Barbra In Chicago

November 7th 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 (Night 1 only)

Happy Days Are Here Again (Night 2 only)

Special thanks to ChattingJason for these great pics!

Fan Photos and reviews: (Thanks to AllRoadz2)

BJSC Fan:

Tonight was the night of my life. There's no cliche about it. Ever since I was a little boy it has been my dream to see Barbra Streisand. Even before my arrival I knew things were going to go perfectly. My party and I stopped in a suburb of Chicago for dinner before the show, and would you believe it, "You Don't Bring Me Flowers Anymore."

When we arrived in the city I got chills, for the first time in my life I was in the same city as Barbra Streisand, and in the same venue.

Getting in was easy. I got in with my voice recorder, and am blessed to have an excellent recording of the complete concert.

I also got to meet my very dear friend from this forum, Meagan (formerly known as KKKKatie). It's a moment I'll never forget. We hit it off perfectly.

The show started about 20 minutes late, and it was worth every second.

The "FUNNY GIRL" overture hit, and I got chills all down my spine! Fate and time had finally brought me to the main event of my young adult life. Seeing Barbra Streisand!

Barbra was SPOT-ON tonight!

The George Bush skit was cut tonight, for obvious reasons (since it was election day, after all). So she decided to do the new version of "Stoney End."

The ASK BARBRA segment was AMAZING!

The audience was fantastic. There was a lot of interaction between Barbra and the audience. It was fantastic. You could tell she was very happy with the crowd, and even said so. She received a thunderous applause after the encore of DROMP. The audience was wild and she kindly came back to sing "Smile." This will remain my favorite moment in my Streisand history.

Barbra's vocals were completely lovely. She proved herself to be better than ever. She is the greatest star and I am proud to call myself a Barbra Streisand fan.
 

Chris Sull:

Wow, what an evening.

I started out by joining the pre-show Rosie O'Donnell thing - which was very nice. I got to shake her hand and ask her a question or two. She asked me my name and made a joke about us both being Irish. Later on she asked me if I was a reporter because my questions were so "probing"... Haha! She even had a special bus/van looping from the restaurant to the United Center, which was very nice. Many of us were singing on the ride over. They had some awesome London Broil for free as well. (Hmmm... all the London Broil you can eat for free.... that sounds VERY familiar! Haha!)

I sat in Section 4, Row 11 on the aisle with my friend. I thought the volume could have been a bit louder where I sat and although I hear from other posters that Il Divo is LOUD, they actually sounded just right from where I was seated and Barbra sounded a bit low in volume. I did notice that Barbra rarely went for the "belting" notes and she was occassionally a wee bit hoarse... however, she had great energy and a wonderful rapport with the audience. She shined especially bright on the slower songs like "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life" and "Smile". It was nice to hear a longer version of "Stoney End" and "Somewhere" was especially effective as well.

There were a handful of standing ovations and Barbra looked great, she seems to have lost some weight during the tour (even if she is eating out a lot!)...

My only concern is that I think that Barbra has perhaps scheduled the concerts too close together for her voice (since she does not do vocal exercises) and as a result, she is avoiding many of the "belting notes" we love so much... and whcih she proves whenever she wants to that she is MORE than capable of still hitting! - so my thought to her would be in the future to either space the concerts apart further or do some pre-performace vocalizing. Other than that, I would have to say that her command of squeezing every nuance from a song is still unparalleled in contemporary pop music.

A great memorable night and although the Bush imitator could not be there tonight, Barbra said he would be back Thursday.

As I am going tomorrow as well, it will be interesting to see what Barbra says... now that the Democrats have taken control of the House and possibly even the Senate... it should make for a very memorable "Happy Days Are Here Again"!

Barbranme1:

Where can I start? Well first I got to meet so many wonderful Barbra fans at the Rosie tail-gate party. It was so nice to share in this joy with true Barbra fans like myself. My grandmother and I were interviewed for the documentary and I was so happy to be there that when Rosie pulled up I just lost all the emotion. I began to sob. Rosie was amazing. She is gorgeous!! As she came up my Nana yelled I made you cookies. Now when my grandmother wrote to Rosie for the tailgate she promised Rosie homemade cookies if she could go. When Rosie heard this she yelled "you are the one with the homemade cookies?" AS my Nana gave her the cookies I gave her two roses one for her and one to give Barbra. I told her "you are a true inspiration thank you". She said "oh sweetie" she grabbed me in a hug and kiss she then asked my name and what was my Barbra story. I told her I was her with my grandma and as I pointed to her she goes, "oh the cookie lady I love you". After she talked to others I asked her if my nana and I could have a photo and she said of course. As I was approached by her she started to sing Don't Rain on My Parade. I started to sing with her she grabbed my hand and we sang it together bouncing. IT WAS AMAZING!! I told Rosie to please tell Barbra how much she means to us all. Rosie replied, "Oh I will but it is really hard for her to hear it from me that is why I am making this documentary to show her how much you do love her." She promised me she would tell her and give her the rose but she said, "I can’t promise her cookies will make it to her because they look too good to share."

