OPENING NIGHT SUMMARY BY MATT HOWE
The opening night of Barbra Streisand's 2006 concert tour in Philadelphia was also the revealing of what shape and direction the show took as co-directed by Richard Jay-Alexander. At almost three hours in length, Streisand sang mostly 1960s songs, Broadway and standard-heavy. One intermission. All Barbra. A little bit of Il Divo. Two big video screens stage right and left. And the original Broadway overture of Funny Girl opened the show, conducted by Bill Ross.
Barbra surprised us all by entering from stage center, rising up on a platform. She wore a black beaded sailor top with pockets, matched with a glittery skirt with a split showing off her leg. It was very Judy Garland Show
1963 ! “It pays not to tour for a while,” she joked to the audience.
Barbra opened with “Starting Here, Starting Now” and the audience went wild when she sang the long note on “starting noooowwwww ...”
Barbra does a funny monologue, reminiscent of “Pearl from Istanbul” on My Name is Barbra
or her Central Park Folk song monologue ... she tried to visit historic Philly sites but kept stopping at local eateries. The mention of local restaurant names makes the Philly audience members respond.
“Down with Love” comes next. Sexy. Breathy. Fabulous.
First surprise of the night: “Ma Premiere Chanson,” the song Barbra wrote for her album Je M'appelle Barbra. Barbra has a “senior moment” with her eye glasses as she plays the tune on the piano then joins the orchestra for a full-out version. Brilliant. Simple. Classic.
Il Divo comes out for “Evergreen” and follow that with a cheeky variety-show-type skit with Barbra. “I've loved you since I was five.” And, “Barbra, one of us has a crush on you.” Barbra plays shocked. Then wants to know “Who?” She reassures husband James Brolin on front row.
The handsome and glorious-voiced Il Divo sings a set alone, since Barbra has left the stage. After dedicating their third and last song (“My Way”) to Barbra, she reappears singing “Don't Rain on My Parade,” which is the original Broadway arrangement. Does that big “MYY-EYE-EYE PAAARRADDE” finish. Then “Funny Girl” the ballad! Wow. Incredible vocals here. “When you're a funny girl.... The fella said a fun-eee-ee girl...”
“My Man” is excellent. Then, sitting on the steps (“I hope you can't see up my dress”), she sings the “we travel single-o” intro to “People.”
End of Act One. Take a breather. Streisand was sounding great. The show looked great. Nice open stage. Lots of audience members calling out to her.
After a lovely musical Entr'acte, Act Two begins when Il Divo comes out and sings a song. Then they begin singing “Music of the Night.” OMG, I think, Barbra's going to join them! And there she was on the second verse, wearing a perfect empire-waisted black gown, gold-trimmed and almost regal. She hits that amazing “music of the NII-IIIGHT” note. This was my favorite of their duets.
The entirety of Act Two was overwhelming (in a good way) for me; I was prepared to accept that Barbra may have given the heavy-lifting of the entire show over to Il Divo. But they are literally her guests, and the show was turning out to be more Barbra-centric than I imagined.
"When the Sun Comes Out.” Bill Ross seemed to rush Barbra at the beginning of the song, like she maybe wanted to say something about it as an introduction. No worries. She's excellent. Again, amazing notes at the end. Barbra is 64??
“Carefully Taught” with “Children Will Listen” ... I'd heard a bootleg of the version she did in London in 1994, and this iteration of the medley worked much better, IMHO. Right before this, Barbra shows a photo of Jason Gould on the big screens, speaks about being a parent.
“Unusual Way” ?!?! The second surprise of the night! Barbra's version was contemplative and deep. Amazing. She's acting it. (Who's she singing about??)
