The Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada

15 October 2006

 

Videos

Fan video: Don't Rain On My Parade


Song List

ACT 1

  • Funny Girl Broadway (overture)

  • Starting Here, Starting Now

  • Down With Love

  • The Way We Were

  • Come Rain Or Come Shine

  • Ma Premiere Chanson

  • Evergreen (with I'll Divo)

  • I'll DIVO SET #1: (no Barbra)
    (a) Unchained Melody
    (b) Don't Break My Heart
    (c) My Way (dedicated to BJS)

  • Don't Rain On My Parade
    (she forgot the lyrics)

  • Funny Girl (film version)

  • The Music That Makes Me Dance

  • My Man

  • People

ACT 2

  • IL DIVO SET #2 (no Barbra)
    (a) Song 1
    (b) Music Of The Night (Barbra makes her Act 2 entrance and continues the song with the guys)

  • When The Sun Comes Out

  • Carefully Taught/Children Will Listen

  • Unusual Way

  • What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life

  • Happy Days (George Bush skit)

  • Have I Stayed Too Long At The Fair

  • Cockeyed Optimist

  • Somewhere (with I'll Divo)

  • My Shining Hour
    Encores:

  • Don't Rain On My Parade (Broadway version reprise)

  • Smile


Fan Reviews

Montreal Boy:

OMG!!!! Words can't express how I feel tonight. I was 12 years old when I heard her angelic voice and I made a promise to myself to see her live one day and that she would be my first concert ever.

Tonight, at the age of 24, one of my dream's in life came true. I got to see Streisand Live and at VERY good seats may I add. I was excited, happy, nervous and OMG!!! lol She was everything and more then what I ever expected.

The show began with the overture of Funny Girl (Broadway) and then appears Streisand from the center of the stage. The crowd went wild, Standing O for about 5-6 mins. and then she started to sing "Starting Here, Starting Now". When the song was done, she started speaking in french, better then me lol and I'm born in Quebec hehe. She said that she was learning french but doesnt have that much time. She said that The Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Charest, was in the audience but OOPS he is actually the Prime Minister of Quebec which she later apolagized for. She said that she first came to Canada, to attend the Canadian Ballet with Pierre Elliot Trudeau and then she said that Trudeau's son was in the audience with his wife. Sweet and very touching moment. When she started singing "Down With Love" she choked and started to caugh trhough out the song so she couldnt hit the high notes cause she was caughing and saying "sorry" at the same time. Who cares, she's human and it happens. The caugh went away by the third song after she took a sip of her tea. All the song's in Act 1 were the same and she played beautifully "Ma Premiere Chanson" on the piano and when she sang it the crowd went wild cause she was singing in french.

The second act, started out with "Music Of The Night" WOW WOW WOW!!! And later the skit with the George Bush impersenator happened. I actually taught it was going to be boring and dull but the crowed went crazy and people were laughing and applauding thinking it was very funny but I am happy to say that she sang "Happy Days Are Here Again" solo. "Woman in the Moon" and "Stoney End" were out but that's ok, cant compalin, we cant always get what we want in life. At the end of the show, after she sang "My Shining Hour", she looked at the audience and said "Merci, Bon Soir" which means "thank you and good night". When she came out for her second encore to sing "Smile" she looked at the conductor and said "What song am I singing now??" and the crowd taught it was hilarious.

My review is that she was amazing. I was a little sad that she choked and started caughing on "Down With Love" cause it's one of my favs. Also she was a little hoarse tonight and I think she need's to take a week off just to relax her vocal cords. If I had to grade her voice she gets a 99.9%.

OK, I wont talk negativly about Il Divo but let's just say they were not my fav. moment of the show. It's not the style of music I listen too so I was willing to give it a chance but it just didnt do it for me. When they sang with Barbra, it was awsome but no Barbra, ..... I will keep quiet lol.

I still love the fact that Barbra was and always will be Funny Girl. She is as funny live as she is in her movies. She made jokes here and there, which made me laugh out loud.

I would have loved for her to sing "Woman in The Moon" or "Woman in love" or wtvr.....and not "Unusual Way". I just didnt care that much about the song but loved loved loved "Cockeyed Optimist". Even the crowd went wild on that song.

Finally, this was a night I will cherish and remember until the rest of my life. Until now my prom was the best night of my life but after tonight seeing Barbra Streisand live, will always be the biggest event that I have ever been too.

I also loved the part of the Q&A when someone asked "You played a hooker in Nuts and in The Owl & The Pussycat. Would you ever play one again?" and she replied back ina very sexy tone: "it depends....How much are you offering?" HAHAHAHA

She also said that this days she likes more napping then directing, acting or singing, which is sort of sad for younger fans like me cause we havent been there from the get go but at the end she can do wtvr she wants to do as long as she records at least one song (ex: Smile with Tony Bennett) a year.

I loved it how she took off her shoes during the Q&A and everyone it the audience started yelling "TAKE THEM OFF BARBRA" and started clapping. You can see that she was feeling more comfortable in the second act and even her voice became stronger. The Final note on "Somewhere" is something I can not even describe.

They were 2 things that I remembered last night that she also said during the show. The first was "Oh my God, a lot of college students here tonight" and it's true, I saw many students from my University attending her concert. I was so happy to see that here voice is loved from ages 1 to 92. And the second is when people started screaming "Je t'aime Barbra" and she said "J'aime aussi" which means "I love too" but corrected it by saying "Je t'aime aussi" "I love u too".

