Looks like he made it! Barry Manilow shines in Broadway concert

Looks like he made it! Barry Manilow shines in Broadway concert

Richard Corkery/New York Daily News

Barry Manilow rakes in the applause at his curtain call for 'Manilow On Broadway' at the St. James Theater Tuesday night.

It's a miracle. But it looks like he made it â€" back to health.

On Tuesday, Barry Manilow officially opened his greatest-hits concert with hardly a cough or sniffle or any sign of the flu that forced him to cancel five performances. The Brooklyn-raised Grammy winner was ready with eight boxes of tissues around the stage of the St. James Theatre. It’s home to the warm and winning “Manilow On Broadway” through March 2.

The Kleenex makes me laugh, but handy “just in case,” Manilow said, adding that “Jewish guilt” over missing shows was worse than the fever. Well-wishers, he said, got him “through a terrible week.”

It’s been nearly 25 years since his last Broadway show. 

A Manilow concert is like dining at Medieval Times: You know you’re going to wind up with a greasy face.

Yes, there will be cheese. 

Case in point: The sing-along version of “Can’t Smile Without You,” which came with a projection of a sunny, yellow ’70s-style smiley face.

But there was also lots of heart, hit songs and a heady blast of nostalgia that was surprisingly moving. 

If you lived through the ’70s and ’80s, you lived the Barry Manilow catalogue. The show began with “Could It Be Magic,” then moved in rapid succession across familiar tunes â€" from “Looks Like We Made It” to “Weekend in New England” to “Even Now.” 

At 69, Manilow still gives it his all, shaking and baking as much as he could muster. Yes, his moves and his patter are a little canned. But despite being sick for a week, he was in good voice.

Recollections of his Williamsburg childhood and of his grandfather, who recognized his musical gift at an early age, were funny and sweet. 

And some danced, including “Real Housewife” LuAnn de Lesseps and anchorwoman Rosanna Scotto, who rocked her disco moves in the aisle during “Copacabana (At the Copa).”

The show, which included nine musicians and two vocalists, ran a little shy of two hours. After a few costume changes â€" from black to pink to white jacket â€" and a couple dozen tunes ended, aptly, with “I Write the Songs.” 

The professional photographer shooting the curtain call next to me had tears in his eyes. He couldn’t help it. He wasn’t alone.