The Manhattan Transfer Calls It a Night With a Final Show at Walt Disney Concert Hall: There’s ‘Grieving,’ but ‘We Think We’re Going Out on Top’.
Introducing the Manhattan Transfer’s final show at Walt Disney Concert Hall, writer Bruce Vilanch emphasized the multi-genre status the vocal ensemble built up and maintained over a 50-year-plus career that, from all indications, really was coming to a close Friday night.
Two members of the quartet have been with the group since its early ‘70s origins, Alan Paul and Janis Siegel; Cheryl Bentyne, for her part, has been in the ensemble nearly as long as those two, having joined up before the ‘70s came to a close; even new guy Trist Curless has a decade’s worth of tenure.
Prior to and following the show, the four members talked with Variety about winding things up with a final tour — and final show — that they decided should coincide with a planned 50th anniversary outing. If the goal was to convince everyone attending that this is a group that should not be quitting, mission accomplished.
“I think we’re going out on top. And that’s the way I always wanted it. I think we all felt that way,” says Paul. “We didn’t want to have it deteriorate. We want to be remembered for our greatness, and we certainly have a wonderful legacy.”
