What can I say? Ever since high school, I have wanted to see Barbra Streisand! And last night, I got to. The first two songs brought tears to my eyes… Not so much for what they said (which was really good), but just to realize this was a dream come true! I need to thank Jerry and Halley and Jillian for being in cahoots to make this happen!
We walked to the venue (just a bit over a mile)… nice evening and fun seeing a neighborhood yet again. As we got closer to Barclays, you could feel the excitement in the air. People were happy and looking forward to the concert. We enter the arena and were pleased with our seats. They weren’t the closest, but they gave us a great view… we didn’t even look at the jumbo-trons at all. Before the show started, folks started clapping at one point as someone was sitting down, in front of the state… LIZA MINELLI… The lady next to me said, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we all got ovations for just sitting down!
Before the show started, but the lights were down, they played about a 3 minute video… Bab’s growing up, living in Brooklyn, her school years, her gawky years… yup, she had them too!... You get the feeling. It was pretty neat!
Performing with her were Il Volo and Chris Botti… AND her son, Jason. Oh my gosh, he has the most fabulous voice. He raised his own money and just produced an album on Amazon and Barbra said her new album AND his are the top sellers on Amazon. I’ll talk about him later!
After the video vignette, she started the show with “As If We Never Said Goodbye” (from Sunset Blvd) and the arena went crazy… in a good way: She changed the lyrics in places to mention, for example, “Brooklyn docks and nova lox” and “knishes.” I really wanted to remember all the little things she said… but alas, I don’t.
At another point during the concert, there was short film, from the 70’s, in which assorted Brooklynites who knew Ms. Streisand and her family back when reminisced. Cole Porter’s “You’re the Top” had new lyrics all to be a celebration of all things Brooklyn and Barbra. One lady in the film said she wish folks would quite bugging her about her nose… it was just fine! Got a giggle from the whole audience.
Chris Botti and Babs performed together…beautiful, I can’t remember all they did, but one was ‘My Funny Valentine”.
Oh yeah, the Italian teenagers, Il Volo, performed… they’re really great… but, I wanted Bab’s… and I was not disappointed.
Now, about Jason, he was a superb crooner, who I could listen to for hours. Who Knew???? Babs has not helped him make his ‘mark’… but by gosh, she was so proud of him. For her birthday earlier in the year, he created a home movie of photographs of the two of them from his infancy into adulthood, with a him singing in the background. Damn, I don’t remember the song!!!! At her birthday party, friends all wanted to know “who was that singing in the background of the film?” It was JASON! He and Bab’s sang a beautiful duet of “How Deep Is the Ocean?” He performed solo also, one of those voices that made me swoon!
At another point in the show, she talked about Marvin Hamlisch (Jule Styne too, and sang some of his also). She sang “The Way We Were,” there was a short video vignette with she and Marvin… sniff, sniff. Marvin is a talent we will miss to be sure!
I have no pictures… well, one I downloaded… and a couple with my cell phone. But, boy, do I have memories in my head and they are beautiful! Barbra came across as a real person… not a ‘star’… Oh, and she did mention that time in Central Park, when she forgot the words to a song… she said she didn’t perform live for 26 years… Guess she’s pretty human too!
We got home about midnight… a long night, a long concert and a wonderful memory! NYC…. You have made a dream come true!
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