Looks Like We “Barely” Made It
Looks Like We (Barely) Made It
My accountant calls it “research”: Going to concerts, buying music, even seeing films can be tax deductible. So, for “research” I decided to catch Barry Manilow at the Borgata casino in Atlantic City, the town of my birth. Amy had to work, my fellow Manilow fanatics were otherwise engaged (and tickets were expensive), so I decided to see the show “solo”. And, indeed, available tickets were scarce, so I decided to look for tickets on Craig’s List. I know “caveat emptor” when it comes to buying second hand tickets. But I’ve had good experiences so far (Goblin, The Replacements) There was an ad for one ticket, 4th row. The ad said his mom’s friend had to cancel. He was driving down from Long Island, and we could meet that afternoon for the exchange. “Joe” met me at Bally’s, where he was staying, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. And, it was a hard ticket, which made it seem that much more legit.
Fast forward to ten minutes before showtime. They scan my ticket, a buzzer goes off and the ticket scanner reads “NO ENTRY”. I’m confused. Maybe it’s because it was a group of 4? The woman tells me she needs to get her supervisor. Meanwhile, I see Joe and his mom and his friend. They can’t get in either. Joe bought all 4 tickets from a Craig’s List ad. “It seemed legit, it was a nice woman on the Upper West Side”, he tells me. So now I’m standing in this holding area with Joe, his mom and his friend Ian while waiting to find out what our fate is. The supervisor, Alexis, shows up. She took one look at our tickets and confirmed: “FAKE”. Joe hangs his head. His mom starts to cry. Joe and Ian flew in from San Francisco to drive down with his mother to see the show. It’s looking pretty dire. I’m cursing to myself. I can’t be mad at Joe, he’s in the same fix, and, his poor mother! Alexis tells us to stand by. Minutes seem like hours. Eventually she returns. She lightly scolds us and tells us to follow her. “We never do this”. She leads us to 4 seats in the second row off of stage left. Amazing. Alexis gets the good samaritan award! Barry starts the show with “It’s A Miracle”, and it truly was a miracle. To add to the fun, there was some sort of curtain malfunction, which blocked our view of part of the stage. The techs would fuss with it, undo it, redo it. The ladies behind me were furious!
The stage crew, doing their best to make sure we see the second keyboardist and percussionist.
It indeed was a great show, hit after hit after hit. Barry is charming, funny, and self deprecating. And the fans! It was like I stumbled into a convention for middle-aged housewives from Long Island.
During “Weekend In New England”, when Barry sang, “When can I touch you?”, there was a resounding “RIGHT NOW”! Dramatic pause. Barry milked it for all it was worth, being the true show biz professional that he is. Is this a thing? They all somehow knew. It was perfectly timed.
For the finale, the local Oakcrest High School choir joined in for “I Write The Songs” and “Copacabana”. It was really sweet! Anyway, my fellow ticket scam victims and I are now BFFs, having been through this experience together. I have a feeling that I’ll see them in October at Joe’s Pub.
Joe, Ian, other Joe’s mom, other Joe
