So if the power of Barbra was strong enough to make one quiver way up in the nose bleed seats, imagine if you will what it would be like in the fourth row.When I found my seat and turned around, I simply could not believe how close I was to the stage. If I HAD sat in the front it actually would have been obstructed. Mental note: Fourth row is always the best. It's the view the performer naturally has when they look out into the audience (more on THAT later).
Originally, Jason wasn't going because the ticket price was too high and he sadly said, “We probably shouldn't spend that kind of money.” Damnit. I mean, I had my ticket because I was the crazed Streisandian but after seeing her on Tuesday, Jason saw the light and wanted to go again and again. Enter cousin Katie.
Katie is the type of person that amazing opportunites happen to. She is a bartender at Harry Careys and for some reason the tech and business personnel of all the major shows that come into town seem to congregate at Harry's and Katie always somehow or another reaps benefits. Her benefit the night before last was meeting a girl who is on staff with the Barbra-palooza and she offered Katie and a guest to be “seat fillers” at the thursday concert. Apparantly Babs does not like to see any empty seats (why there would BE any is beyond me) but forty or so people are “hired” to stand at the ready and fill empty seats when they become available. Bathroom goers, snobby late showers, etc. So Kathy asked Jason to be her guest and they ended up sitting in my section. Jason was four rows behind me and Kathy was be-bopping all over the place ending up in a seat in front of me.
I had MY seat though and it was going to be amazing. Celebrities were there. Jesse Jackson was taking his seat in the middle section. I got to know the people around me. All of us just thrilled to be where we were. Katrina behind me, Anna to my right and Mary to my left. Anna was hysterical wearing a home made Barbra shirt with glitter, applique pictures. She had glitter all over her face and hair. She was great. I “playfully” instructed everyone around me to not sing along with Barbra. Ofcourse not. Thank God... people on the main floor get it. May I always remain on the main floor.
So let's get to the concert...
Funny Girl Overture
First of all, you know that this is going to be one of the best 50 peice orchestras you will ever hear because it's Barbra's orchestra. This is one of my favorite overtures of all time. I remember years ago, I went to see (ulp!) Debbie Gibson in Funny Girl. The best part of the show was the overture. I imagined that I was at the original production and how upsetting was it to see Gibson entering the stage as the orchestra played the last strains of “Don't Rain on My Parade.” Finally, I get to see the real deal rise up to the stage in a sea of lights. There she is impeccable Barbra with mic in hand ready to begin the evening. The screaming and cheering... yeah, that's all I have to type... the screaming and cheering.
Starting Here Starting Now
This is a great arrangement. She originally sang it at the end of “Color Me Barbra.” She also sang it at her concert at the Forum and on the recording she claims that this is one of her favorite songs. So as she starts to sing there is an immediate hush and we all take our seats. It's church. Church of Babs. Her voice sounds better than ever. Yes, a bit husky here and there but it's the kind of husk that comes from a mature voice that can still hit the heights. It's richer and mellower and deeper. She is more grounded.
So she is done singing and says hello. We all respond. I'm telling you, it's church. She tells us that her friend Oprah is here. Everyone goes nuts. A bit more Barbra banter and then it's time for her “trick of the evening.” She begins the Acappella notes of her Peter Matz masterpeice arrangement of Harold Arlen's “Down With Love.” This is the exact same thing she said before singing it at her Central Park concert in 1967. When I heard that she was singing this I was so excited because it is one of my favorite arrangements. It was on my wish list of songs I wanted her to sing. Playful and fun and a great way for her to loosen up. She crosses back and forth at one point standing before me and my new Barbra buddy Anna. We wave and shout she waves back. Is this happening? Yup.
Memories
I think Barbra is the only singer who can get away with humming the intro of a song and you know who it is humming. It's sort of a trademark of hers. As if she just can't wait to sing and so in excitement hums along with the intro and then it ends up part of the song. Whether this is true or not, it's quintessential to the beginning of this song. It's famous. And everyone starts applauding as Barbra hums. This is her first “hit” song of the evening. I think everyone song is a hit song but this is one of her classic songs that everyone recognizes. How many women in the audience and how many men for that matter are imagining brushing away Robert Redfords hair. It's weird to hear her sing this. I mean, how many times have you heard a lounge singer, karaoke singer or cabaret singer attempt this song and it sounds corny and dated. Now to hear Barbra actually singing it in front of you the song comes full circle and you know that you never need to hear anyone else ever sing the song again. Although you are very welcome to sing it in the shower and hum it as you walk down a quiet street anytime you wish. Hmmmmm...hmmmmm....hmmmmmmm :-)
Ma Premiere Chanson
Barbra tells us that her french album “Je m'appelle Barbra” has finally gone gold after forty years. I love this album. Anna and I hoot and holler. Barbra wrote one of the songs, “Ma Premiere Chanson” (My first song) and now she is putting on her glasses, sitting down at the piano and she's going to play it for us. I have my first outburst of the night. “I love you Barbra!” I know, not original. Someone else is yelling too so she doesn't really hear me. A guy in front of me turns around and says, “I love her more.” I respond with absolute conviction because it is something I truly know and understand from the bottom of my being. “No you don't.” Simple as that.
