It can be difficult to keep track of all the things for which we owe a debt of gratitude to Bette Midler.

Close to the top of the list is when, in the early 1970s, Midler made Melissa Manchester one of her back-up singers, known affectionately as the Harlettes. For many LGBTQ folks it was an introduction to a performer, and lifetime friend of the community, who would go on to have a chart-topping career as a singer and songwriter in her own right. For “Re:View” (Green Hill), Manchester’s new album, she revisits some of her best-known songs including “Come In From The Rain,” “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” “Just You and I,” and “You Should Hear How She Talks About You.” What really sets the album apart are her renditions of “Whenever I Call You Friend” (a duet with Kenny Loggins with whom she co-wrote the song) and “Midnight Blue” (a duet with Dolly Parton on the hit single Manchester co-wrote with longtime collaborator Carole Bayer Sager). Manchester, currently performing in the national tour of “Funny Girl,” as Fanny’s mother Mrs. Brice, no less, graciously made time for an interview to talk about “Re:View.”

With so many songs from which to choose, what was involved in your selection process for your new album, “Re:View?” 

It was sort of a thank you to my fans for sharing this musical journey for 50 years. You're right, there were several to choose from, and they couldn't all fit on the album. These were some charted hits and songs that I have performed, mostly, for such a long time. I found some harmonic tweaks and I found more insight into the performance of the lyrics, and I wanted to revisit them because they have grown in depth and wisdom as I've grown in depth and wisdom.

“Re:View” opens with you performing a duet with Kenny Loggins on “Whenever I Call You Friend.” Loggins had a hit with his 1978 version, a duet with Stevie Nicks. How did the songwriting collaboration with Kenny come about?

Kenny and I kept running into each other at televised award shows, where we were often paired up to present an award to somebody. It got to be so often that we’d see each other that it got to be kind of funny. He said why don't we meet in a room without a powder puff in between us because we always met in the green room. I invited him over to my home one night to write a song. He showed up with his guitar and I had my piano, and we both had our boom boxes, because you would work on cassettes in those days. We wrote the song, and then I didn’t really see him again for a very long time. More recently, I had found out that after he left my place, he played the song for his friend Mike McDonald of The Doobie Brothers, who was not terribly impressed with “Whenever I Call You Friend.” I played my cassette [of the song] for Clive Davis, who was not terribly impressed with “Whenever I Call You Friend.” 

Oh, no!

[Laughs] Kenny was opening for Fleetwood Mac at the time, so he enlisted Stevie to sing with him. That's how that happened. I had been trying to get him to record with me for such a long time because it's such a natural fit. Our schedules didn't allow and whatever. I finally said it's time to do this and if he wants to participate, that's fine, and if he doesn't, I'll just move on. I produced and co-arranged the track with Stephan Oberhoff. His manager was very excited about it. I sent her the track and she forwarded it to him. I hadn't heard from him for a couple of weeks. Then one evening, I texted him and asked him if he wanted to do it or not. He said, “Why don't you send me the track?” I said, “You've had it for two weeks!” He said, “I'll get right back to you,” and 10 minutes later he said, “It's fantastic! I'm in.” It was a wonderful recording session. He couldn't have been more amiable or affable. We had a great time, and the video is the proof in the pudding. It's a beautiful and delightful achievement after all these decades.

What did it mean to you that that song became such a massive hit for Kenny and Stevie when it did?

It's always delightful on a very major scale when a song of yours is a hit. It would have been nice to be notified that he was recording it. He apologized for that later, which was very sweet of him. Of course, when I started performing the song myself with my keyboard player or whoever was singing, it was instantly recognizable and that's always exciting.

The duet with Dolly Parton on “Midnight Blue” is simply gorgeous. What was the experience of collaborating with Dolly like for you?

She is a true queen. That’s the thing. She is music royalty, and so beloved, and has done such magnificent work not only through her songwriting but through her philanthropy. It was a real joy and honor to work with her. She was completely professional and delightful. My video crew flew down to Nashville to film the video. We only had a very short amount of time to shoot. The last shot that we did was the two of us driving in the back of an open-air Mustang, making a right and a right and a right, right back into the parking lot beside the recording studio. We were on Music Row, where all the publishing houses are, and it's the tourist area of Nashville. Coincidentally, as we were driving, and our director was in the front seat facing backward with his camera, there was a tourist bus that came right next to us. Once they saw Dolly in the car, people were basically dripping out of the bus, screaming her name. It was so dear and thrilling. People in cars pull over when they see her and stop and call out to her. She is just magnificently, and well-deservedly beloved. It was lovely to rethink “Midnight Blue” as a duet. It had never been recorded as a duet. But she wanted to be part of the album and that was very sweet. I needed to think of which song would suit her. That worked out really well, and she sang so beautifully.

