Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas 1970

Streisand / LIVE 

Riviera Hotel (1970)

Las Vegas, Nevada
8:00 pm and Midnight
The Versailles Room

November 27—December 10, 1970
A postcard from the Riviera touting

Program/Credits:


Pat Henry (Opening Comedy Act)


Jack Cathcart Orchestra


Claus Ogerman — Arranger & Conductor

Eddie Kendricks Singers

Ray Neapolitan — Bass Guitarist

Mark Stevens — drums


Barbra Streisand doesn't mention her Las Vegas performances often. Since she was contractually required to complete them (and because she suffered from stage fright), it’s possible the work was unpleasant for her. 


Streisand’s commitment to the Riviera Hotel began in 1963 when she was appearing there with Liberace. The Riviera’s board chairman Harvey Silbert recalled paying Streisand $5,000 a week in 1963, “then drawing another contract calling for two more appearances at $7,500 and $10,000,” he told Barney Glaser. “She was supposed to play the Riviera within a year.” Streisand reportedly owed the Riviera eight weeks of shows.


But timing that appearance was difficult when Streisand’s career exploded – there was Funny Girl on Broadway, followed by her amazing success as a movie star. 


When it was announced in 1969 that Streisand had signed a big contract to open the new International Hotel, Silbert threatened to file an injunction or appeal to The American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA) to keep Streisand from performing there. “He said Miss Streisand cannot legally perform at the new hotel, because the Riviera signed her several years ago when she made her Vegas debut at the Riviera as the opening act with Liberace,” Variety reported.


The dueling Las Vegas hotels eventually worked out their grievances, the International allowing the Riviera to book Streisand after she opened the hotel. Shortly after that big event Army Archerd reported that a deal was struck with the Riviera for Barbra to perform there for two weeks (instead of eight) with a salary of $75,000.


Originally scheduled to appear at the Riviera starting March 17, 1970, Streisand postponed those dates, claiming “exhaustion.”


Marty Erlichman managed to “kill two birds with one stone” when he negotiated an unprecedented engagement for an artist in Vegas: Streisand would play back-to-back shows at the Riviera and the International (for which she owed shows from a previous contract, as well). “She’ll open Friday for two weeks at the Riviera Hotel and then move over to the International for three weeks beginning Dec. 13,” Robert Hilburn reported.

Streisand’s new Las Vegas show was different than what she presented back at the International Hotel in 1969. This time, she hired Brooklyn-born, Italian comedian Pat Henry as her opening act. Known as Frank Sinatra’s opener for decades, Pat Henry stated, “Streisand doesn’t work [nightclubs] enough for me, but her work has impressed me more than any other performer,” he told The Daily Press in 1971.


Claus Ogerman (who produced, arranged, and conducted the album Classical Barbra ) was on board as conductor of the Jack Cathcart Orchestra at the Riviera. 


For her stage “look” this time, Barbra decided to wear more modern stage clothes instead of the glamorous gowns and tall wigs she wore at the International Hotel just a year earlier. She told one reporter she would sport two looks at the Riviera: “The Spanish Look” (with her hair up in a chignon; capes and shawls); and “The Elegant Hippie Look” (long hair, long gown with slit to the knee).


Besides singing some of her hit songs, Streisand also included songs from her unreleased pop album Stoney End in the Riviera concerts. (Stoney End was released almost three months later in February 1971). 


Several of the songs she sang included backup by the Eddie Kendricks Singers, who contributed a gospel sound to the evening. Eddie Kendricks was one of the founders and main vocalists of the Motown group The Temptations. The Kendricks Singers were Sharon DeVault, Glenna Session and Jerry Cook and the girls dressed in orange choir gowns, flanking Kendricks. All four singers are credited on theStoney End album, which they recorded with Streisand during the summer and fall of 1970. 

Streisand's “Spanish Look” complete with shawl.
Streisand singing on stage at the Riviera Hotel, 1970.
Streisand's Riviera Hotel Set List:

  • Somebody Come And Play (from Sesame Street)
  • I've Never Been A Woman Before
  • Don't Rain On My Parade
  • People *
  • My Man *
  • Let Me Go
  • No Easy Way Down *
  • I Don't Know Where I Stand *
  • When the Sun Comes Out
  • On A Clear Day
  • Second Hand Rose
  • Medley: A Good Man is Hard to Find / Some of These Days
  • Medley: Somebody Come And Play / Someone to Watch Over Me
  • Stoney End
  • Medley: Happy Days / Oh Happy Day
  • Encore: Didn't We

* Barbra would alternate these songs at some performances.

