Manilow Out of Hospital; Will He and Sussman Regain Control of Harmony?
By Kenneth Jones
03 Feb 2004
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Barry Manilow (right) and Elaine Stritch
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| photo by Aubrey Reuben | Composer Barry Manilow returned to his home in Palm Springs Feb. 1 following an overnight stay in a hospital, where he was monitored for chest pains, Reuters reported.
His spokesman said Manilow's discomfort was stress related due to last week's arbitration hearings surrounding Manilow and Bruce Sussman's wish to gain control of their musical, Harmony.
Following tests and when the doctors said the 57-year-old Manilow's heart had returned to a normal rate, he was discharged Sunday night, publicist Jerry Sharell said.
Sharell previously said Manilow was hospitalized Jan. 31 after returning to the West Coast from New York, where he had been participating in ''two of the most grueling days of arbitration'' over his musical, Harmony, the 2003 tryout production of which was thwarted when producer Mark Schwartz was unable to come up with the needed money.
Manilow and co-writer Bruce Sussman had been seeking to get control of the property again in the hope that producers other than Schwartz might rally round it and bring it to life.
The musical, about the Comedian Harmonists, a singing group in Germany in the 1920s, was to have a Philadelphia tryout in November 2003, but days before the cast was to travel to Philly, the producer announced he hadn't come up with millions of needed dollars. A major investor had dropped out, Schwartz previously told Playbill On Line.
Manilow, who is 57, previously said that the shut-down was the most devastating thing to happen to him since the death of his mother, perhaps moreso, he said, since so many others (designers, actors, technicians, the creative team) were involved in the loss.
The results of the arbitration are not yet known, but are expected to be announced shortly, perhaps as early as this week, Sharell said.
In a statement about his chest pains, Manilow said, "This is the true definition of heartbreak. It literally broke my heart to sit for two days and watch these beautiful people of the creative team testify because of the incompetence [that] brought down our show. My heart was broken, but the doctors put it back together, and I will continue to fight."
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