Barry Manilow has said it may be years before his hit musical Harmony will be restaged, because the original run of the show almost killed him.
The stress of putting on the show put Manilow and his manager in hospital during its original run in 1997, and it also bankrupted his production partner Bruce Sussman.
Manilow, who just bought back the rights to the show, has told the Los Angeles times of his fears concerning the show, "It hurt so bad that Bruce and I decided we were going to put it away for a while until we get our strength back. It was a very, very difficult experience.
"It’s a beautiful musical, and it says some very important things, we think. And my work on it is probably the best work I’ve ever done, and Bruce feels the same way. But it took a long time to get it up, and when it was up at the La Jolla Playhouse it felt like this was going to be a home run; we’re going right into New York.
"From that moment on, it fell apart. We dealt with three different producers, and it crashed on the first two. The third one was a real mess until we had to sue to get the rights back.
"Actually, all of us who had anything to do with it had a lot of trouble. Bruce went bankrupt. My manager went right into the hospital. I went to a heart place. And that’s what happens with these Broadway musicals. You put your soul into these things, and when they’re successful, it’s fantastic. When you go through this, it gets you in the gut."
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