Barbra Streisand’s politics didn’t find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. A similar scenario unfolded during Streisand’s concert earlier this month at Madison Square Garden in New York, during which the singer used the F-word in shouting down a heckler.
THAT Barbra Streisand invited Joan Rivers to her show at Madison Square Garden the other night, and Joan declined with the following note: "Thanks so much for inviting me. The joke is, I was going to invite you to my show at the Cutting Room, but I had no extra seats"
THE heckler at Barbra Streisand’s MSG concert Monday night may have been a right-wing plant who’s taunted her before, her publicist says. "There’s something a little weird about it," said Ken Sunshine, noting there was a similar-sounding shouter at the diva’s Philadelphia show last week. At the Garden, the heckler taunted, "What is this, a fund-raiser?" when she made fun of President Bush. Meanwhile, Audience Extras, a firm that provides members with free tickets to undersold shows, was giving out ducats to Babs’ show tonight. "They did a last-minute release of some scattered seats in the upper levels," said tour publicist Fran Curtis. "But it’s still one of the 10 highest-grossing concerts in the Garden’s history."
Barbra Streisand isn’t one for surprises. From the rose-filled vases on the stage perimeter to the half-dozen TelePrompTers scattered throughout Madison Square Garden to ease her worry about forgetting lyrics, Streisand has it all planned out. Only a handful of artists could make such intense scripting work, but she is definitely one of them. Unlike earlier shows on the tour, Streisand was in fine voice from the moment she began "Starting Here, Starting Now," as she appeared in the middle of her 55-piece orchestra. And her skill at phrasing showed in the intricate twists of "Come Rain or Shine" and the subtle reworking of "The Way We Were." For her first New York concert in six years — since, you know, the one that was supposed to be her final live concert performance ever — Streisand was determined to give the crowd what it wanted. "I still think of myself as a New Yorker," said Streisand, who plays the Garden tomorrow as well. "Go Mets!" That New York attitude emerged later in the show, too. After a skit that poked fun at President George W. Bush, and a man yelled taunts at her, she said, "Shut the — – up if you can’t take a joke," and then offered to return his money. Politics aside, Streisand’s show was, on the whole, well-paced and elegantly executed. She drew heavily from 1967’s "Funny Girl," including an energetic "Don’t Rain on My Parade" and the show-stopping ballad "My Man." Her return was sparked by a desire to raise money for The Streisand Foundation, which will make contributions to health and education issues, as well as fight global warming, taking a bit of the sting out of tickets priced between $100 and $750. Streisand’s return also gives her a platform for her political views, which, to no one’s surprise, run counter to the Bush administration. Her political skit, where a Bush look-alike spouts ridiculous ideas like selling off Canada to balance the budget, is harmless enough. The problem comes when "Bush" sings "Happy Days Are Here Again/Get Happy" with her, ruining one of her best songs. The other main problem is bringing Il Divo, the multi-culti pop-opera hunks, into her show. Not only were they unnecessary, but the quartet brought the momentum to a halt when their mini-set was injected into the middle of Streisand’s set. They also stomped on the lovely "Evergreen" with their over-singing, a feat they duplicated on another of her showcase songs "Somewhere."
Barbra Streisand’s politics didn’t find a wholly agreeable crowd during her Monday concert at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise. As Babs traded political barbs with a George W. Bush imitator, a fan of the songstress who apparently disagreed with her politics pelted her with a beverage. And as her anti-GOP riff ended, another man in the crowd found himself being escorted out of the center as he shouted at Streisand. Streisand shrugged both incidents off, saying some people would do better to buy her records than come to her shows. A similar scenario unfolded during Streisand’s concert earlier this month at Madison Square Garden in New York, during which the singer used the F-word in shouting down a heckler.
