Barry Manilow-Lily Tomlin Duet

Believe it or not, I’m going to be SINGING. On stage. In front of an audience.

Any of you who are actors or musicians, or even regular fans, who have advice — PLEASE comment. This is the first time I’ve sung on stage since 7th grade, when I was the naughty boy who lured Pinoccio to Never Never Land and was part of the "He’s a Real Live Boy Now" chorus. The best part of that show was wearing lavender & silver striped lame knickers. It was 1982.

I’m taking this class that has had all kinds of strangely wonderful homework assignments, including making a display of pictures of all the people we talk with on a regular basis, and creating a one-page-per-year photo album autobiography.

The class meets for a full weekend approximately every 8 weeks, with "homework parties" and coaching calls in between, to help us stay on track.

And at the next weekend, on Saturday May 14, we’re having an event where first we’ll have a conversation about what we love about our lives, and then we’ll have a talent show!

You are ALL invited. It’s in Atlanta, and if you can come, I’ll send you directions.

Performing in the talent show isn’t required, but since a lot of the course is about trying new things and pushing out of your own comfort zone, I’m going to go for it.

Right after I decided to perform — having almost no idea what I might do — one of my classmates asked me if I would be interested in performing a Barry Manilow-Lily Tomlin duet.

The song is called The Last Duet, and it’s a spoof of all those 1970s romantic duets. This is a couple that clearly can’t stand each other — one of my first lines is "you make my heart burn." His answering line is, "you make my head ache."

I mentioned this to my boss and his boss today, and the next thing I know, the boss’s boss burned me a CD with the song on it, and asked if I’d like him to play around and try to make a karaoke version.

I think this is a great place to work.