MAN, OH MAN!
MANCHESTER IS IN FINE FORM

A warm, witty retrospective celebrates
fifty years of songs, stories, and an artist
still at the top of her game.

Regulars at 54 Below may have done a double take upon entering the room for one of Melissa Manchester‘s four May performances. First, the piano had been moved to the opposite side of the stage from its usual spot. Then Manchester herself appeared, her familiar mass of dark curls now gray. There was no surprise once she began to sing, though. She still sounds terrific, and after more than a decade of appearances at the club, she remains as engaging as ever in Fifty Threads: An Artist’s Journey.

Before her 1973 debut album, Home to Myself, she studied songwriting with Paul Simon, wrote jingles, worked odd jobs, and was one of The Harlettes (Bette Midler’s backup singers). Referring to the difference between today’s networking and how things worked when she met and was hired by Miss Midler, this other divine Miss M. wryly commented, “Before social media, the way you found out about things is you actually talked to people.” That gift for genuine connection extends to her audience. Relaxed and fully present, she phrases her lyrics with no sense of “automatic pilot,” despite having sung many of them concert after concert, year after year. As she smilingly soars through “Whenever I Call You Friend” (co-written with Kenny Loggins), she looks at the audience as if everyone is truly an old friend.

Woven throughout the evening are stories from her life and tributes to Joni Mitchell, Laura Nyro, and Simon, represented by “River,” “Save the Country,” and “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” It also includes two especially effective songs with similar titles but very different emotions: the sad portrait of a communication-challenged marriage in “Through the Eyes of Grace” and the romance-filled view of things “Through the Eyes of Love” (music by Marvin Hamlisch). Then there were numbers written with frequent collaborator Carole Bayer Sager: the moody “Midnight Blue”; the quintessential plea of loving support, “Come In from the Rain”; and the ladies’ “Good News for the Lady” was just as welcome as “Oh, Lady Be Good” by the Gershwins. Yes, Melissa Manchester is one of the few singer-songwriters who can authentically deliver show tunes and standards without sounding as if it’s an awkward career shift into foreign territory. Stephen Sondheim’s “Being Alive” is as inhabited as her own work.

On the topic of musical theatre, she’s also been treading the boards on tour in Funny Girl, playing Rose, the mother of Fanny Brice. Some tales about that experience would be a welcome addition, but it was a treat to hear her perform a solo version of her big musical number from the score—in “Mama” character, accent and all—”Who Taught Her Everything She Knows?” Her musical theatre work continues this summer in Sag Harbor, New York, as she plays the mother of another show business legend, James Cagney, in Cagney. In the fall, it’s back to performances of the Fifty Threads concert.

Born in the Bronx on the day after Valentine’s Day, this commanding and comforting communicator shows great heart in both her songs and her warm, generous personality, making it a true pleasure to be in her presence.

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photos by Stephen Mosher

Melissa Manchester – Fifty Threads: An Artist’s Journey
54 Below
254 W. 54th St. in New York
reviewed on May 6, 2026
for future performances, call 646.476.3551 or visit 54 Below
for more info and dates, visit Melissa Manchester

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