Yesterday I popped in one of the discs I have from “The Judy Garland Show” that was aired on CBS in the early 60's. This show is and was a treasure trove of guest performers in their prime. Judy was a gracious host and seemed to bring out the best in her guests. Or, the guests were so intimidated to be in her presence that they pulled all the stops out to assure that they could hold their own on screen with her. The best part of the series is the fact that Judy seemed to be just as entertained and in awe of her guests as they were of her. The BEST of the best from that show is the show that featured Barbra Streisand as her guest. The classic clip from the show is the counterpoint medley of Barbras theme song, “Happy Days are Here Again” and Garlands staple, “Get Happy”. But my favorite segment is the medley they sing towards the end of the show. It is simply the two of them, dressed in the same checkered shirt, sitting on stools against a blank backdrop. That's all they need. The idea of the segment is that the show is running over budget and what had been an elaborate set with a dancing chorus is taken away and Judy and Barbra are left with just their voices, which as Judy states, “they don't have to pay for that...” and Barbra coily says, “I don't know....” (or something along that line).
Anyway, the two of them launch into this medley of random songs. It starts with “Hooray for Love,” ends with “It All Depends On You” and runs all over the place with song after song in-between. The best part is to see the two of them react to each other. When Barbra sings her take on “By Myself,” you can see Garland watching intently as it is one of the songs from her repertoire. Barbra in her cool early sixties Babs style plays around with the melody on “I'll face the unknown...” and Judy reacts in delight and awe. The best part though is when Garland sings, “You and the night and the music”. Barbra is immediately excited that Judy is really taking it home with the song. To be sitting right next to her as she belts out this song must have been a thrill and according to Barbra it is. You can see her just blown away and looks away for a moment, perhaps at a crew member as if to say, “can you believe I am sitting here?” and then as Judy hits the big note, Barbra decides to take it all in and looks right at Judy as she sings the powerful note in her face. After the note, Barbra is jelly and she lets out a “wow” type of sigh/vocal reaction. Then they finish and the look on Barbras face is pure happiness.
It is such a cool segment because I feel it is the only time in Streisands career that you see her in her absolute pure form. She is obviously intimidated to be onstage with Garland and yet Garland is as gracious as can be and obviously in awe of her too. So it just erupts into this perfect moment of two artists together. Sheer brilliance. You can buy this DVD at Amazon. It's worth every penny.