Barry Manilow to Headline 'FROM SELLING JINGLES TO SELLING OUT BROADWAY' Benefit for New York Theatre Barn, 4/14

Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Award winner Barry Manilow will headline a benefit event for the New York-based non-profit theatre company New York Theatre Barn called A Conversation with Barry Manilow: From Selling Jingles To Selling Out Broadway on Sunday, April 14, 2013 at 2pm in New York City. All proceeds will support New York Theatre Barn's groundbreaking platform for new musicals and their writers NYTB in the D-Lounge, and its other mission-driven programming and outreach.

With his recent return to Broadway and upcoming Manilow/Bruce Sussman-penned Harmony in mind, New York Theatre Barn brings Manilow back to his original love-the theatre and writing for the theatre. At A Conversation with Barry Manilow, Manilow will discuss his early years, his approach to songwriting, and what he's learned along the way from jingle writing to selling out Broadway, for an intimate audience of 250 emerging writers, theatre patrons, and friends of New York Theatre Barn. Attendees will be invited to send in questions for Manilow in advance, and many will be asked during a Q&A section at the end of the program.

Manilow would describe himself as a musician before he would call himself a singer. From the beginning, his love of music was, and still is, in arranging, composing and songwriting. After attending the New York College of Music and the Juilliard School of Music, Manilow made his first living as a jingle writer. Since then, Manilow has gone on to have 50 Top 40 hits, with three songs being certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Among his numerous writing credits are two musicals, Copacabana and Harmony, the latter with his longtime collaborator, songwriter and theatre veteran Bruce Sussman. Harmony tells the story of The Comedian Harmonists, a close harmony ensemble of six young men in 1930s Germany, who took the world by storm - from the stages of Europe to Carnegie Hall. "We are both thrilled to finally return to our first love ? writing a musical together. Especially this one," says Manilow and Sussman. Harmony will enjoy a regional production this September at the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theater in Atlanta, GA, and then it will move to the prestigious Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, CA in March 2014.

Tickets range from $100 to $250, with a limited number of $50 tickets available for emerging writers. $250 tickets include entry to an exclusive reception with Manilow following the event. For tickets visit www.nytheatrebarn.org, or call Brown Paper Tickets at (800) 838-3006. Venue will be released upon purchasing a ticket.

New York Theatre Barn is an award-winning non-profit theatre company founded in 2007 and dedicated to the investigation, development, and advancement of new works. The company primarily develops and produces new musicals that tell new stories about real people, often rooted in current events and history that reflect our diverse world and help us better experience our shared humanity. Notable recent productions include a site?specific and immersive production of Marisa Michelson & Joshua H. Cohen's Tamar of the River Oratorio (with Choral Chameleon), Sheilah Rae, Michele Brourman and Thomas Edward West's all-­?female musical I Married Wyatt Earp (59E59 Theatres/Prospect Theater Co.) with Heather Mac Rae and Carolyn Mignini, and NYTB's original commission musicAl Small Town Story (formerly known as Speargrove Presents) by Sammy Buck and Brandon James Gwinn, based on actual events. New York Theatre Barn is federally-approved 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in New York state, and donations are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.

With worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, Barry Manilow's success is a benchmark in popular music. His concerts sell out instantly. He is ranked as the top Adult Contemporary chart artist of all time, according to R&R (Radio & Records) and Billboard Magazines, with 50 Top 40 Hits. The list includes all-time favorites that Manilow still sings today: "Mandy," "It's A Miracle," "Could It Be Magic," "I Write the Songs," "Tryin' To Get the Feeling Again," "This One's For You," "Weekend In New England," "Looks Like We Made It," "Can't Smile Without You," "Even Now," and the Grammy Award-winning "Copacabana (At the Copa)." Rolling Stone crowned him "a giant among entertainers... the showman of our generation."

Manilow would describe himself as a musician before he would call himself a singer. From the beginning, his love of music was, and still is in arranging, composing and songwriting. Manilow, using his arranging and producing abilities, changed the rock song into the sweeping ballad that the world knows and when the Arista single reached Number One in early 1975, it ignited one of the most incandescent careers in pop music.

Manilow's roots are in his native Brooklyn, where music was an integral part of his life. By the age of seven, he was taking accordion lessons and playing on a neighbor's piano. Choosing a career in music while still in his teens, he attended New York College of Music and the Julliard School of Music while working in the mailroom at CBS. He subsequently became musical director for a CBS show named "Callback" (the predecessor of American Idol) which led to a lucrative sideline on New York's advertising jingle circuit.

A winner of Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards, highlights of Manilow's theater career range from his Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in 1977 (in the same year that ABC-TV presented "The Barry Manilow Special" to an audience of 37 million) to an SRO eight-week run on the Great White Way in 1989. Beginning in 1997, Barry Manilow's "Copacabana - The Musical", an elaborate two-act spectacular, played to packed houses in London's West End for 18 months before touring the U.S., Australia and Asia. June 2001 saw the opening of "Could It Be Magic? - The Barry Manilow Songbook."

Manilow recently completed his critically acclaimed run on New York's Great White Way. Manilow On Broadway was met with overwhelming critical praise and audience appreciation from the consistently sold-out crowds. In 2013, Manilow will be taking Manilow On Broadway to venues across the country.

The 2013/14 Alliance Theater season will open on September 6, 2013, with Harmony - A New Musical, by Manilow and his longtime collaborator, songwriter and theatre veteran Bruce Sussman. Harmony tells the story of The Comedian Harmonists, a close harmony ensemble of six young men in 1930s Germany, who took the world by storm - from the stages of Europe to Carnegie Hall. "We are both thrilled to finally return to our first love - writing a musical together. Especially this one," Manilow and Sussman shared. "It has been an indescribable honor to spend all this time in the company of these six extraordinary men."

In addition to his own foundation, the Manilow Fund for Health and Hope, other involvements include The Prince's Trust, United Way, the Starlight Foundation, and several leading organizations for AIDS prevention and research. Manilow is the national spokesperson for the Foundation Fighting Blindness and a member of the Music Center of Los Angeles.

NEW YORK THEATRE BARN (Joe Barros, Artistic Director; Barry Levine, Interim Managing Director; Jason Najjoum, Producing Director) is an award-winning non-profit theatre company founded in 2007 and dedicated to the investigation, development, and advancement of new works. The company primarily develops and produces new musicals that tell new stories about real people, often rooted in current events and history that reflect our diverse world and help us better experience our shared humanity. Past productions include Marisa Michelson & Joshua H. Cohen's Tamar of the River Oratorio (with Choral Chameleon), Sheilah Rae, Michele Brourman and Thomas Edward West's all-female musical I Married Wyatt Earp (59E59 Theatres/Prospect Theater Co.) with Heather Mac Rae and Carolyn Mignini, Dan Collins and Julianne Wick Davis' Wood (New York Musical Theatre Festival/Emily Miller) with Cady Huffman, Cait Doyle's Hot Mess In Manhattan (Araca Project), Bridget Bailey's award-winning solo play Child of Hungry Times, and the company has been instrumental in the development of Adam Gwon's Ordinary Days. In Development: Small Town Story (fka Speargrove Presents) (Sammy Buck/Brandon James Gwinn), Costs of Living (Timothy Huang), The Boy Who Danced On Air (Tim Rosser/Charlie Sohne), Mackenzie and the Missing Boy (Joel B. New/Cara Winter), and Resident Alien (Katya Stanislavskaya). New York Theatre Barn is a proud member of the National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT). www.NYTheatreBarn.org