Barbra Streisand wanted to film her latest concert tour. “You put in a lot of time — like three months to prepare a concert, figure out what you are going to sing,” she told the L.A. Times. “It takes me as long as it does to film a movie, so you want to document it for posterity,” she said.
The idea for a Netflix special happened when Barbra mentioned the idea to Ted Sarandos— Netflix's chief content officer — at a dinner party. One benefit Streisand enjoyed with Netflix was creative control of the show. “They're so wonderful to work for because they don't interfere with the artist's work,” Streisand told USA Today. “They never saw it until I handed it in ...it's amazing.”
Streisand was already a fan of the streaming service. “I love things like The Crown. I love that. And the fact is my husband and I are kind of binge-watchers.”
Filming the Netflix show “was a one-time shot,” Barbra explained to Billboard. “Whatever we got we got because it cost a lot of money to do those shows. I have to pay for them before I can sell them ... If I had more time, I might have changed camera angles so I would have had more options.”
Cameras captured Barbra's December 5, 2016 concert at Miami's American Airlines Arena. Documentary cameras followed Barbra to Texas and her other Florida shows in December 2016.
Streisand's two looks in the show were created by Donna Karan and Marchesa. Barbra wore a Donna Karan pantsuit in the first act. She explained to Womens Wear Daily, “The way I work with Donna is I draw what I see. The top, I thought, should have the lace in the shoulders that matches the bottom insert of the pants.”
For the gorgeous, flowing Marchesa dress in the second act, “I redesigned a dress I saw on the runway,” Barbra said. “I know my own body and that's why I know what to show and what to disguise.”
Barbra's longtime Columbia Records A&R man, Jay Landers, told All About Barbra magazine, “Netflix is a great platform because wherever you are in the world, any time of the day or night, if you happen to want to watch this special, you can ... forever. In that way, it's more than just a one-time event ... it's an all-time event!”
Some of the online press for Barbra's Netflix show:
End / The Music ... The Mem'ries ... The Magic Netflix Special 2017
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