For the brief concert tour, Barbra’s first act gown – a brown and red chiffon “split dress” – was designed by Ferdinando Sarmi. Her second act gown with black sequins was by Scaasi. Barbra also planned a third look, created by Marc Bohan from Dior.
Theatrical designer Ralph Alswang created the stage for Streisand’s tour. “Everyone always asks why she’s playing in such big places,” Alswang told the Chicago Tribune. “Yes, it’s a tour de force and, yes, I suppose it’s also to break records. But it’s more than that. She’s 23 years old and a big talent, and it’s exciting for 30,000 people to see and hear her.”
Alswang placed Streisand’s specially designed, $250,000 stage (125 feet by 40 feet with long runways) in a portion of the football stadiums she was performing in. Two 45-foot cranes on either side of the stage suspended diagonal scrim banners as a backdrop for Streisand. The experience was meant to be like a proscenium stage, with Streisand playing directly to her audience like she would in a theater. Alswang told the Philadelphia Daily News about the sophisticated lighting on the scrim: “As the mood of the music changes, it will be automatically translated to color,” he said.
Myles Rosenthal, the man responsible for the sound system at the Newport Jazz Festival, designed a stereophonic system for Streisand’s tour, with over 10 tons of sound equipment.
Musically, Peter Matz conducted a 35-piece orchestra for Streisand, placed behind the scrim. Matz and his orchestra opened each concert with a special overture of Streisand songs. He traveled with a portion of his orchestra, with the remaining spots filled by local musicians.
Streisand sang on her 1966 tour for close to two hours. The show was broken into two halves, with a 15 to 20-minute intermission.
