Streisand: Her Life (118 page)

I
n February 2005,
Billboard
reported that Barry Gibb and Barbra were going to reunite and do a sequel to their multi-platinum 1980 smash album
Guilty
. “To start off,” Barbra said, “[Barry] wrote a few songs and sent them to me to see if they’d be something I’d like to record. They were really strong so I just encouraged him to write more! I told him how much I loved the sound of George Michael’s song ‘Jesus to a Child’ and asked him if he could try to write something in a Bossa Nova style. The next week he surprised me with ‘Golden Dawn,’ which is one of my favorites on the album.”

Gibb continued to write new songs with his children Ashley and Steve, and Barbra warmed to the idea of a sequel. “I’ve always looked back at the
Guilty
album as one of the easiest, most pleasant recording experiences I’ve ever had. Barry just made the process a delight. Maybe because he’s an artist himself, he understands what it takes to be a producer for another singer.” The timing was perfect too. “It happened to coincide with the [25
^th
] anniversary.... It’s given our reunion an extra special meaning, but it wasn’t something I’d really planned.”

Once Barry had written ten new songs, he enlisted the help of producer John Merchant, who booked local musicians from the Miami area to record demos for Barbra to listen to. “I said, ‘give me three days at Criteria [Studios] and let me show you what they can do,’” said Merchant. “Barry was really thrilled at who we have locally.” Streisand loved the first few demos, and Merchant and Gibb continued to record until they had done all ten songs.

Barry, Barbra, and Merchant began the final recording process in late May, in Grandma’s House. “It’s really charming,” Merchant said. “The house was built in the 1950s and sits on the cliffs of Malibu. It has beautiful open beam ceilings, a view of the Pacific.”

When the album was ready for release, Barbra and Barry were both very pleased with it. “It is wonderful,” Gibb said, “she’s in great voice and I think it’s a nice album.” Sony set up a website where Barbra discussed her feelings about the album: “There’s a sonic continuity, because Barry’s singing quite a lot of background vocals on the album, but it’s not a concept like
The Broadway Album
or
The Movie Album
. The songs cover a lot of ground, expressing thoughts about relationships, joy and fantasy. Barry’s lyrics are more impressionistic than the songs I usually choose to record, so I suppose in some way they can be interpreted differently, depending on your personal experience.

“When he was writing, he was trying to express thoughts and feelings that he imagined I’d relate to, things I’d want to say. I mentioned a few records that I liked the sound of, which he sometimes used as creative jumping off points. On the title song ‘Above the Law’, I liked the gentle wink towards the title ‘Guilty,’ sort of like after all these years we’ve got nothing to be guilty of, we’re above the law. When Barry played me the rough demo, the song wasn’t quite finished. As I was listening to it, I heard a counter melody in my mind and sang it to Barry. The next day, he’d incorporated it into the song, making it a duet. So that was very gratifying. When I write a song, it’s usually out of necessity, like writing ‘Evergreen’ for
A Star Is Born
—I just needed a song for the movie! So, I don’t take the time to write as much as I’d like. It was lovely to collaborate with Barry in this way.”

Barbra thought her voice and Barry’s meshed well together. “Through the years I’ve recorded a lot of duets with everyone from Louis Armstrong to Neil Diamond and Celine Dion. As a singer, it’s very rewarding to find a great vocal partner, and Barry’s one of my favorites. I love the airy texture of his voice. I really enjoy the process of discovering new ways to harmonize with another singer.”

Guilty Pleasures
included a dance song, “Night of My Life,” which Columbia released as a 12-inch single for clubs. It rose to No. 2 on the
Billboard
dance chart. Critical reaction to the album was good. Bill Lamb, on the About.com Guide, wrote, “Barbra Streisand’s best work of the past two decades have been her albums interpreting Broadway and Hollywood classics. When she has turned to pop her performances have too often sounded forced and uncomfortable--until now. On
Guilty Pleasures
she moves among a variety of pop styles with ease. From the Latin touches of “Golden Dawn” and “Hideaway” to the disco “Night of My Life” and classic adult contemporary pop of “Stranger in a Strange Land,” Streisand is fully in command of her muse.”

Despite the good reviews and the success of the dance single,
Guilty Pleasures
, while a hit, failed to live up to the lofty sales expectations set by
Guilty
. Its top chart position was number five, and it went Gold, but it fell about 150,000 units short of the one million units required for a Platinum designation. It was probably unrealistic to expect the sequel to equal the first album’s sales.
Guilty
was released when both Barbra and the Bee Gees were at the height of enormous popularity. The confluence of their two fan bases resulted in 5 million copies sold. Twenty-five years later, both were still popular, but not quite so phenomenally.