If I remember more things I will add later on. I woke up at 7:20am to add this part of the review cause I am still floating from last night.

Thank you Barbra FOR EVERYTHING.


Kevin PH:

I thought I'd add a few thoughts to the previous posts. The other fans have done a great job of reporting!

I was amazed at the thunderous applause when Barbra first came out on stage. To me it seemed louder than in New York last Monday and in Washington Friday.

It was too bad that she got a little choked up during Down with Love, but I thought she recovered nicely.

Her speaking and singing (Ma Premiere Chanson) in French seemed to really impress the French-Canadians sitting next to me.

Another one of the questions Barbra answered was: "Is it hard directing yourself?" Answer: "Only when I'm difficult!"

When she sat down to play the piano, she said "There's no piano in my room so I can't practice!"

When she spoke of the crazy things people say about her, and mentioned that it's been said that she "stiffs cabdrivers," she quite frankly said "it's been a while since I took a cab!"

The Montreal papers are giving her glowing reviews--though I only know some high school French, it was clear that the review in the French paper was a rave.

I'm looking forward to my next show in Boston!


LostInside:

Montreal has seen a lot of well known performers come and go and you don’t see reviews like these often. An artist has to be unparalleled to earn such praise.

Act One
The format was similar to the previous shows, starting with the Broadway Funny Girl overture followed by Barbra’s emergence on a centre stage platform. Like the other 17,000+ audience members, I was on my feet clapping when she made her entrance, marveling that she was actually on stage in front of me. She was dressed in the previously-seen-before sequined skirt and top, her hair a sparkling blonde, her skin free of any obvious added colour. The ovation was instantaneous and thunderous, lasting about two minutes. When it died down, Barbra began to sing. Her voice sounded fresh, yet familiar, with just a hint of nervousness, and I waited for her voice to soar, reaching the high notes on Starting Here Starting Now. She did not disappoint. At the age of 64, she had not lost it: the Voice was still there and would gradually unfurl over the course of the evening, revealing all of its beauty.

After a smattering of chatter in surprisingly good French, she launched into the rest of Act One. I won’t go into too many details, as the show was similar to the first stops on her tour, especially the tightened Washington show. It has already been reported that she had difficulty with the second number, Down With Love, often coughing, and I might add that she sounded hoarse and somewhat strained during the first segment of the show. She stated it was very dry in Montreal, holding up a cup (presumably tea) but not drinking from it. I can attest that it was very dry; so dry that I had brought a bottle of water with me to drink while I watched the show.

I watched and listened to the first three songs in kind of a numb state, trying to take it all in, worried that Barbra seemed to be struggling a little and was not smiling very much. When Il Divo came on, I was surprised at the warm reception they received and wondered if it would seem interminable to sit through their set. At the end of My Way, which got a huge round of applause, I was thinking that their voices were fine and they were talented young men, when suddenly Barbra appeared from nowhere and started the Funny Girl segment. The audience seemed a bit stunned at the unexpectedness of it all and so was I. As she launched into Don’t Rain On My Parade I noticed that Barbra appeared to have traded the skirt for a pair of sequined pants during the break. The short break must also have helped her voice, which was getting stronger and purer, like a rush of spring water. My nervousness was dissipating: Barbra was getting more comfortable and so was I. Each song was performed more exquisitely than the last. By the time she finished My Man and People, the woman next to me was gently wiping the tears from her eyes.

Act Two
After a brief 20 minute intermission, I could hear music from the Prince of Tides as I returned to my seat. I thought Il Divo would do another set and was thrilled when Barbra joined them on stage, revitalized, for Music of the Night. She was smiling, her hair was shimmering and parted to the side and her make up was lovely. The black dress with the gold accents seemed to have an Egyptian feel to it and brought home memories of Color Me Barbra. She looked radiant and beautiful and, most importantly, her voice sounded lovelier than ever, like it had been freshly oiled during the break.

Act two, for me, was definitely the high point of the show. Her performances were flawless and heartfelt, her smiles were genuine and the Streisand humor was in abundance (see some of the other reviews for examples of her one liners). I was especially thrilled to hear three songs I had never heard her sing before. I thought her interpretation of Unusual Way was especially beautiful; her voice shimmering over the elegant melodies, proving once again that she is indeed an actress who sings. I cannot wait to hear her recording of this song on CD. The ballads, so lovingly sung, were the true show-stoppers of this concert in my view.

Barbra finished Act Two by yet again topping her own previous performances of Somewhere with an arguably definitive version and then carefully letting the audience go with a startling simple and honest rendition of Harold Arlen’s My Shining Hour. The applause that followed was unprecedented and the ovation overwhelmingly genuine, just like the star herself.

Finale
After her two delicious encores, I left the venue feeling elated and vindicated. Why? My belief and support of Barbra over the years was justified and deserved. Her talent is real and not only does she live up to her own legend, she tops it. What more can you ask for?


Dolittle:

Headlines from major french papers this morning:

LE DEVOIR:
Barbra au Centre Bell:La plus grande/
Tous les superlatifs au centuple!
(Barbra at Bell Centre:The greatest/
Every superlatives times one hundred)


LE JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL:
Sa première à Montréal: L'événement Streisand/
À se mettre à genoux
(Her first time in Montreal:The Streisand event/
Good enough to kneel down)


LA PRESSE:
Barbra Streisand comble les montréalais/
D'une classe à part
(Barbra Streisand fills up montrealers' expectations/
In a class of her own)


Photos

Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo

Photo


 

 

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