Barbra Streisand's first gig out of the country was in Canada. Streisand was a nightclub neophyte, still developing her act and stage presence.
She was hired to perform at the Winnipeg club, Town n’ Country, by a Chicago booking agent named Hal Munro, who booked Streisand for around $300 a week. Munro recalled that Streisand had to pay her own way to Canada, plus her hotel room expenses.
Town n' Country had three floors; Bob Robertson sang and played piano in the Gold Coach Lounge on the first floor; the restaurant was on the second floor – “The food is every bit as wonderful as the service and includes many delectable continental dishes,” a local reviewer wrote. The Towers, where Streisand performed, was on the third floor. According to the ads for the place, Streisand performed three shows nightly for the patrons.
Streisand was booked at Town n Country based on her appearances on Mike Wallace’s New York talk show PM East. A producer’s girlfriend had cousins in Winnipeg, so she arranged for them to look after Barbra while she was theret.
“I remember she had her own distinctive style,” recalled one of the cousins, Suzanne Golden, who was a teenager when Barbra visited Winnipeg. “She had this way about her that was striking. I noticed her long fingernails and very expressive hands. Her hair had a Sassoon look. And she had an eclectic wardrobe of clothes from second-hand stores.”
They tried to fix up Barbra on dates while she was in town, and also took Barbra to the race track.
Meanwhile, the club owner, Auby Galpern, didn't get along with Streisand. According to Hal Munro, Galpern called him to up and said: “That chick you got here; she's crazy, she bombed bad, but she's going to be great,” he said over the phone.
Despite the lore that Streisand was fired from this gig, she most likely completed her booking at the club.
“Auby might have said he fired her, but he didn't,” said Helen Chandler, who was the club's head female employee. “He was always saying he fired people he didn't get along with.”
The Winnipeg Tribune reviewed her act and reported “Miss Streisand is the type of singer you'd expect to find in the Blue Angel or Hungry I. That's why Winnipeggers may find her rather strange ... When she sings her hair flies, her hands twirl, and her whole torso gets into the act.”
Later, when Barbra appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, she confessed the Winnipeg venue was odd. “I worked in Winnipeg. This was a beautiful nightclub, very posh, except the people wore short shirt sleeves. They didn't wear ties to come to the nightclub.”
