Barbra Streisand

[foxy]

Watching the PBS broadcast tonight of "My Name is Barbra" inspired me to order the DVD set (on Amazon) of the TV specials. She sure was amazing when she was young. It's a shame what happened to her as she got older and started making awful albums and movies.

[Guest alanm]

Streisand was amazing in her 20s. I was a teenager in Boston during the

1960s and got to see her in the pre-Broadway tryouts of "I Can Get It For You Wholesale" and "Funny Girl." I saw "Wholesale" from the balcony on a week night and will never forget Streisand, who was 5th or 6th billed, sing "Miss Marblestein" and completely stop the show.

 

I liked Streisand's performance in "Meet The Fockers." It's good to know that she still has a sense of humor. Unlike Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and Lucille Ball, Barbra seemingly has a personal life and doesn't need the approval of show business much anymore. I wish her well, while hoping that she still has a great CD left to record.

[+ friendofsheila]

A local column took her to task in a review of same for taking herself far too seriously as her career went on. He liked better when she allowed herself a sense of humor in what she did.

[ManToManDave]

Even MORE amazing was that Barbra shot both of her 1st two TV specials during the day while she was still doing 8 performances/week of Funny Girl on Broadway. The strain certainly never shows in these specials. She is simply amazing.

 

I kinda look at Barbra's recording career as "Before Stony End" and "After Stony End". I feel she has MUCH more affinity toward the classic standards than the newer "rock" stuff. (as her Broadway Albums show). But I understand her reasoning for switching to more contemporary stuff -- she wanted to sell albums, which she did!

 

As for her film career -- sorry to say it's spotty at best, not always her fault. She has 3 GREAT films she can be proud of: Funny Girl (natch), The Way We Were, and Yentl. The rest, sadly, is a mixed bag at best.

 

I hope that the younger generation (those that think Madonna is the greatest singer ever) will take a look at these TV specials and get an inkling as to why Babs caused so much excitement!

 

Dave

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[Rick Munroe]

>She has 3 GREAT films she can be proud

>of: Funny Girl (natch), The Way We Were, and Yentl. The

>rest, sadly, is a mixed bag at best.

 

I'm not a huge fan of those three, but I think that What's Up Doc, Owl and the Pussycat and For Pete's Sake are three of the best comedies ever made; in all three, she's funny and sexy at the same time. Who else can deliver a line like "Who gave you the right to read my panties?!" and make it work? :7 And Owl and the Pussycat has lines that I can actually quote during sex...from "Cycle Sluts," the porn film that her character Doris appears in. You hear her say (in her heavy Brooklyn accent) from off-screen:

 

What are you doing?

What's that for?

What are you going to do with that?

What's that thing?

And what's that other thing?

Where do you plan to put that?

Wait a minute. Hold it! You can't do that!

No, not with both of them.

You can't, I tell you.

You can't.

Can you?

Maybe you can.

My God, you could!

[foxy]

Possibly her worst selling album and I think one of my favorites is her "Classical" album. If you've never heard it, try to find a copy. Her voice is so beautiful.

[DelawareGuy]

I have to agree with Rick; What's Up Doc? is one of the funniest movies ever made.

[Rick Munroe]

>Possibly her worst selling album and I think one of my

>favorites is her "Classical" album. If you've never heard it,

>try to find a copy. Her voice is so beautiful.

 

I don't own many of her CD's but I do have that and you're right; it is beautiful. My father had the album when I was a kid and it used to put me into a trance...plus, you gotta love the crimped disco hair!

 

http://www.bjsmusic.com/classic.jpg

[flopsy]

I think "The Way We Were" is her best album. I love the M. Legrand tunes. Her voice sounds lovely, without the rapid-fire vibrato that she picked up after that album. She sounds mature. Her interpretations are well thought out, the voice is in tip-top shape, the orchestrations lush--my favorite of her albums.

 

Least favorites include the Broadway collection. Didn't she also do one of songs from the movies in the last couple of years? I bought it, listened to it twice, and put it away--I didn't find anything inspirational on the Broadway or the movie tunes albums. She did a CD about 10 years ago--wow, that long?--with "Higher Ground" on it. I really liked it at the time.

