“Mah-vin,” Barbra said in a New York accent. “The name itself just makes me smile. Because I come from Brooklyn where mothers were always hanging out of their windows calling, Mahvin, Mahvin ... so I felt I knew him instantly.
“We first met in 1963 when he was the rehearsal pianist for Funny Girl, and he got coffee for people as well as playing the piano brilliantly. Because I didn't drink coffee, he was assigned to get me a chocolate donut. But instead of just one, he always brought me two. And so our love affair began.
“We shared a passion for music and film and food. Before we even finished one meal we'd be talking about where to go for the next one. Maybe it's a Jewish thing?
“But without explaining why or how, we understood each other's anxieties. We were both kind of hypochondriacs, so we were always having allergy attacks or sinus — ‘Sinus, that's a Jewish thing,’ Marvin said. And I knew, of course, exactly what he meant. And that line became a kind of running joke between us. Let's say we were talking about music, you know? And Marvin would play an arrangement for me. He'd hit a major chord, perhaps, and I'd say wait, wait, wait, could that be a minor chord? And he'd explain to the musicians, ‘Eh, it's all right. It's a Jewish thing.’
“So tonight, musicians, let's do a Jewish thing ....”
[piano intro and humming, “The Way We Were”]
[during the song] Tell me would we?.... [she looked back at the giant projection of Marvin] Of course! Could we?....
After the Hamlisch song, the respectful (and probably weeping) audience did not applaud, and Barbra continued speaking:
“If you believe in the spirit living on, which I hope is true, then maybe Marvin is here, is hearing all this. This is another beautiful song of his with a special lyric for him.”