After that my night just got better. I met three great men who had come from OK and Chicago to see her. We enjoyed the moments as Barbra entered in a new black glittery skirt with a blazer on top. HOT MAMA!! She said "Hello Chicago" and then said looking at Rosie, "and there's the Rose". It was sweet.

Her voice was magnificent. Every chill I felt was genuine and heart felt. She made the tears flow once again and my heart was full of joy. The audience soaked in her love.

Steve was not there last night he had a previous engagement so Barbra sang us Stoney End. FABULOUS!!! She answered questions about Oprah, the People album, and even got asked what it was like living in Rosie’s house and she said "it was a home away from home we loved it", "I had the greatest time in your arts and crafts room Rosie". It was so great to hear her personally thank Rosie very touching.

The highlight for me was when she sang Somewhere. Again this was the song that saved my life and to hear her hit those notes for me was a thrill. The joy I felt I cannot really describe. Also Barbra came out for two encores, Don't Rain on My Parade and Smile. When she began Smile she said "this is dedicated to all the loves we have lost and the loves of our pets" as she said pets Barbra began to cry she pulled the microphone away and had to take a few deep breaths. I am sure the vision of her last dog passed through her mind, which is who she sings the song for every time. There was not a dry eye in that arena after that song. When she came back to kiss us goodbye I looked through my binoculars and Barbra had tears streaming down her face. She was patting her heart and fanning her eyes. She said thank you I love you so much about twenty times.

As Barbra left the stage I was left with a sight of a beautiful woman filled with love for us all. And that is who Barbra truly is. She loves us and this country and wants to make it better. That's who Barbra Streisand is an American citizen. My life is ever changed from her deeds and love.

Thank you Jason, Jerry, Aaron, Tammy, my Nana, Rosie and of course Barbra for making my dreams come true. My life will never be the same and I will live every day with the memory of this past night. Thank you again Rosie for putting the tail-gate together you are an inspiration and light to the world. Barbra thank you for saving me and making my dreams come true. Never change and stay beautiful as always.

All the Love of Barbra,
Steph Hormig

Sowtz:

Got back home today. I can’t really add anything to the reviews people have already submitted. Barbra was awesome. She was cool, she rocked, she was relaxed, she was confident. She did sound a little husky on some notes, but I liked it and thought it was kinda sexy! “Down boy!” She looked good too, the opening outfit with the flash of leg and the heels was tremendous, and I agree with people who say she looks thinner than at the start of the tour.

Couple of little bits that I don’t think have been mentioned, apologies if they have.

After she sang (acted) "Have I stayed too long at the fair?” which was exquisite, someone shouted, in a perfectly stunned, hushed arena - "You take my breath away!" It was so apt, and everyone in the place said "Awww!" Barbra responded by saying "Thank you, thank you, what a nice thing to say". To cap it off, someone else shouted "Me too". Barbra pulled a face as if to say "Oy!". It was cute.

After Stoney End, she said "I can’t understand why people like it so much", or words to that effect. Someone shouted back "Because you sing it so well", however Barbra couldn’t quite catch it cause other people began praising her.

Also, Il Divo! I must admit that I wanted more Barbra but, my wife likes them so it made it a better night for her too. I'm not in the habit of dissing other people and their likes/dislikes. The fact is Il Divo make a lot of people happy. That cant be a bad thing. I also respect the fact that Barbra has made the decision to have them in the show, and if it's fine with her, it’s fine with me.

Final point – cannot wait now for the CD/DVD to hear the golden tones again, especially the new songs, Unusual Way, Cockeyed Optimist and Shining Hour, and the songs missed out from earlier performances like When The Sun..., Where or When etc!! However, some more dates wouldn't go amiss!! (London Barbra?….hint!!)
 

