Well, well, well... what a night!
I have suggested that I could "die happy" by crossing off Barbra Streisand off my "must-see" concert list... but c'mon, hopefully I have at least a few more decades left in me... so let's not take that literally folks! But last night's concert was everything I could have asked for... and considering I was only familiar with about half of the songs Streisand sang last night that's really saying something. Heck, if she sang The Way We Were, People, Evergreen and closed the show out with the proverbial read of the telephone book and I would have been thrilled!

As you would expect, everything was meticulous. A huge stage of bridges/walkways with a split full-orchestra pit... bouquets of roses set on tables along the way. Streisand rose from a lift at center stage (I called it the "el-diva-ator") to, of course, thunderous applause and cheers. I thought the 64-year old Streisand look great (dare I say, "gorgeous"!)... in her trademark Donna Karan ensembles (a total of 3 wardrobe changes in all). I didn't get too verklempt... just a little stunned that she was finally just a few hundred feet away.
She sounded wonderful... perhaps a bit more huskier/raspier than she used to... but when she hit those signature notes it was goose-bump city... over and over again!
Ok... so it was fantastic... but let's move on to some fun and snarkiness.
If you wanted to get a grasp on the demographics of last evening's concert-goers you need only to look at our row and the row in front of us.
In front of us, were slightly beyond middle aged women. One in particular captured our attention for most of the evening... she was pretty loopy from the get-go, but another helping of white wine sent her over the edge. She would cat-call Barbra, try to high-five people around her, and simply dissolved in a puddle of tears during Somewhere. It was kind of cute at first, but it got pretty embarrassing (for her) as the evening wore on, with her friends trying to shush her down.
Now, our row was a quartet of guys on one side of us and a highly-suspected lesbian couple on the other side. One eavesdropped conversation from the guys included references to Rosie O'Donnell, The View, Celine Dion and Cher... they also took turns looking at a purchased copy of the 2007 Il Divo wall calendar. So there you have it... older women, gay folk and older couples as well. Overall, I suspect we were on the low end of the age curve (which I don't know is a good thing or not).
Okay... Il Divo. To tell you the truth, they were better than we thought they would be... though they were pretty much relegated to be mere accessories to La Diva. Despite their inherent cheesiness (singing pop music not in English in the language of love), you can not deny that they are very impressive vocally (and three-quarters of them are pretty easy on the eyes). Now I would have preferred them not to have joined in on Evergreen... but the duets on The Music of The Night and Somewhere were two of the many highlights of the evening. I agree with Rosie O'Donnell... striking me as rejects from The Bachelor... but that is better than what the AZ Republic called them "(an) oily 'popera' group, who sing capably, but very anonymously. Imagine four better-looking Josh Grobans for an idea of what they do." Ouch! (And leave Josh out of it while your at it!).
Okay... the teleprompters. It's no secret that Streisand suffers from stage-fright after forgetting lyrics when she performed to a huge Central Park crowd back in the 60s. She only returned to live performing with the advent of the teleprompter. We were side stage... so we saw them all... and there were literally dozens of them -- including a gargantuan one hanging from the back of the arena. This was a constant distraction for us. Not only were the lyrics there... but the "spontaneous" chit-chat with the audience. So while not totally detracting from my Streisand awe... it was still and unwelcome look behind the wizard's curtain. Streisand did fess up to her use of teleprompters during an audience Q&A, "pull questions out of a jar" segment... which I assume was "real" since there was nothing on the prompters at the time. Despite their presence, I don't think Streisand was using them all that much... likely just knowing they are there if needed is probably enough to ease her insecurity. Though do you really need "Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm. Mmmmmm." to be on a prompter to open Evergreen? BTW, Il Divo, when singing solo, did not have lyrics on the prompter... only on their duets and audience chatter.
The chit-chat often was customized to us... she read spoke of visiting different local restaurants and landmarks earlier in the day... though she did flub one exit line... saying she needed to take a break because there was a tostada waiting for her from the "Old Factory" (a glance at the prompter showed she should have said the full (actual) name of the restaurant, The Old Town Tortilla Factory). Before closing the night out with Happy Days are Here Again, she commended us for not "writing bigotry into our state constitution" with the failure of the "gay marriage" proposition.
Oh, the George Bush impersonator was there. This segment has gotten Babs in some trouble in other cities... heckled in one city (where she told the person to "shut the f&ck up") and a beverage thrown elsewhere. So I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it... but it was just fine. But I am guessing the tone of the routine is much different now, thanks to the results of the midterm elections... and as mentioned, it made her closing song all the more apropos and a hit with Barbra lovin' partisan crowd:
So long sad times
Go long bad times
We are rid of you at last (big cheers!)
Howdy gay times (big gay cheers!)
Cloudy gray times
You are now a thing of the past
Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again
If you made it this far... congratulations and thank you! I knew this was going to be a big 'ole ramble and I certainly didn't let myself down. For another ("professional") take on last night's show here's a link to the AZ Republic's review (Streisand Simply Sensational).
UPDATE (like I need to say more!): Two celebrity sitings worth noting. Music industry big-wig (and I am assuming FoB, Friend of Barbra) David Foster was front row center. She shouted out "Oh, David you're here" early in the show and once I scanned the front row it was pretty easy to figure out who the David was (hey, watching American Idol and Celebrity Duets comes in handy!).
As I mentioned yesterday, the last time Streisand was in town it was for the filming of A Star Is Born. Coincidentally enough, her co-star Kris Kristofferson was also performing last night (at a theater that holds about 13,000 less people). She mentioned that maybe if he finished early he would stop by... and sure enough between who two encore songs, she dragged out Kristofferson to some of the loudest cheers of the evening. Pretty neat.
And for my own sake (and rapidly failing memory), the set list is "after the jump":