Columbia Records recorded Barbra Streisand's first musical performance in her native Brooklyn since she departed at age 16 to pursue her acting career and became one of the most popular and famous musical performers of her time. Throughout the concert, October 11th and 13th in 2012 at Brooklyn's Barclays Center, Barbra reflected upon her years growing up in Brooklyn, and even sang two songs with special Brooklyn-tailored lyrics.
Act One opens with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” which Barbra turns into an homage to “the Brooklyn docks, the nova lox” and other fond memories of the sights and sounds of her youth. When she triumphantly sings, “I’ve come home at last,” the audience rises from their seats with a thunderous welcome back ovation.
ACT Two pays tribute to the people and places in Brooklyn today, with a re-written lyric to Cole Porter’s “You’re The Top”: “You’re the top, you’re a Brooklyn trolley…you’re the top you’re a hot bialy!”
The concert CD, billed as Back to Brooklyn, came with a 16-page full color insert with photos and liner notes by Jay Landers.
Among the many highlights of the evening was the first time ever pairing of Barbra and her son Jason Gould singing Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is The Ocean,” which had the audience in awe.
Barbra also shared the stage for three songs with the extraordinary trumpet player, Chris Botti. Botti added his instrumental sophistication to a medley of “What’ll I Do” and “My Funny Valentine.” Then he weaved in and around Barbra’s vocals on two of her own compositions from the soundtrack to “A Star Is Born”—“Lost Inside Of You” and the Academy Award-winning “Evergreen (Love Theme from “A Star Is Born)."
The young Italian singing quartet, Il Volo, accompanied Barbra on a moving version of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile.” For the entire concert, Barbra was surrounded by a 60-member strong orchestra comprised of New York’s finest musicians, conducted by the renowned composer and arranger, William Ross.
Columbia sold a Deluxe edition of this album which contained the music CD, plus a DVD of the television special. The DVD contained two standout bonus features—Jason Gould’s solo performance of the classic Leon Russell song, “This Masquerade,” and a documentary entitled “I Remember Barbra,” featuring interviews and anecdotes with people who either knew or remembered Barbra as she was growing up in Brooklyn.
Barbra Streisand: Back to Brooklyn aired on Great Performances on Friday, November 29, 2013 at 9 p.m. as part of the PBS Arts Fall Festival. Directed for television by Scott Lochmus, the program was produced by Lochmus and Eileen Bernstein, with Barbra Streisand and Marty Erlichman as executive producers. The concert performance was directed by Barbra Streisand and Richard Jay-Alexander, and written by Barbra Streisand, Jay Landers, Richard Jay-Alexander and Jeffrey Richman.