I totally agree. I know, and love, the song “Confide In Me” from Diana Ross’ underrated 1977 album “Baby, It’s Me.” I’m so happy you finally got to record the song for “Re:View.” 

[Laughs] I found the right moment. My collaborator Stan Schwartz kept saying over the decades, “Are you gonna do this at some point?” When I revisited the song, it was written as a torch song. Raquel Welch had performed it on “The Muppet Show.” When I took a deep dive into the song, I realized that it could sustain a Latin beat. Because it could do that, it could hold up to an opening verse, which is a very old-fashioned element that's not written anymore. But it worked beautifully, and I think we created a beautiful video for it. I think the recording is very luscious.

I also love the addition of the Citrus Singers choir on “Just You and I,” which lifts the song to new heights. 

Yes, oh absolutely! Thank you for mentioning that. One of the interesting things about recording “Re:View” is, because we had recorded so much of it prior to the pandemic, a lot of it was in the can. Many of these songs, without my knowing it, grew into that moment. When I rerecorded “Just You and I,” which Carole Sager and I had written a long time ago, at the beginning of the women's movement actually, when we were young singer/songwriters, it grew into this song that would pay homage to essential workers, who were marginalized workers prior to the pandemic. Nurses and pizza delivery people and postal workers and people that were keeping the country functioning as best they could. The video for that song pays homage to that. I wanted to write choral parts for the Citrus Singers so they could underscore and amplify the gospel and anthemic components of the song.

I'm so glad you mentioned Carole. In the liner notes, you extend your gratitude multiple times to “my esteemed colleague Carole Bayer Sager,” with whom you co-wrote half the songs on “Re:View,” as well as many others.  What was it about Carole that made her a good songwriting collaborator?

That’s such a good question! One of the things that I learned not too long ago was that I was the first artist that Carole ever wrote with and wrote for. She was a songwriter for hire. She would write a song, and it would be sent to other artists. I'd never written with anyone before. She sat with me. She had a very interesting and intriguing way of expressing herself, which is what stirs my imagination to hear music. We would chat, and out of those discussions came our songs. That's why the tones of our songs are always very conversational. They literally came out of conversations. She was a magnificent collaborator, and we had a very fruitful, productive, and beautiful collaboration for several years. Our songs reflect that. It was a joy to work with her.

“Don’t Cry Out Loud,” which Carole co-wrote with the late Peter Allen, was one of the biggest hits of your recording career. Do you remember what the response to that song meant to you?

It was thrilling because it was touching so many people. For me initially, it was curious. The song was so beautiful, but I heard it as a very quiet lullaby sung by Peter Allen. I thought that rendition was just perfection. When it was arranged to be this gigantic anthem, it sort of overwhelmed me because Carole and I wrote songs about finding your voice and affirming your value and all of that. Suddenly, I was singing this big version of a song where the first word of the title is, “Don't.” I thought, “How am I going to pull this off?” It took me a little bit to understand what people were resonating with from the song. The song is about how one must learn how to cope. That’s just the way life goes. It is the lamenting of it, and it is the celebrating of it. 

Carole’s memoir, “They’re Playing Our Song,” was published in 2016. Do you think you might have a memoir in you?

I do have a memoir in me! I just have to figure out how to do it [laughs]. I've started many times. I may end up with a collaborator, just to help me focus and sit quietly and get it out. Yes, I do have a memoir in me.

I had the pleasure of attending your concert at JAZZIZ in Boca Raton a few years ago. Are there plans for you to perform concerts in support of “Re:View?”

Well, you would think, wouldn't you [laughs]? It's just that, at this moment, I am on the national tour of “Funny Girl,” which is a wonderful way to celebrate the 50th year of my career. Yes, I will be returning to the concert platform once this is over, but it has been extended through April, so I'll be away from concerts for a little bit more.

What is your favorite part about playing Mrs. Brice in “Funny Girl?”

My favorite part about playing Mrs. Brice is that, at this moment in my life, I can bring so much of my life experience and hard-won wisdom to the role. That's what I feel I do.

Finally, you have a long history as an ally to the LGBTQ community. We’re speaking during Pride Month 2024, and I was wondering if you had anything you wanted to say to your queer fans?

I say to all of my LGBTQ fans, thank you for sharing this journey. I was raised to be an ally from my parents. They were allies. I was raised with lots of uncles and aunties from the community when everybody was hiding in closets, except in our home. I am grateful to love everybody. I am touched by the love that I have received. And we shall all carry on.