Press Reviews:

This Democrat sure can sing
By Mark Guarino
Daily Herald Music Critic
Posted Wednesday, November 08, 2006


It would be hardly a surprise if Democrats on election night could be heard singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.”

At least one Democrat was: Barbra Streisand.

“I’m a big Democrat — what can I say? I do believe we need a change of direction and I think we’re going to get it,” she told the audience at the United Center Tuesday, the first of two nights. Then she delivered up-to-date election results. Then she sang.

Streisand is, amazingly, in her fifth decade of doing the latter. At age 64, she demonstrated her voice is more sumptuous than her recordings, some of which are submerged in production gloss. While her political views are not as nuanced — early tour stops included leveling an obscenity at a heckler and getting a drink tossed at her onstage — her singing voice renders every thought with a delicate vulnerability.

She is a diva for sure, but there were many moments Tuesday where she portrayed humility and longing to great effect. She became lost inside some of her most somber ballads (“Unusual Way,” “What Are You Doing the Rest Of Your Life?”), her marvelous interpretive skills transforming the large space into an intimate one.

Or was this all just good acting? After all, this was a show where, hanging from the United Center’s ceiling, was what could be the world’s largest teleprompter scrolling not just lyrics but stage banter between songs. (It could only take a scriptwriter to come up with lines like “I wish you many shining moments of your own.”) Streisand is obviously a perfectionist, but so skilled that her efforts became transparent.

Given news that recent shows on this tour included a George W. Bush impersonator, the stage was set for more of the same, amped up especially on election night. That would not be the case as, Streisand reported, her impersonator had another gig. So she sang. No one left disappointed.

Much of the two-hour, ten-minute show featured songs from “Funny Girl,” both the musical and film, as well as doses of big band jazz (“Down With Love”), pop (“Stony End”) and lush, orchestrated ballads (“The Way We Were”), aided by a 50-piece orchestra.

The show’s greatest misstep was the inclusion of Il Divo, an operatic group of four tuxedoed calendar hunks that backed Streisand up and was allowed their own three-song spotlight. If Streisand’s singing was like an artful smattering of raindrops, the booming voices of Il Divo coalesced into a highly pressurized hose. In a style spread by the “American Idol” generation, they butchered two of Streisand’s standards — “Evergreen” and “Somewhere” — with their bracing, booming, ham-fisted vocals. That this group was cobbled together by “Idol” judge Simon Cowell was evident.

The last third of the show (tickets remain available for Thursday), Streisand kicked off her heels and strode throughout the stage in a gown, her bare feet peeking out. As America was getting comfortable with the new election results that evening, she was already there.

Hello, gorgeous!
Streisand worth the wait —and the ticket price—for her fans at United Center

By Chris Jones
Published November 8, 2006, 1:25 AM CST

Barbra Streisand referenced two prior Chicago engagements in her Tuesday night concert at the United Center—one at Mr. Kelly's in 1963 (she said) and one at Soldier Field in 1966. That meant, incredibly, she hadn't sung here in 40 years—an interlude that might explain the willingness of thousands of her fans to pay up to $750 for the privilege of seeing her perform live.

There aren't too many entertainers left who flavor their patter with quotes from William Saroyan, or who can get 15,000 or more people to their feet with the likes of "Don't Rain On My Parade," and Streisand fans instinctively know their era is drawing to a close.

But watching her Tuesday, you'd swear this woman wasn't performing anywhere four decades ago, aside from her grade-school choir. Her hair gleaming, her articulate exuberance undimmed and her paradoxical vulnerability very much in evidence, she looks far younger than her 64 years. And more important, that famous Streisand instrument sounds very much at its peak. Some of the edges may be a little softer, but the new shading merely makes her singing more truthful. And say what you will about her, she has always been in the truth business.

Heavy on Broadway selections—Streisand performed a hefty chunk of the score to "Funny Girl," both stage and screen versions—her show offered ample chance to experience her singular interpretation of the American popular songbook. Often, that could be described as an intimate, conversational opening to a song followed almost immediately by an unconscious, swelling wave of sound that starts in the middle of a lyrical line and seems to overwhelm the actual singer as much as her audience.

On her famous second or third lines—"Children will listen," "Like the corners of my mind," "Are the luckiest people in the world"—Streisand's eyes would narrow slightly, as if a little surprised at what her astounding voice still could do. She was not alone.

