CHICAGO CONCERT NOTES
Barbra's November 7th show in Chicago fell on the U.S.’s Election Day, so she altered the songs a bit. For starters, Bush impersonator Steve Bridges had a previous engagement, so Barbra cut the Bush skit from the Nov. 7th concert, and, instead, sang “Woman in the Moon” in its place. She moved “Happy Days” to the end, as her encore. For the November 9th concert, the show returned to its usual form, with Bridges back as Bush. Chicago was the home base of Oprah Winfrey's daytime television show, so she had a big presence at the concerts, as well.
Also, Rosie O'Donnell hosted a tail-gate party on 11/7 for the fans. She was filming a documentary about Barbra's fans, which has never materialized. Many Streisand fans attended the party before the concert and said hello to Rosie.
Finally, putting together Streisand's set list for both nights in Chicago was difficult! In perusing newspaper reviews and fan reviews, I think I got it right. Many thanks to Lance Krystopher, a fan who confirmed there were two encores on 11/9, which helped me to place “Happy Days” in the correct order.
- “I’m a big Democrat — what can I say? I do believe we need a change of direction and I think we’re going to get it,” she told the Tuesday night audience.
- Q&A on 11/7: “What's Oprah like?” Barbra responds, “Wait a second ... You use an 'Ask Barbra' card to ask about Oprah? You go to her show, ya know what I mean?” (laughs). “She's lovely, I love her. We have a lot in common: dieting, eating, dieting ...”
- Q&A on 11/7: Janice asks how Barbra enjoyed staying at Rosie's house in Miami. Barbra laughs because Rosie O'Donnell is in the audience tonight. “I loved it. I had such a great time. It was a home away from home for me ... Our hotel room fell apart at the last minute, there was construction all of a sudden. Rosie was generous enough to let us stay there, so thank you again, publicly.”
- Oprah was [at the 11/9 show] (in the first row) and Barbra spoke to her, “Hey girlfriend” and later introduced “my good friend Oprah” to the crowd. Also when Barbra was singing “Evergreen,” Oprah must have been singing along because Barbra encouraged her with “You sing it girl.” She also singled out Jesse Jackson later as well. (Martin)
- Her [11/9] Q&A was great. Someone asked when she would write her memoirs and she said with that Brooklyn Jewish inflection, “Please, it took me 40 years to write 10 songs, so I don't know when I'll get to it ...but I want to...I'm waiting to see how it all ends.” Another question was “How do you look so good at your age?” and she said, “Well this dress for instance covers a multitude of sins....and I enjoyed every one.” (Martin)
- [On 11/9] She said “This is the first time I have sung the verse to this song on the tour” ...and then she launched into... “So Long sad times.....go ‘long bad times....” and of course that led to a gorgeous version of “Happy Days Are Here Again!” (Martin)
