "Great. You've got the job". And I ran to the library and  I got these book on how to conduct an orchestra. And I was the music director of a Broadway show, And I did it. I did it. I just did it. You just do it. You say "sure, I can do it" and you do it.

DG: Who's our favorite entertainer?

BM: My favorite entertainer? Living or dead?

DG: Either way, Living or dead.

BM: Well, I love Gaga these days. I think she's the real deal. I'm rootin' for her. I really am. I'm rootin' for her. I just like everything about her. I love her interviews. I like when she discusses her family. Did you see that interview she did on Oprah?  She's got a great family and a great sense of herself? Just great. So, living – I would say Gaga. Dead is Judy.

DG: Okay, they gave me the signal. One last question. When it's all said and done and you're no longer here – how do you want to be described on your tombstone?

BM: That I made people feel. I made you feel. Feel good. Feel better. That I actually connected with other people.

Barry Manilow's A GIFT OF LOVE will play The McCallum Theatre December 11-16 with tickets priced from $25. To $250 . For tickets or further information, visit www.mccallumtheatre.com.

David Green is the Executive Director of The Carol Channing-Harry Kullijian Foundation for the Arts -- working to restore the Arts to our nation’s public schools and provide an arts education to every child in America. He is the founder and President of the nationally acclaimed Conservatory Musical Theatre University, a training ground for talented young people with aspirations for careers in theatre, most specifically musical theatre. Mr. Green's Broadway alumni include Tony -nominee Matthew Morrison, Stephanie Block, Lindsay Mendez, Scott Barnhardt, Anneliese VanDerPol and Krysta Rodriguez, to name a few. As a producer and director, he has staged over 150 theatrical productions for both educational and professional theatre and with such stars as Carol Channing, Cathy Rigby, Jonelle Allen, Eric Kunze, Davis Gaines, Stephanie Zimbalist, John Raitt, Betty Garrett and more. Mr. Green is honored to serve the Inland Empire of Southern California as a contributor to BroadwayWorld.

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