Concerts, Inc. in association with The House of Sight and Sound put together a triple-header for the evening of October 5th at the Hollywood Bowl.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet opened the evening of music (they played three songs); Streisand followed with Peter Daniels conducting the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; and, after intermission, Sammy Davis, Jr. closed the show. There were three Masters of Ceremonies that evening introducing the performers, all KMPC radio hosts: Roger Carroll, Dick Whittinghill, and Johnny Grant.
Dave Brubeck recalled that evening and meeting Streisand for the first time. “I had never heard of her,” he said. “Neither had the audience. She was trembling like a leaf backstage before she went on. Then she walked out and killed that crowd. Sammy Davis followed her, and he presented every bit of his showmanship ... But it wasn't easy, after Streisand.”
Barbra told columnist Cecil Smith that she was not frightened of the size of the crowd at the Hollywood Bowl, that “art is universal; the more people you reach the better.”
The Los Angeles Times review of this show stated that Streisand “revealed herself as a dynamic, sensitive (if slightly madcap) individual, transcending the category of a mere vocalist, with the appeal and style of some of vaudeville's great personalities.”
She'd been busy that week. Barbra taped her appearance on The Judy Garland Show the day before the concert. Garland's show was broadcast the day after this concert.
Variety reported: “At $6.50 top, and with 17,450 payees (200 more than there are Bowl seats), gross was $72,650, reports Lou Robin, who promoted event ...”
In 1963, the Bowl still had a reflecting pool in front of the stage between the artist and the audience. For this show, the Los Angeles Times reported that “a runway stretched over the Hollywood Bowl pool” and “across it walked Sammy Davis Jr. and Barbra Streisand...”
The pool isn't there any more, and when Streisand gave a concert at the Bowl in 2012, she remembered the pool from ‘63 and how she was frightened she'd fall in!