Despite reports of tiresome partisan shenanigans from earlier in the tour, Tuesday night found the outspoken Democrat in a warm, mellow mood. By the second act (having checked the election returns in her dressing room) Streisand was even daring to gurgle "Happy Days are Here Again," albeit with caveat layered on top of the lyric. Her controversial George W. Bush impersonator had other things to do this election night (he's expected at the second United Center concert Thursday), but nobody seemed displeased when his absence was announced.

Streisand was joined at times by the band Il Divo, a group of four lite-opera singers who look like a Chippendale's act until they open their mouths and warble Andrew Lloyd Webber. These gentlemen shake the rafters with their colossal collective pipes, but they're a synthetic lot. "Regrets, I've had a few," they sang. Really? Like what, exactly? But then Il Divo is about musical sensualism, not truth. We had Streisand for that—and she probably didn't want the competition.

Most artists fire off a couple of local references—Streisand had a whole complex monologue involving, improbably, Gino's East and The Wiener's Circle. She had, she said, seen the Field Museum on the way in from the airport (she must have come from Midway) and planned to go see King Tut.

Both have a burnished kind of splendor. But no mummy she, Streisand would doubtless be the bigger attraction.

cjones5@tribune.com

Last of showbiz royalty
November 9, 2006

BY DAVE HOEKSTRA Staff Reporter
Barbra Streisand had yet to take the stage Tuesday at the United Center, but it was already clear this was not going to be just another gig. A woman near me clutched layers of white tissue stacked as tall as crooked Cook County ballots. She was crying, and the show hadn't even started.

As she passed the tissue down the aisle, people began screaming at television star Rosie O'Donnell, who was finding her seat near the front of the stage.

Welcome to Streisandland.

This was Streisand's first show in Chicago since August 1966, when she appeared at Soldier Field, and her first tour since 1994.

A Streisand concert is a coronation, like the bottle of milk at the Indianapolis 500 or the pajamas of silk on a honeymoon night. Tuesday's 2½-hour concert was sold out; tickets remain for tonight's show. Get there early. Fans must walk through airport-style metal detectors. Besides tissue, here are some other things to pack when you fly off to Streisandland:

• Memories. One of the night's most sincere moments came when Streisand recalled a summer stock review she received when she was 15. The critic wrote lovingly about Streisand's beauty, adding, "Down, boys." Streisand said she couldn't believe someone could be so kind to an awkward teenager. Who hasn't been there?

She then took a deep breath and broke into a pristine section of "Funny Girl" and "The Music That Makes Me Dance," backed by her 50-piece orchestra. At 64, Streisand has enchanting midrange warmth and splendor. When she finished, she closed her eyes and shook her head -- as if the song had returned her to that 1957 summer-stock moment at the Malden Bridge Playhouse in upstate New York.

• Politics. Streisand reported that the Democrats were ahead in Tuesday's House race and added, "Good things will happen." She then sang an emotive, measured version of "Happy Days Are Here Again," once the theme song for President Franklin D. Roosevelt. She opened the show with "Starting Here, Starting Now" (the overture from "Funny Girl"), which she sang at rallies for Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern in 1972. Streisand also complained how she is misrepresented in the media.

"It's been said I walked into a room and fired every musician on the left," Streisand said. "Anyone who knows me knows I would have fired everyone on the right." The crowd cheered.

• Money. A Streisand program cost $40. When the gates opened at 6 p.m., fans formed long lines to have their picture taken in a booth with a black-and-white backdrop of a tiny Streisand under a big spotlight. That cost $20. But I couldn't find a Streisand shot glass.

• Style. People showed up in suits, ties and evening gowns. I sat near Don and Elaine Blair of Yorkshire, England, who bought their $750 tickets a week ago on the Internet. They flew into Chicago on Monday, just for the show.


Dressing up the stage
Streisand's set was sharp and minimalist with lighted runways and three lavish bouquets of flowers spaced across the stage. The concert opened with Streisand emerging from a riser wearing a long black slit skirt.
She's the last of America's regal performers, a must-see like Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davis Jr. She is an actress who understands how to get beneath a song, most apparent in "I Stayed Too Long at the Fair" and "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life." She has little interest in upbeat material. She included snippets of her 1971 pop crossover hit "Stoney End" (written by the late, great Laura Nyro) as a tradeoff for the missed Bush impersonation and admitted she "might be too mature to sing it."

She was right.

"Somewhere" was set up to be one of the big Barbra moments everyone near me was anticipating. Streisand introduced the "West Side Story" ballad as a song for "tolerance, compassion and peace" -- and she had me with her every step of the way ... until her special guests Il Divo wandered onstage.

