Martin Erlichman
Iconic songstress Barbra Streisand culminates her 13-city tour in Miami with dazzling ballads, Broadway standards and stories from behind the scenes.
In 2009, in celebration of her new album Love Is the Answer, Barbra Streisand announced she would perform one special concert at the Village Vanguard in New York City, New York. Streisand was backed by a quartet consisting of Tamir Hendelman (piano), Jeff Carney (bass), Brian Koonin (guitar) and Ray Marchica (drums). The audience included special guests and celebrity friends of Streisand such as Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, Sarah Jessica Parker, Barry Diller and Diane von Fürstenberg, Rosie O'Donnell, Sandy Gallin, Frank Rich, Donna Karan, Lea Michele, and Nicole Kidman, as well as 100 competition winners.
Over four decades, Barbra Streisand has reached the pinnacle of every art form she has encountered. She is the first artist ever to earn a Grammy, a Tony, an Emmy and an Oscar. On this episode of Inside the Actors Studio, Barbra speaks revealingly about herself and her craft. This program is episode 14 of season 10 of this long-running show.
Timeless: Live in Concert, recorded at her Las Vegas show on New Year's Eve 1999, takes as its subject the star herself. It opens with a dramatization of her first, amateur recording session, with young Lauren Frost playing a part described in the credits as "Young Girl," though Streisand later refers to her as "mini-me." Frost doesn't get too far before being joined by Streisand herself on a stirring version of "Something's Coming" from West Side Story. The rest of "Act One" traces Streisand's career from her club days to her movie performances. "Act Two" has less of a narrative structure, though it is equally autobiographical, with Streisand displaying and commenting on videos of herself performing with other stars and building up to the stroke of midnight with a combination of old, recent, and new specially written songs. At 57 that night, Streisand remains in good voice.
Ernest, a lovable loser who works as a summer camp handyman and dreams of becoming a guidance councilor, must find a way to inspire a group of juvenile delinquents while stopping a shady strip mining company from closing the camp as well.
Jesse has to get out of Las Vegas quickly, and steals a car to drive to L.A. On the way he shoots a police man. When he makes it to L.A. he stays with Monica, a girl he has only known for a few days. As the film progresses, the police get closer to him, and the crimes escalate.
A young woman doctor discovers something sinister going on in her hospital. Relatively healthy patients are having 'complications' during simple operations and ending up in comas. The patients are then shipped off to an institute that looks after them. The young doctor suspects there is more to this than meets the eye.
Henry is a woman who would do anything for her husband Pete-- including borrow money so he has a chance of making his dreams come true. But now there's the loan sharks to deal with...
A mulitcultural musical potpourri, Barbra's fifth television spectacular is her most adventurous. Performing a startling array of new songs and classic hits, with genre-bending arrangements, Barbra Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments is a feast for the eyes and ears. Featuring an extended sequence with Ray Charles and The Ralettes
A Happening in Central Park was performed and taped by video cameras on Saturday, June 17, 1967. The concert, sponsored by Rheingold Beer, and free to the public, was held in the Sheep Meadow section of New York City's Central Park. Barbra's television sponsor, Monsanto, captured the event on videotape for airing on CBS at a later date. Barbra took a weekend off from the filming of Funny Girl to perform the concert. On Friday night, June 16th, Barbra and crew rehearsed until very late. Many photos of Barbra in which she wears a headband were taken the evening of the dress rehearsal. (The cover of Barbra's A Christmas Album is actually a photo from the Friday night dress rehearsal in Central Park.) On that evening she tried on different gowns and worked with hairdresser Fred Glaser on alternate hairstyles. Director Robert Scheerer also worked out some of his camera blocking at the Friday night rehearsal. He utilized seven color video cameras to capture the concert.
Barbra Streisand's second television special, aired in 1966 just after the singer-songwriter had completed a successful Broadway run of hit show 'Funny Girl'. Streisand sings surrounded by animals in a circus dream sequence and wanders the Philadelphia Museum of Art in a moody eight-minute piece. Filmed in spectacular colour, this companion piece to her first special is one for the ages. The vibrant colours become a metaphor for imagination, inventiveness, fantasy, and sheer brilliance.
Barbra Streisand's first television special, featuring a medley of her hit songs, such as "People," "Happy Days Are Here Again" and "My Man."
