Barry Manilow Returns to Westgate Las Vegas After Cancer Surgery

The International Theater at Westgate, and Manilow's Place in It

Westgate Las Vegas isn‘t on the Strip proper — it sits just east on Paradise Road, which tends to confuse visitors who aren’t from here. The property opened as the International Hotel in 1969, and Elvis Presley performed his record-setting residency on that same stage. The theater has hosted entertainers for more than fifty years, and Manilow has performed there more than anyone else in its history. In 2024, he signed what Westgate calls a lifetime residency agreement, the first the property has ever offered.

I‘ve been to that theater more times than I can count going back to the early days, and the room suits Manilow well — large enough to feel like an event, but not so cavernous that the connection between performer and audience gets lost. Cami Christensen, the President and General Manager of Westgate Las Vegas, described watching Manilow return to the stage this month as “incredibly moving,” which sounds like standard executive copy until you remember the context. The man had lung cancer surgery. Getting back onstage matters.

Since launching “Manilow: Las Vegas – The Hits Come Home!” at Westgate in 2018, the show has won USA TODAY’s “Best Las Vegas Show,” the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Best Resident Performer, and a Lifetime Achievement Award induction into the Las Vegas Magazine Hall of Fame. Those aren’t participation trophies — this production has been running and winning for eight years.

The Catalog, and a New Album Worth Noting

The production pulls from a catalog that spans more than five decades. “Mandy,” “Copacabana,” “Can‘t Smile Without You,” “I Write the Songs” — the hits are all there, and Manilow has always been a storyteller on stage, not just a performer running through a set list. His 85 million albums sold and 51 Top 40 singles (13 of them at number one) give him material to work with that very few living performers can match. Billboard and R&R named him the number-one Adult Contemporary artist of all time. The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted him. A 2023 Broadway musical he wrote, “Harmony,” was named a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

He also released his 33rd studio album, “What a Time,” earlier this summer — his first nearly all-original LP since 2011's “15 Minutes.” Collaborators include Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, nine-time Grammy winner Dave Cobb, and Gary Barlow. The record covers orchestral pop, ballads, R&B, heartland rock, and gospel. Whether any of that new material shows up in the residency setlist is worth watching.

Which Dates to Target, and the December Holiday Shows

For the standard “Hits Come Home!” run, the September dates are where I‘d point people first. The September 17-19 and 24-26 weekends fall in a sweet spot: summer crowds have thinned out, the heat has backed off just enough to make walking to and from Westgate tolerable, and traffic around that stretch of Paradise Road is manageable. October 8-10 and 15-17 work for the same reasons. November is fine too, though the 5-7 weekend lands right before a busy stretch of convention season, so hotel rates around the property will likely be higher.

The December shows are a different animal entirely. “A Very Barry Christmas” runs three weekends — December 3-5, 10-12, and 17-19 — and the production shifts to blend Manilow’s catalog with Christmas material. The December 17-19 weekend closes out the entire 2026 residency run. If you‘re planning a holiday trip to Las Vegas anyway, those dates make sense to anchor around. December in Vegas has become genuinely festive over the past decade or so, and Westgate puts real effort into its seasonal programming. The December 10-12 weekend is probably the best balance of holiday atmosphere without the full chaos of the week before Christmas.

For anyone considering the VIP Gold Pass: the access to Manilow’s private memorabilia room is genuinely unusual. His Grammy, Emmy, and Tony Awards together in one room, alongside costumes and career items that haven‘t been on public display before — that’s not standard residency-show upsell material. Book it early if you want it, because inventory on upgrades like that tends to run out faster than general tickets.

The Westgate Las Vegas box office and ticketing page has the full seat map and current pricing. Tickets are also available through major platforms. For anyone who wants background on the theater itself, Westgate's entertainment hub covers the broader lineup — the property has cabaret-style rooms and live music venues in addition to the International Theater, which makes it worth a longer evening if you're making the trip out there.