Barbra in Atlantic City

November 4th 2006

Happy Days Are Here Again
Have I Stayed Too Long At The Fair?
A Cockeyed Optimist
Somewhere (with Il Divo)
My Shining Hour
My Shining Hour Bows

Encores:
Don't Rain On My Parade (Broadway version reprise)
People Bows
Smile

Fan Reviews:

BarbraFanNYC:

I loved the concert Saturday in Atlantic City. The audience around me, although not as boisterous as in NYC last month, were huge Barbra fans. The overall experience was heightened for me because one of my questions was read in the "Ask Barbra" section, and she said my name on stage. My heart almost stopped. The other highlight of the night for me was "Happy Days." Barbra sang it in the same auditorium in 1964 for the Democratic National Convention. She said that the Democrats won by a landslide, and although it may not have been because she sang, you never know...and then she sang the most exciting version of that song I've ever heard her do. It was a wonderful, wonderful night. She sounded great, a little husky, but beautiful. She was also so relaxed and funny. She was starting a song and looked down at the front rows and said "Are you recording this on your cell phone?" Then she shrugged and said "everyone does these days." A true night to remember. If anyone has a recording of the "Ask Barbra" section, please let me know!

LadyPurple:

I am new to this site and I just have to say.... after seeing Barbra LIVE.... "nothing, nothing is the same'. I am smiling more these days, just happy and smiling.
My husband and I saw Barbra's opening concert in Phila and I cried, I screamed, I stood up and I clapped all the way through every number. It was everything I imagined and Oh so much more. I wish to praise the orchestra, the music director and the entire production team for their part in spotlighting Barbra. She knows how to gather the right people around her to make everything work. Such talent in all she does.
We had to see her again if she was going to be so close to us on the east coast. We got tickets for Atlantic City. Oh they were in the 300 level but I just wanted to be in the same room with her. I was more settled for this concert.
I was still and just let her take me on the journey. The feeling she gives away is just magic to me.
I never look for problems when I go to concerts so any comments I hear or read about bad fan behavior just don't bother me. I am so focused on Barbra and the VOICE.
Does anyone know more about the new home Barbra is designing and building in CA????? I wish she would write a decorating book.
For any fan who is still holding tickets for the upcoming few shows left on the tour.... you are in for the great happening.... close your eyes and let Barbra take you off somewhere over the rainbow for a couple of hours. You will be smiling too for days after.
One final comment..... I believe I could design better images for Barbra's merchandise, she needs classy and artful designs just unique to her.
Thanks for listening.... I am one very contented fan.
Lady Purple

X2GatorMom:

My take on the AC show was a little bit different. I also attended the first Fort Lauderdale show at the BankAtlantic Center on 10/28, and the smaller Boardwalk Hall venue provided a more intimate setting for Barbra. She was a little bit nervous in Fort Lauderdale because of the Showtime taping for the TV special. I found her much more relaxed and at ease in Atlantic City. Her voice was just as clear if not more so than on 10/28, and she was even able to laugh at herself a little bit, when in spite of all of the words to the songs being up on the teleprompter in front of her, she skipped the next to the last verse in "Somewhere" and went to the last verse, resulting in her singing the last verse twice. Il Divo was singing with her at this point, and the mistake threw them off a bit, but no one seemed to really mind. Barbra really seemed to me to be enjoying herself much more during this show, and I can't help but think that she'll miss the tour more than a little bit when it's all over. The audience, at least in my section, was respectful and appreciative, if not overly enthusiastic. You have to remember that the median age of those attending was considerable higher in Atlantic City than you will find in most other cities that Barbra is performing in. I have to agree that Il Divo is really too loud and overbearing. They do nothing for the mood of the show. As the tour goes on, it seems to me that Il Divo is more of a distraction and less of a compliment to Barbra's talent. Our seats were comped by the casino as they were for many others there - I have never in my life sat in a $850 seat - My husband and 22 year old daughter went with me. She is a dancer and has grown up dancing to Barbra's music (of her own choosing) since she was 7 years old, so she was probably the youngest Barbra fan there. She was watching me during the concert and told me later that this was probably the happiest she's seen me for the longest period of time that she can remember. I missed Barbra's last tour, and I thought I had missed my chance forever. I'll get to see her at the MGM Grand in Vegas as well, so I get my dream come true for the third time. How lucky can you get?

