APLA Commitment To Life VI 1992

Streisand / LIVE 

APLA Commitment To Life VI (1992)

Universal Amphitheater
Los Angeles, CA

November 18, 1992
Bernie Taupin, APLA CEO Leonard Bloom, Barry Diller, APLA chair Steve Tisch, and Streisand and David Geffen.

AIDS Project Los Angeles Presents


Commitment to Life VI


Host: Shirley MacLaine


Act I: “The Rehearsal”


Lyle Lovett

Aaron Neville

Kenny Loggins

Johnny Mathis

Patti Audtin

Billy Joel

Clint Black

Liza Minnelli

Elton John


Intermission


Act II: Presentation of Commitment to Life Award, honoree: David Geffen


“West Side Story”: The Songs


  • “Jet Song” — Billy Joel, Eddie Van Halen
  • “Something's Coming” — Patti Austin
  • “Tonight” — Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins
  • “Gee, Office Krupke!” — Russ Tamblyn, David Loeffler, E.Y.C., Trey Parker, E.Y.C., Damon Butler, E.Y.C.
  • “Maria” — Lyle Lovett, Branford Marsalis, Aaron Neville
  • “America” — Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Sheila E
  • “I Feel Pretty” — Elton John
  • “A Boy Like That/Medley” — Liza Minnelli
  • “One Hand, One Heart/I Have A Love” — Barbra Streisand, Johnny Mathis


Presentation of Commitment to Life Award, honoree: Barbra Streisand


  • “Somewhere” — Barbra Streisand


Musical Director/Pianist for Ms. Streisand : David Foster

“One Hand, One Heart/I Have A Love” — Arranged by David Foster

“Somewhere” — Arranged by David Foster and Randy Kerber

David Geffen and Barbra Streisand were presented the “Commitment To Life” award by AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA) at the Universal Amphitheater. Geffen was honored for the time and dollars he donated to several AIDS organizations; Streisand was recognized for the work of her Streisand Foundation – active fundraising for AIDS organizations as well as legal protection for civil liberties. APLA chairman David Wexler stated, “Barbra Streisand has continually shown energy, leadership and compassion in battling discrimination and disease throughout her life.

This ceremony and concert, held on November 18th, was attended by some 6,500 people who paid from $50 to $1000 for tickets. The event raised four million dollars to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles.

David Geffen, the founder of Geffen Records and a film producer (Little Shop of Horrors) surprised the audience when he accepted his award and said, “As a gay man, I’ve come a long way to be here tonight.” In 1992, it was not often that powerful men in show business “came out” publicly. 

Before Geffen accepted his award, Shirley MacLaine introduced the singing artists first, who appeared on stage in a loose acoustic set that the program titled “The Rehearsal.”

This segment was conceived by Bernie Taupin and staged by Vincent Paterson. How did Taupin manage to corral so many top-notch stars for one evening? “Basically, I just got on the phone and called favors on people. And everybody was extraordinary about it. I mean, I didn't have to fight.” Country artist Clint Black performed “Put Yourself in My Shoes” and Liza Minnelli dazzled with a dramatic song about transsexuality (“What Makes a Man a Man”).

For the second half of the evening, an all-star cast performed songs from the Leonard Bernstein musical West Side Story. “You see, the thing is everybody loves West Side Story,” Taupin explained, “and contemporary performers love to have the chance to sing other people’s songs, especially if they're good ones. That was one of the drawing points of getting the talent.”

Barbra Streisand stopped the show when she stepped out onto the stage for her West Side Story duet. As the sound of bells chimed, she simply walked out into her spotlight and the audience gave her a standing ovation. Johnny Mathis joined her, entering stage left, and they both sat on stools on opposite sides of the stage.

David Geffen and Streisand at the APLA event.

David Foster began the piano introduction of “I Have A Love” and an audience member yelled out to Streisand. “I love you, too,” she responded.


Johnny Mathis sang the opening verse, and when Streisand came in on “I love him…” the entire audience let out a collective sigh.


