| Melissa Manchester Enchants |
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 Saturday, November 28, 2009Annenberg Theater Palm Springs, California Story and photos by Pat Krause For more Pat Krause photos of Melissa Manchester, click here. Melissa Manchester performed at the Annenberg Theater in the Palm Springs Art Museum on Saturday, Nov. 28. The theater was filled to capacity, with many fans coming from as far away as Los Angeles just to hear Manchester sing. This small, intimate theater is special and the desert is blessed to have it for these kinds of performances. Melissa is such a varied performer, listing songwriting, singing, acting and performing on Broadway to her list of accomplishments. On her road in music, she has had the pleasure of working with some of the top names in show business and has collaborated with the best in songwriting. Her skill as a pianist was evident in this show.  Melissa started out the evening playing the piano and singing “Through the Eyes of Love” accompanied by one man on a keyboard. It takes a certain talent to be able to sing to only the piano and keyboard and still get the audience moved. A voice like that is a force with which to be reckoned. There was a backup singer on only a few songs and once a guitar was used for musical back up. She thanked the Art Museum for inviting her to this beautiful venue and also thanked the audience for supporting this wonderful theater.She said she had an epiphany at the age of 5 listening to Ella Fitzgerald. She was so engrossed in that song that she wanted to live in that kind of world. She sang “Lady Be Good” like she heard it back then.  She mentioned the Desert was so cold and not the way she had envisioned it. Then she sang, “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.” She also sang many of her top hits such as, “Well, Hello There,” “Coming in from the Rain,” “One More Time,” “Midnight Blue” and “Angels Dancing.”There was a short intermission when she changed her gown. She realized there was no Hanukkah song so she wrote one called, “Let There Be More Light.” Melissa mentioned she had a friend with breast cancer, so she co-wrote, “The Power of a Ribbon” that can be purchased online for 99 cents, and all the proceeds going to breast cancer research. She said she had given up her career of going on the road to raise her children. She wrote lyrics for many animated films and co-wrote many other songs for other artists during that time. She wrote ditties for her children, but they were not impressed. She co-wrote a song called “A Mother’s Prayer” that was her encore song after a standing ovation brought her back on stage. The lyrics are words that parents feel but are unable to communicate, a “WOW” song.  Fans were able to meet her and buy a signed autographed CD in the theater lobby after the show. She had her new CD, “When I Look Down That Road,” available for purchase.Looking down the road she has taken was the theme for this night's performance. For more Pat Krause photos of Melissa Manchester, click here. For more about Melissa Manchester, click here. For more about the Annenberg Theater, click here. |
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