One more thing to add - Barbra sang "Smile" and explained that she always sings this song in honor of her dog "Sammy" who according to Barbra "has gone to another place". Our family is still dealing with the grief of having to say goodbye to our beloved Golden Retriever whom we had for 12 wonderful years. My daughter and I sat there and listened to Barbra sing "Smile" sobbing with tears rolling down our faces remembering our beautiful sweet boy. Barbra has the ability to touch many emotions in all of us. What an experience!

I Love Babs:

I was at AC too and i cant say enough about my time there. I have only dreamed about seeing Barbra and finally i talked my husband into going. He wasnt even crazy about her. He went for me. I lost both my parents this year and i guess he felt this would make me happy. Well i died and went to heaven for one night. And my husband cant stop talking about it either. He loves her now too I left that concert with such a feeling of fulfillment and happiness that i can never ever duplicate.

I read what other people said and i didnt notice any disrespect at all. There were lots of standing ovations. Maybe people were just too numb to get up. Her voice was beautiful and she hit every note. I loved the warmth of her voice hearing it in person. She is so gifted.

Press Articles:

Barbsa Streisand makes a long awaited return to A.C.
By VINCENT JACKSON Staff Writer, (609) 272-7202
Published: Sunday, November 5, 2006

ATLANTIC CITY — When Barbra Streisand performs a concert, her colorful personality rides shotgun, very closely to her quality singing.

Streisand, who made her first appearance here in 42 years Saturday at a nearly sold-out Boardwalk Hall, organized her show very well. Her opening song, “Starting Here, Starting Now,” included a line about “the greatest journey beginning.” For people who waited their entire lives to see her perform in person just once, the concert served as a 40-year musical stroll through her career with an emphasis on the 1960s and 1970s.

The legendary vocalist didn't keep her fans waiting long to hear some of her biggest hits. “The Way We Were,” “People” and “Evergreen (Love Theme From “A Star Is Born”) all came during the first half of the show before intermission.

Streisand's commitment to making her high prices worth it — her $850 top ticket price set a record here — showed itself when she sang “The Way We Were.”

A song Streisand must have sung countless times, she took the time to sing the lines, “If we had the chance to do it all again, tell me. Would we? Could we?” as if she was asking the audience to really ponder the question.

The 58-piece orchestra competed with Streisand for dominance a little bit too much on “Come Rain Or Come Shine,” but the violin-drenched “My Man,” followed by “People,” served as concert highlights. Streisand detractors may try to reduce her as only a belter, but the jazzy “Down With Love” demonstrated that a little swing remains in her step.

Streisand, 64, spent almost as much time talking as singing. Some of the things she said stretched belief. She said she walked the Boardwalk, but didn't say whether she wore a disguise or not. Besides stopping to eat at Caesars, the concert's sponsor, she mentioned Fralinger's Salt Water Taffy and popping into a dollar store. The glamorous Streisand in a dollar store is something that needs photographic proof.

“I never made it down to the beach, but I got a taste of Atlantic City,” Streisand said.

After talking about the composers of the lyrics and the music to “The Way We Were,” Streisand said she has written 10 songs during her 46-year career. She sat at the piano to play the instrumental beginning to one of them, “Ma Premiere Chanson” from her 1966 album “Je M'appelle Barbra,” which she said took 42 years to sell a half million copies.

Streisand also joked with her four male guest singing companions for the evening, Il Divo, who added a sophisticated, masculine, international flavor to the evening. They did a duet with her on “Evergreen” and had their own three-song segment that caused the audience to stand and applaud just as they did for Streisand.

Even for fans who saw Streisand on previous concert tours, she pulled out songs this time she has not sung for decades, like “Funny Girl” from 1967.

A 10-minute George Bush- impersonator skit went off without incident. The skit had Streisand as straight man, asking questions like, “So what do you think about stem-cell research and the economy?”

The Bush impersonator, Steve Bridges, played the buffon with lines like, “You haven't toured in 12 years. That's almost a decade.”

The skit received some laugher and applause here. However, Streisand's show was interrupted by hecklers reacting to this skit at three other concerts since her tour began.

The sound inside the renovated hall was excellent, a credit to Streisand's concert audio engineer. She performed on a split-level stage with a bouquet of red roses in the middle and another bouquet of white roses on both the left and right sides of the stage.

The left and right side of the stage featured it own video screen, which zoomed in many times for tight close-ups on Streisand's face as she sang, giving even people in the last row a good view.

Streisand hasn't mounted a national tour since 1994. In 2000, she held what she said would be her last public performance, but in June, she said she was returning to the stage in order to raise funds for various charitable organizations.

If this was Streisand's last performance here — a place she's rarely picked to hold concerts — she went out on a high note.

Craig Hall -- www.barbranews.com -- 2006