Sooo, the day finally arrived.  It was ‘date night’ with Barry and although we usually spend a few hours getting ready for the show, well this was special and it merited more time than the usual few hours to get ready for the hot date.  After all, its not every day that you get to meet Barry is it!!  So, 5 hours and lots of pampering later, we are ready to go down to meet Barry.

So, we go down stairs and wait outside the doors to get inside the theatre of dreams and what lies behind them.    While we are waiting, two of the staff come out of the theatre with signs: One that says “VIP Entrance”, and someone else had another sign for the regular show guests arriving (who happened to all be civilians), so we all felt important before even getting through the door!

Then, after about 5 minutes, Lynn and John came out, introduced themselves to us and marked our names off the list that Lynn had.  She gave us a back stage security pass that we had to wear and a brief over view of what would happen and where we were going, then the doors where opened for the VIPS and in we went before everyone else. 

So after we got inside the theatre, we go towards the front of the stage but go around the seats that are on the stage and round the back of the curtains into un-chartered territory.  It was really weird being back there and being allowed to be back there…….it felt to me like we were there and shouldn’t have been, and at any minute we would all be discovered sneaking around backstage and we’d be ‘taken down’ by the security staff.  But obviously, that didn’t happen…….we were ok to be there, it was allowed and we were being escorted by Barry’s staff, so it was ok.

Isn't it funny how high heeled shoes never do what they are supposed to when you are a bag of nerves??  They never behave they way they are supposed to……you ‘go over’ with one or the other foot, and then they slip off your feet, or click louder than they did before so they sound like tiny explosions as the metal of the heel hit’s the floor.  They make you unsteady on your feet, and you feel like you are walking on stilts instead of 3 inch heels, and as for stairs pah…..they eat stairs for breakfast….needless to say, we all gripped onto the hand rail and took our time going down the stairs for fear of those heels tripping all of us down the lot of them head first. 

We had to go down 3 flights of stairs and then along a corridor.  As we went down the corridor there were framed photos of Barry with the band and other stars on the walls, so we all kind of slowed down while we admired the photos.  When we caught up to her, Lynn was stood waiting for us smiling……as I was first in the line, I apologised for dawdling, telling her that we were just admiring the photos, she just laughed and said it was quite ok!

Then we arrived at the green room, we went in were music was playing and a bottle of champagne was being chilled for our arrival.  We sat down, and then John introduced himself and told us what would happen from there on.  So, then we were given a welcome pack including a Manilow Music And Passion bag, a glow stick, a lanyard in metal (simulating platinum) with the M logo on it. 

Then, we got our Manilow champagne glasses and were offered water or champagne……all but one of us took the champagne.   Then there was hushed silence in the room, and as 7 out of nine of those in the room were Brits, Lynn said “Why are you guys all quiet?  You are never normally like this so what's up”.  We all laughed and said it’s the lull before the storm…….she laughed too saying that was what worried her…..she had never known the Brits to be so quiet and it disconcerted her.

Well, before we knew it, we got word that Barry had arrived and was in the room next door and was waiting for us to go in.  OK, now is when a million thoughts race through your mind, leaping from one thing to another to another before you have even finished the previous thought……could just picture all those little neurons (kind of like cartoon characters running and running) raging at a million miles a second as they fired off each other you know.  So, the first person went in, and we got told to get ready to go in.  So, we waited and while we waited tried to let the champagne kick in and make us relax…..it didn’t work, but it tasted great and it was nice to have before hand!

So, the door opens and we are told “your next”, so off we went into the room next door.  We wait in the corridor, and then are told its ok to go ahead.  The room is filled with soft lighting and a wonderful smell from candles that are burning in most of the small room.  The lighting is very intimate and has a cosy type of feel to it……get the feeling that its meant to be like a “night in at home, its just the candles burning so you can curl up in front of the fire and watch a movie or listen to music and chill with a glass of something nice” type of ambience.  Its very nice, very welcoming and very romantic…….then you see Barry.

Its kind of surreal to know that Barry is waiting for YOU in that room.  We are introduced one by one, and Barry shakes our hands (which are soft and warm) and he says “Hi, ****, its nice to meet you”.   That is it then…..the nerves are gone.  Champagne is not needed any more, Barry is enough to calm any nerves that were there before hand.  He has such a relaxing manner about him, he makes it impossible to be nervous any longer. 

So, Barry asks about the recent promo trip to the UK and speaks about the record signing.  All the time we were in there, I couldn’t take my eyes off him……he looks great on stage and to see him in such a romantic setting is just heavenly.  At one point, when he spoke to me and our eyes met, oh…..he blew me away and his eyes…….oh my god those eyes……I just couldn’t take my eyes off his eyes, they are beautiful and so expressive too. When he looks at you directly, you can see him searching for something. Not quite sure what it is he is searching for, but that’s what it looked like to me when I looked into them baby blues of his.

Barry suggested we pose for individual photos, and then decides we should have a group photo as well and pulls us closer into him for a group photo.  Then Marc appears from nowhere (sure he was there all the time, but he just seemed to materialise before our very eyes!) and he has programmes for Barry to sign for us.  Barry signs them and hands them over to us. 

There's time for just a few more words and then its time to go.  Just before we leave, Barry thanks us for coming and for donating to his charity.   The time goes so quickly, it doesn’t feel like you are there for more than a second (obviously, you are!), but it just goes real quick…….no sooner are you there in front of him, and you are back in the green room.  Where does the time go indeed.

So, once everyone has been into see Barry, its time to go back to the theatre and to our front row seats.  We see the show and then as the curtain is coming down, John appears with an arm full of wallets with our photos in them. And then the evening is over and its back to the really real world of normal life. 

You know what, I like Barry’s world better than the really real world. Its so nice being protected by and wrapped up in Barry’s music and life in residency……and (as a message to Barry) yes Barry we’d love to be there all the time with you in that environment, its great not having anything to worry about, no work to consider, no obligations to meet, no troubles and no problems, its nice to just watch you, and be in “that place” with you when you get lost in the story of a song through the music and the lyrics.

It's nice to be able to share time with Barry and friends. Its nice to be there for one reason…..to love you……and do we ever!!!   Thank you Barry for allowing us to spend time with you at the Hilton.  Cant wait to see you again when we will all be home again.