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Video: Bruce Sussman and Barry Manilow Can't Wait to Get HARMONY on Broadway
May 17, 2024
Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman's dreams are coming true this fall. Rehearsals are now underway for Harmony - the new, original musical by the pair and direction and choreography by Warren Carlyle. In this video, watch as the pair chats about getting it this far!
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0:00
It is a pleasure to see you both. Welcome to Broadway with Harmony
0:03
How excited are the two of you? Boy, that's a sentence I never thought I'd hear
0:07
Welcome to Broadway with Harmony. It's thrilling. It's beyond thrilling. And it's coming at us so fast
0:15
We're trying to take every inch of it in, and it's hard
0:19
I was just telling somebody that the marquee went up the same day as the first day of rehearsal
0:24
Well, either one of those is a head-spinning event, and then get two of them on the same day
0:29
It's a lot. What's made this so special for both of you, working on Harmony and now bringing it to Broadway
0:36
Well, we have been doing this for a long time, and we kept bumping into brick walls about getting it here
0:44
So just being able to get it to New York on Broadway is exactly what we always dreamed of
0:52
And it's been a long ride. It's been a long road. With this team, I mean, the design team, Beowulf Barrett and Jules and Peggy doing lights
1:00
and Linda Cho doing costumes, and, you know, there's 90 Tonys among them
1:04
And then this cast, and Warren. It's the top of the line. It really is
1:10
If this thing bombs, it's our fault, because we got the best team ever
1:15
We have no excuse. Well, we all fell in love with this downtown
1:19
It was so glorious down there. Why this musical is so right for right now, Barry
1:25
Well, you know, we keep asking this question, because every time we put it up, it's been the right time
1:32
Because anti-Semitism and more has always been out there. This time, again, it's the right time
1:40
It's a little louder than it usually is, but it's always been the right time for Harmony
1:45
Bruce, for you. Yeah, it's worse than ever, anti-Semitism. It's historical highs
1:53
So, in that way, the show is resonating more than ever. It is that which is both, you know, horrible, and then you see an audience respond to the show the way they do
2:04
And that's, as a writer, thrilling. But then you say, wait a minute, they're responding that way because things are so horrible outside the doors of this theater
2:11
So, it's a mixed blessing. But there are lines that are getting audible response now
2:18
And those lines are 15 and 20 years old, but they're getting response like they never got before
2:23
And that's because of what's going on outside. Finally, when you walk down that street and you see the Harmony marquee at the Barrymore Theater
2:30
what went through your mind, Barry, the first time you saw the marquee? My knees got weak, really
2:37
I just never thought we'd see it. I never thought we'd see a marquee with Harmony on it
2:43
It's just been such a long road. But it's thrilling. It is thrilling
2:50
And personally, when I was 17 years old, the first Broadway theater I ever went to was the Ethel Barrymore Theater
2:57
So, it's full circle. And it's just, we rehearse on 48th, and the theater's on 47th
3:05
And every once in a while at lunch hour, I go around the block just to make sure it's still there
3:09
No one's taking it down. My sister calls me all the time
3:13
I say, what, the theater blew up? What? I'm waiting for something horrible to happen
3:19
Can you tell we're Jewish? It's going to be glorious. If I don't see you two beforehand, I will see you opening night
3:25
Opening night, yeah. I cannot wait. He's a red carpet maven. Oh, we'll spend a lot of time with you
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