Better than Buttah

On Wednesday Oct. 4, Barbra Streisand gave the first concert of her new tour and I was there.

The concert, at Wachovia Center in Philly was so electric and thrilling that I have the feeling I’ll be able to say "and I was there!" in the future when fans and critics all agree that this was the quintessential Barbra experience. It will be like those concert goers I’ve envied who saw Judy Garland live in her Carnegie Hall concert—that by which all others are measured.

So there I was, a full dozen years since I witnessed Barbra’s triumphant ’94 tour in Washington, DC. If that concert was her homecoming to live performance, this concert is proof that where she belongs is on stage with a microphone in her hand.

Not that her acting, directing and composing careers are any less accomplished, but to the 15,000 people who jumped to their feet with ovations several times during the evening, it was clear that they were watching the best of the best.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. From the moment the 50-plus musicians launched into the overture from Funny Girl, the night started crackling. Streisand appeared from below, via a slowly moving lift, and out into the spotlight on a spare but elegant set. The crowd leapt to their feet and went wild. Hello, Gawjus.

Barbra’s choice of selections was impeccable. From the score of Funny Girl to the gentle tones of "The Way We Were," Babs played to her fans and showed us that her voice hadn’t lost a single note of that clear, beautiful sound. With numbers like "Come Rain or Come Shine" and "Somewhere," from West Side Story, each number was better than the last. And a brilliant pairing of Rogers and Hammerstein’s "You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught" and Sondheim’s "Children Will Listen" was a lovely, heart-felt plea for the end of bigotry.

While I could go on about the numbers she performed, the most important thing to know about the concert was that Streisand was mellow, warm, slightly self-deprecating, but not going for laughs, and totally in command of the stage. The words I want to use to describe the performance, are self-assured, comfortable and appreciative of the chance to entertain us.

Streisand was joined on stage by four male singers known as Il Divo, a kind of pop opera quartet. In addition to a song with Barbra, they did four or five numbers of their own while the Diva went offstage for a short break. Upon her return, the guys joined her for "Music of the Night" from Phantom of the Opera and rocked the rafters.

For readers who have been lucky enough to snag tickets for the upcoming Washington, DC concert, I will say no more, because there are some terrific surprises and sweet moments I don’t want to tip off.

And those of you who won’t be seeing Barbra this time around, you can be assured that a recording of the concert will probably appear shortly. And, I can only hope, an HBO or other cable special will follow.

So to say I was dazzled doesn’t even cover it. The concert was longer than I expected (almost 3 hours, I think), with Streisand packing a huge amount of music and goodwill into the evening. There was a standing ovation at the close of the concert. There was a standing, stomping ovation after she returned for an encore, and there was a standing,

stomping, cheering ovation when she left the stage after the encore. Nobody stopped applauding, the ovation went on for five minutes, and La Streisand popped back onto the stage, holding her dog (a white furry thing) looking like she’d already been in her limo, only they went and got her because the audience wouldn’t stop applauding.

She was incredibly gracious and we all went home happy.

Disclaimer: If you are not a Streisand fan I am sorry you had to read this. I just couldn’t help myself.