The song was staged so that Mathis and Streisand slowly walked toward each other, hands outstretched during “One Hand, One Heart.” They finished the song, side by side and Mathis gave Barbra a big hug when they finished.


It must be stressed that Streisand had not concertized for the general public since the 1970s, and that was in Las Vegas only. Although Barbra sang for several political benefits since then, those were not easy tickets to come by. When this APLA concert was announced and it was confirmed Barbra would sing, many fans snatched up those tickets as fast as possible.


Barbra and Johnny Mathis had just recorded their duet for Barbra’s Back to Broadway album, which wouldn’t be released for seven more months.


Next, introduced by Warren Beatty, Barbra accepted the Commitment to Life Award. Standing at the podium Barbra gave an impassioned speech to the audience.


“A disease that has infected far more heterosexuals than homosexuals throughout the world was dismissed as a gay disease with that official homophobic wink, implying that those deaths didn’t really matter,” Streisand said. “I will never forgive my fellow actor Ronald Reagan for the genocidal denial of the illness’ existence, for his refusal to even utter the word AIDS for seven years, and for blocking adequate funding for research and education which could have saved hundreds of thousands of lives.”


Barbra even touched on Colorado, “where voters rescinded any protections for gays in employment or housing [note: Amendment 2]. And there are plenty of us who love the mountains and rivers of that truly beautiful state,” said Streisand. “But we must now say clearly that the moral climate there is no longer acceptable. And if we are asked to, we must refuse to play where they discriminate.”


Streisand made headlines after that statement. Amendment 2 caused great debate in Colorado, and boycotts were soon implemented by The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - Los Angeles (GLAAD-LA) and Coloradans and Californians for Fairness in the Nation (COFFIN).


To finish the evening, Streisand sang a beautiful version of West Side Story ’s big song, “Somewhere.”


It was a triumphant night for Barbra, who lent her voice (via speech and song) to a very good cause.

Two pages from the program for Commitment to Life VI
Here are two videos from the APLA Commitment to Life concert.  Above: Mathis and Streisand duet .... Below: Some entertainment news reports on the event.

Streisand vs. Amendment 2 and “South Park”

Picture of animated Mech-Streisand from South Park.
It’s an unflattering caricature of Barbra Streisand that appears in the 1998 episode of the animated comedy show, South Park. Titled “Mecha-Streisand,” the episode features a cartoon Streisand who turns into a huge mechanical monster that destroys the town.

In the DVD commentary for the episode, Matt Stone and Trey Parker (the co-creators of the show), admitted “we just hated her.” They explained that the reason they went after her was because of Streisand's boycott of Amendment 2 —which, they added “wasn't anti-gay, but it was what a lot of gay activists saw as anti-gay.” They added, “She thinks that because she's Barbra Streisand people should listen to her opinions on politics.”

The truth that history and hindsight has revealed is that Amendment 2 was anti-gay, no matter how the South Park guys want to spin it. The Amendment was funded by conservative Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz via the ultra-conservative and Christian organization Colorado for Family Values. 

Ultimately, the Colorado state supreme court ruled that Amendment 2 infringed on the fundamental right of gays to participate equally in the political process. And the United States Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that Amendment 2 was unconstitutional. Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “It identifies persons by a single trait and then denies them protection across the board. The resulting disqualification of a class of persons from the right to seek specific protection from the law is unprecedented in our jurisprudence.”

Stone and Parker may have reviled Barbra Streisand on one of their shows, but they also were on the wrong side of history and fundamental American rights.
Sources Used On This Page:
  • “Commitment to Life Concert review” by Tony Gieske. The Hollywood Reporter, November 20, 1992.
  • “Hollywood Hubbub: Back Gay Rights or Party in Aspen?” by Bernard Weinraub. The New York Times.
  • “Stars to Come Out for AIDS Benefit Glittery Show at Universal Expected to Raise More Than $2 Million” by David J. Fox. Los Angeles Times, November 17, 1992.
  • “The Gospel According to Barbra.” Frontiers magazine, December 4, 1992.

End / APLA Commitment to Life Concert 1992 / MORE LIVE 1990S

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