Streisand puts out her “cigarette” on stage at the Riviera.

“I have come to expect the unexpected from Barbra Streisand. For example, who would open a show with ‘Somebody Come And Play With Me,’ the delightful little children's tune from the immensely popular ‘Sesame Street’ television show? Well, Barbra did and she turned it into a highly effective opener. After captivating her audience with this bit of the unexpected, she mentioned that it was on the show because it was requested by her young son Jason Gould. ”

... Perry Phillips ... Night Sounds ... December 1, 1970

Marilyn and Alan Bergman pose with Streisand backstage at the Riviera Hotel, Las Vegas.

“The third time really is the charm for Barbra Streisand. She is working out a Riviera Hotel contract from 1963, when she appeared in Vegas for the first time raising the curtain for Liberace. Last year, her lauded opening of the International was not the success d'estime it should have been. This time, however, the magic is all there and make no mistake about that. From her almost shy walk-on until the standing ovation tribute, opening nighters reveled in every nuance of the Streisand oeuvre. The voice is in perfect shape, taking her on some of the most difficult tune trips imaginable, but there's never a slip, crack or falter. There are many of the top faves among the 15 songs in her log, yet some of the most impassioned deliveries occur during several numbers not considered typical Streisand fare. There's a great gospel shout, ‘Let Me Go,’ with the potent Ed Kendricks Singers, a black quartet (three femmes and Kendricks), another belter in ‘When the Sun Comes Out,’ contrasted by a wistful, almost stream-of-consciousness whisper of ‘I Don't Know Where I Stand.’ Two rockers are included, wailed with a fine sense of the beat, and the ending of ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Oh Happy Day’ is a righteous, jumping paean that builds and keeps on socking the audience riff after riff. Most of the charts are by her 88er-conductor Claus Ogerman, and they are ne plus ultra examples of the craft. The Jack Cathcart musickers give excellent support as Ogerman guides them along the way, supported rhythmically by bass guitarist, Ray Neapolitan and the aide she refers to as her ‘drummist,’ Mark Stevens. In addenda to her overall performance, the interim talk sessions must be complimented. Miss Streisand has a kook humor that conveys itself quickly and definitely. From her confidential confession on nervousness in a brief tea-sipping monology on Las Vegas history and her love of old things, Miss Streisand has everyone palmed, but good.”

Barbra Streisand, with Ed Kendricks Singers (4); Pat Henry, Jack Cathcart Orch (32); $16.50 minimum

... Variety , November 29, 1970 review

Front cover of Riviera Hotel dinner menu with Streisand's photo
Riviera Hotel dinner menu
Franco Zefferelli and Barbra Streisand backstage at the Riviera Hotel

“... In the opening numbers Friday, there was something in her voice, a tightness in her manner. She was not, during the early part of the show, the outgoing, relaxed headliner one expects to see here.

After her fourth song, however, she worked in some comments about her nervousness into her monologue and seemed to gain confidence from it. The enthusiastic audience response to some surprisingly effective rock-flavored numbers (‘Let Me Go’ and ‘No Easy Way Down’) seemed to give her even greater confidence.

She had overcome the nervousness.

Besides that superb voice, she has the stamp of an original vocal interpreter. When she sings a song, it comes out with her own definite stamp. She seems more than anything else filled with a need to be different, to be someone special on stage. She doesn't just want to be acclaimed or popular, she wants to be a true artist.”

... Charles Champlin, Los Angeles Times , November 28, 1970.

Streisand singing at the Riviera Hotel
Sources Used for This Page:

  • “Barbra’s Pooped” by Norma Lee Browning. Chicago Tribune, March 4, 1970.
  • “Barbra-Watchers Busy in Las Vegas” by Joyce Haber. The Los Angeles Times, December 3, 1970.
  • Barney Glazer in Las Vegas/Tahoe/Reno column. Longview News Journal, November 29, 1970.
  • “Riviera Claims It Has Prior Pact With Streisand.” Variety, March 5, 1969.
  • The Voice of Broadway by Jack O’Brian. Lebanon Daily News, December 15, 1970.
  • “Two Hotel Stints for Streisand” by Robert Hilburn. Vegas Scene, Los Angeles Times, November 25, 1970.
  • Ronnie Durrence Streisand Newsletters, 1970.

End / Riviera Hotel 1970 / MORE 1970S LIVE

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