Barry Manilow

Most shows, all you get is a ticket stub for your scrapbook. With Barry Manilow, you’ll always have Paris.

The show Manilow calls the “most romantic” of his career has found an ideal home at the Paris Théâtre at Paris Las Vegas. Along with his own catalog of love songs (“Mandy,” “I Write the Songs,” “Ready to Take a Chance Again,” “Could It Be Magic”), Manilow performs covers of a few of his favorite romantic ballads by other songwriters.

The Paris Théâtre is the perfect setting. The 1,500-seat venue has red-swathed walls like Moulin Rouge and the set makes use of French Impressionist paintings. It’s like a stroll through the Louvre — with someone humming “Can’t Smile Without You” in your ear.

Manilow set out to be a composer or arranger, not a singing sensation. Before his breakout success with “Mandy,” he wrote jingles (“I am stuck on Band-Aid, ’cause Band-Aid’s stuck on me”) and did arrangements for Bette Midler.

Check your ironic detachment at the door, because Manilow can bring even cynical hipsters to their feet, waving glow sticks. The show opens with the star standing with arms outstretched at the edge of the stage, belting “Come, come, come in to my arms.”

Barry, we thought you’d never ask.

—Anne Burke, Custom Publishing Writer

BARRY MANILOW
Paris Théâtre, Paris Las Vegas
3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South
$65, $95, $125, $175 and $250
800.745.3000
Platinum tickets: www.manilowparis.com

Dec. 3-5 and Jan. 7-9 and 14-16, 7 p.m.