After the success of the 2000 tour, Barbra was asked repeatedly by promoters to tour again. She repeatedly declined. But early in 2006, she decided to do so in order to raise money for her Streisand Foundation and other charities that she supports. A June 12 press release announced that the twenty-city tour would kick off in Philadelphia and include the quartet Il Divo as special guests.

Il Divo, which means “divine male performer” in Italian, is an operatic pop vocal group of four male singers created by Simon Cowell. They comprise French pop singer Sebastien Izambard, Spanish baritone Carol Marin, American tenor David Miller, and Swiss tenor Urs Buhler. The handsome multi-platinum recording artists had just finished a six-month tour of Amnerica, Australia, and Europe, and agreed to accompany Barbra for all twenty concerts scheduled for the new tour. In a joint statement, they expressed joy at touring with Barbra: “We believe the experience of working with Barbra Streisand — a truly legendary artist — will forever shape the way we approach our own singing and performing. Her voice and her music have profoundly influenced and inspired so many artists, including Il Divo, and we are thrilled to be sharing the stage with her.”

Streisand’s choice of venues reflected her desire to bring her show to cities she had never performed in, or had not performed in since the mid-sixties. Between October 4 and November 20, in addition to New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia, she would perform in Columbus, Ohio; Montreal; Toronto; Boston; Minneapolis; Ft. Lauderdale; Atlanta; Atlantic City; Chicago; San Jose; Phoenix; and the District of Columbia.

Barbra opted for a sleek, modern look for her set this time. Designer Jeremy Railton said, “As I started my initial design exercises for this tour, it became obvious to me that this show, more than all the others, was about designing for the sound. This, after all, was Barbra Streisand, with a 52-piece orchestra of hand-picked musicians conducted and arranged by William Ross. This was not the show for elaborate decorative elements, huge LED screens, or drawbridges, but a show that had to move from city to city, in halls with sometimes less-than-adequate acoustic properties and yet truly reflect the genius of our artists. To add to the audio and visual challenge, the show would play in the round in some venues and in 270° configurations in others. Another overriding design obligation was to provide a comfortable home for the huge orchestra and ensure that our single artist would not be lost in a visual sea of musical instruments. She had to be able to visit different sides of the arena yet remain in eye contact with her conductor, and at all times, she had to be able to feel and be in contact with her musicians and her audience.

“Ultimately the stage became a series of ramps surrounding a sunken orchestra. I put small Juliet stages on all sides, creating intimate visiting spots with a table, a vase of flowers, and a pot of tea, which allowed for each side of the audience to receive a visit from our beloved diva.”

The show was directed by Richard Jay-Alexander, the 53-year-old Broadway and recording veteran, who told BarbraNews: “[Barbra] and I spoke on the phone and I asked, point blank, why she was considering this. She then told me about the money that could be made forthe Streisand Foundation, etc. I immediately said, ‘I’m in.’ I also told her, ‘I will die if you do this without me.’ I know it’s
dramatic
, but hey, I’m in the theater!”

Barbra started rehearsals in mid-August 2006. Ticket sales were brisk for the tour, except the Oct. 18th Detroit show, which was canceled. “We apologize to the dedicated Barbra Streisand fans in Detroit who had purchased tickets, but it was impossible not to accommodate the extraordinary demand in Toronto,” said Michael Cohl of Concert Productions International. “We are truly sorry for any inconvenience.”

“There were some mantras that drove this show,” Richard Jay-Alexander explained. “Like ‘the truth’—and we weren’t going to consider songs that she doesn’t really feel strongly about or that she didn’t want to sing. We really laughed a lot putting the show together. We also sang a lot of songs that didn’t make it in and [I and the others involved] were constantly amazed at how she would ‘zero in’ on and edit, cut, improve and help to shape what eventually became the ‘template’ of the show.”

As opening night in Philadelphia (October 4, 2006) approached, Streisand and crew rehearsed for four days at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, New Jersey. Broadway singer Liz Callaway (Ann Hampton Callaway’s sister) was hired as Streisand’s stand-in. “[Richard Jay-Alexander] asked me what I was doing for the next week and a half, because Barbra Streisand was looking for someone who could learn the music and be ready to jump in and perform at any moment during rehearsals,” Callaway told the Chicago
Sun-Times
. If Barbra was called away from rehearsal for any reason, Liz would perform her movements so that the others could still see “Barbra” on stage. “I had very little contact with her, but when I did, she was so warm and down to earth,” Callaway said. “I am so happy to have had this opportunity. I think I’m going to keep my backstage credentials forever.”