So she plays and it's also the song that made it into a scene from “A Star Is Born.” Collective sigh number two occurs. It's like Barbra's first recital and she's five. You can see those famous fingers on the big screen. On tuesday as she played the last notes, the final note was dissonant and sounded on purpouse. But apparantly it was a mistake but her mistakes are always turn out to be brilliant choices. I waited to hear the dissonant note but she played the peice as was written (by her) I guess. Then she finishes by singing the song. God she sounds great. Her upper notes are so free. This lofty place in her voice that is free and clean and untouched by the years. Thank you Barbra for never EVER getting your nose fixed.
Now it's time for Il Divo to come out and join her. Barbra sings “Evergreen” and talks about how as a songwriter it gives her great pleasure to hear one of her songs sung in so many languages. I would have loved to have heard her just sing the song by herself as it is another favorite. But whatever. So they warble and yowl. Wow, they get to be with Barbra on stage. These four “divo's” are so lucky and then the one from Switzerland get's to harmonize and duet with her. This is the part I always would harmonize with... the Kristofferson part. It ends with great harmony... Barbra and her boys. Clever banter about how they all remember listening to her since they were all five years old. Fun to watch Barbra “reacting” doing the concert shtick. And now she is off to change her outfit, have a knosh.
So as a palette cleanser (I can only guess) we have to sit through three songs. Rosie told us that this would be the time to go to the bathroom.
So they are finished. They left. Then the orchestra starts up with another Arlen tune and Barbra emerges to sing her jazzy version of “Come Rain Or Come Shine.”
Yay! Barbra's back.
Now comes the portion of the concert most people are eager to hear. Barbra talks about her relationship with the musical that made her an international star, “Funny Girl.” The band plays, “Who's sorry now” as she talks about the differences between the stage play and the movie. “It has been a long time since I sang this...” she says settling into her downstage center stool. She sings, “Funny Girl” one of the most beautiful melodies ever written for her. Arguably too, it most likely WAS written for her. It was a song added to the score of the movie to create a seamless transition from her remembering the past to the “present” when she is waiting in the theater as an established star... waiting for the arrival of Nickie Arnstein. Very melancholy and perfect for her lofty and quieted sustained notes. I am pretty sure she is singing it in the same key... it sounds fresh off of the soundtrack. I zoom in with my binoculars. It really is HER singing it. I am just in a continued state of blissful shock.
Then another moment similar to her early tv specials... Barbra is definitely on a very satisfied trip down memory lane... she sings the first portion of “The Music That Makes Me Dance” and then one of the biggies... “My Man.” The audience goes crazy when she sings the first words, “Oh my man I love him so...” Having heard her the previous night, I knew that the last note was going to be just as exciting as it was in 1964. Sure enough, “Fore.....ver...... MORE........” and she holds it and holds it and the orchestra swells around her. Just thrilling. And yet, another standing ovation. This is the seventh or eighth one... I've lost count.
And now, another moment everyone is waiting for. Barbra sits down on the steps of the center ramp that crosses over between the orchestra. She sits and begins, “We travel single oh...” Die hard fans know what this is. Mild, stirring applause. But then as she get's to the song, it amazes me how Barbra singing just one word sends so many chills down my spine. “ont-weight: bold;">People... People who need people...”
This finishes the first act. Barbra is gone. I turn around and the woman behind me has a scared and hurt look on her face. She stares at me. “Are you in shock?” I ask smiling. Then I realize, she thinks it's the end of the concert. “No... NO!” I assure her. “This is just the beginning.”
Stay tuned to part two.
A couple Random moments
A woman a few rows behind me had the Lazy Afternoon album and a big black sharpee.
The man down the row from me telling me he has waited 41 years to see her.