Il Divo is a Simon Cowell operatic-pop concoction of four young dudes who look like they stumbled out of the movie "Swingers." Their bombastic vocals did nothing to enhance "Somewhere." Think Bee Gees on steroids. During Streisand's costume changes, II Divo sang pop standards like "Unchained Melody" in foreign languages. I guess that's supposed to be romantic. And with all the humility of Donald Rumsfeld, Il Divo dedicated the Sinatra standard "My Way" to Streisand. This is a good time to fetch a glass of wine.


Pedestrian stage patter
Apart from the politics, Streisand's stage banter was cliched, name-checking famous Chicago eateries like Gino's East and Wiener Circle. (Locals know you go to Wiener Circle at 3 a.m., not 3 p.m. as she suggested). She was right on in lampooning Chicago media about the overdose of coverage of Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher's sprained big toe, and her recollection of her 1963 Chicago debut at Mister Kelly's was the perfect companion for the jazzy "Down With Love."
Toward the end of the night, Streisand reflected, "I actually feel the love more than years before." She said she was more open over her own growth, maturity and "letting it in." Then she belted out "My Shining Hour." This wasn't a farewell as much of a discovery, a shared moment in time that no one in the audience would deny.

Music wins
Streisand's singing carries ticket

November 9, 2006
By George Haas Pop culture writer
When you haven't toured in 12 years and your resume over that span includes "Meet the Fockers" and a slew of tabloid headlines, it's easy to see how some might forget that Barbra Streisand can sing.

The opinionated actress, activist and sometimes director, whose penchant for wearing her politics on her sleeve has made her a lightning rod for controversy, seems more Hollywood caricature now than musical icon.

She remedied that about three minutes into her performance Tuesday at Chicago's United Center when she took "Starting Here, Starting Now" up, up and away with the kind of rafter-soaring vocals most singers save for the encore. Streisand was just warming up.

Backed by a 50-piece orchestra, her wide-ranging concert leaned heavily on her Broadway roots and the early part of her career. She chatted easily with the crowd, shared some humor at her own expense and generally behaved not at all like the diva we'd come to expect.

OK, so there were several wardrobe changes (each outfit successively more spectacular than the first) and she did get the grand dame treatment from Il Divo, the operatic boy band who served as her backup singers on a couple of songs when they weren't fawning over her.

But for those expecting the famously liberal celebrity to hold court on the political issues of the day -- it was election night, after all -- the singer surprised all by keeping her comments to a minimum.

"It looks good" was all she said of her hoped-for Democratic victory in Congress, although a rendition of "Happy Days Are Here Again" could be construed as commentary.

At previous stops on her 20-city tour, Streisand had trotted out a George Bush look-alike to trade barbs, but he apparently had a previous engagement for the evening, much to the delight of most in the audience. (Be forewarned if you're attending Thursday's show. He'll be back on the bill.)

On Tuesday, it was all about the music.

While she sprinkled some of her hits into the mix, such as "The Way We Were" and "Evergreen," much of the show was an ode to her formative years, when she did summer stock and made "Funny Girl" a smash hit.

She offered up several numbers from the various stage and film versions of the production, belting out "My Man" with strength and conviction then bringing the crowd to its feet with a sublime and powerful rendition of "People."

I can't remember the last time a singer elicited goosebumps in concert.

At 64, Streisand has learned how to soften the blows of time. Her voice is deeper than it used to be but still quite expressive. Her new arrangements mostly play it safe, but she is more than capable of grabbing a note when she needs to and makes up for any deficiencies with acres of style.

It's a lesson her musical guests Il Divo could learn from. The Simon Cowell musical creation consists of four multi-national singers who have great voices but possess all the warmth and charisma of cardboard cutouts.

Their Spanish?-Italian? French?-language versions of Toni Braxton's "Unbreak My Heart" and Frank Sinatra's "My Way" were adored by the crowd, but the sight of two guys singing a love song to each other was over-the-top for me. It was like watching Andrea Bocelli crooning to Julio Iglesias -- not that there's anything wrong with that.

There was something very right with Streisand's song choices for the finish. Though the balky United Center acoustics sometimes caused her voice to echo, "This Shining Hour," "Children Will Listen" and an especially poignant rendition of ("Have I Stayed) Too Long at the Fair?" more than made up for any technical difficulties.

By the time she closed out the evening with a rousing "Don't Rain on My Parade," it was more than evident that this bird can still sing.

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