 

Don't bite my head off, please, but... When the Classical album first came out, I ran out to get it. I do LOVE the picture. I was familiar with most of the music on the album already. Her voice singing that repertoire was interesting as, perhaps, easy-listening or elevator music. Certainly, it was a daring adventure and, as a music student, I'm sure I was unrealistically expecting her to really sound like a true classical singer and to approach the repertoire from that platform. As I listened to it more and more, I became less and less enchanted. The orchestral arrangements of some of the art songs originally written for voice and piano certainly added some schmaltz appeal, but could she have carried those works off with piano alone? I don't think so. Lovely maybe, but rather like Taco Bell. There are times when I crave Taco Bell, but I'm not headed for a Taco Bell when I'm in the mood for Mexican food.

 

Particularly disappointing to me was the audible editing and splices during some of the sustained notes. I could detect them (without trying) when listening to the album on a rather basic audio system purchased on a college student's budget.

 

On the other hand--lest it sound like I'm being a musical snob, I'll quickly jump up to own that while her effort at singing classical rep may have been flawed, it was MUCH better than many classical singers' attempts at jazz and the American Songbook. I appreciate artists taking risks and experimenting, but I'm usually more interested and satisfied when those risks are taken within the boundaries of their own genres.

 

To each his own--she's truly legendary in my book, and if I could have an ounce of her talent I'd be a happier camper!

[Guest icon513]

What's Up Doc? was the first movie I ever saw in a theater. I was five years old at the time and remember it like it was yesterday. It's still one of my all-time favorites.

[flopsy]

"What's Up, Doc" is one of my favorites, too. Madeline Khan's performance is priceless and hysterical. Merely thinking about her whimpers as she climbs the stairs of the abandoned building where she finds the thugs with Howard's rocks sets me chuckling.

 

Flopsy

"Girls, girls--You're BOTH pretty!"

[Rick Munroe]

>Madeline Khan's

>performance is priceless and hysterical.

 

"That's...unbelievable."

[flopsy]

Rick,

 

Thanks for reminding me of one of the funniest bits in the movie. What a great example of perfect comedic timing--hilarious!

 

I'm not A Eunice Burns. I'm THE Eunice Burns.

 

Tell them who I am, Howard.

 

rof

[Guest Raffy]

>Streisand, who was 5th or 6th billed, sing "Miss Marblestein"

>and completely stop the show.

 

Or "Miss Marmelstein." One or the other. Whatever...

[Guest rohale]

I'm a bit suprised that so far no one has bothered to mention the 1996 film " Mirror Has Two Faces ". At least from my point of view, it's definitely one of my favorite romantic comedy films from the 1990's. It's a lovely piece of work that Barbara put together on film.

 

I had the chance not too long ago to watch the movie on dvd. Barbara Streisand did a fantastic job in the director's chair and offcourse the amazing ensemble cast that she had the opportunity to work with. Just to be able to work with screen Lauren Becall as well as the ever so talented Jeff Bridges in the same picture. If I remember correctly Lauren Becall received an Oscar nomintation for her role in the film.

 

I remember when I was watching the film, I was really amazed just how good Jeff and Barbara were in their respective roles. They brought so much sexiness to the screen. Is some ways I was reminded of " Sleepless In Seattle ". As a totality there was this delightful quality of being a very uplifting film and also within the same token I was generally quite touched by the overall theme which is love.

 

A lovely little film to say the least.

 

Ro

[Guest Dan]

I got the set at Target for $34 last week. I've watched 3 of the shows so far, My Name Is Barbra, A Happening in Central Park and Barbra Streisand and Other Musical Instruments. The last one has some real hokey dated stuff such as the last production number, The World Is A Concerto where the instruments are household appliances. But, there's some really great stuff there too such as a great version of On A Clear Day, Sing/Make Your Own Kind of Music and a segment with Ray Charles.

 

As for her movie career, I felt that MTF was her best performance since The Way We Were. She trusted herself to another director and was able to relax and it showed in her performance.

 

However, lately I've grown fond of The Prince of Tides. Most of it is pretty well done. The parts that don't hold up well are basically the love story between her and Nolte. For some reason, it always seems to be on cable late Saturday nights. Is there some sort of FCC regulation requiring it to be shown instead of Shannon Tweed softcore mysteries now???

 

Dan Dare

http://www.geocities.com/dandare_laca/DanDare4Hire.html