Mailbox round-up: Unexpected Dreams and Manilow: Music and Passion

May 22, 2006- Permalink

Just catching up on the mailbox…we had a couple of items arrive recently but I’ve been swamped and haven’t written about them. So now I’m making amends.

The first item is Unexpected Dreams: Songs from the Stars. The CD is the brainchild of “vocal coach to the stars” Eric Vetro. It’s a collection of soothing children’s ballads whose proceeds are going to support the Los Angeles Philharmonica’s “Music Matters” music education program.

The CD’s performances include a sultry rendition of “Summertime” by Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Iron’s great take on Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love” and Victor Garber with the Into the Woods classic, “No One Is Alone.”

Toss in John Stamos singing Billy Joel, Nia Vardalos and Teri Hatcher singing The Beatles, and Ewan McGregor singing Sade and you have a CD that will have you and your kids reaching for a teddy bear and a blankie. A sweet CD for a great cause.

The next item in the mailbag is Barry Manilow – Manilow: Music and Passion. It’s a DVD of the 100th performance of Manilow’s wildly successful show at the Las Vegas Hilton. Besides renditions of Manilow’s greatest hits, the DVD also includes behind-the-scenes looks at the creation of both the stage show and the TV special celebrating it. The DVD is well shot, the music crisp and the extras are quite informative.

Manilow explains that the non-touring stage show gives him the chance to do stage effects that would be too costly to ship from city to city on a tour. He’s also aware of the challenges of a long-running show, saying that after the first few months of fans, he realized he was playing to audiences that had heard of him, but didn’t really know what he and his music were about.

To get the real Vegas experience, watch Manilow’s DVD and then give all your money to a total stranger.