Chita Rivera is a living legend. It was just announced that the 85-year-old superstar will be awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement at this June’s ceremony in New York. And no wonder. She originated the roles of “Anita” in West Side Story, “Rose Grant” in Bye Bye Birdie, “Velma Kelly” in Chicago, the “Spider Woman” and “Aurora” in Kiss of the Spider Woman and was most recently on Broadway as “Claire Zachannassian” in The Visit. To date she has two Tony Awards and 8 other Tony nominations. So what do you ask someone who has probably been interviewed more times than just about anyone else in the world?  I wasn’t sure either, so here goes…

In Seth Rudetsky’s Broadway Diary Volume 3, he quotes you as saying about him, “You’ve really got it, don’t you? Every fucking word you say is funny?” What makes him so funny and how does that humor influence the conversations you have with him in these shows?

I can guarantee I did not say the F word. I can guarantee that’s Seth! But it sounds better if you stick that in. I love when it comes back to me and my face twists. He does. He absolutely can’t help himself. He’s so funny and he’s so smart and he’s so interested that I think he’s sometimes more interested in people’s careers than they are. He describes situations and shows and he’s been in many an orchestra pit and he knows what it’s like to hear it and play it. He’s a great musician. I defy anyone to be as funny. He’s so -effing funny. (Yes, she really said -effing instead of dropping the F-bomb.)

In an interview prior to your 54 Below engagement in March, you said you get bored talking about yourself. How does your relationship with Seth make those conversations not boring for you?

Because he does things in an easy and jovial way so that I can enjoy it. When he tells a story or reminds me of something he’s not so serious. It’s a drag when you take yourself really terribly serious. It’s in the past now. I don’t live in the past, but I’m grateful for the past. Seth has a way of spinning things and making them fresh. I enjoy it. He celebrates it.

When I spoke to Seth about his book, I asked him which shows he would like to go back in time to see. He immediately said Funny Girl to see Barbra Streisand and West Side Story to see you as “Anita.”

He’s never said that to me before. That’s wild. That’s a good thing you told me, because I’m going to ask him what’s the thing about Anita. Of course West Side Story itself, the whole doggone piece is extraordinary and still is. It blows my mind that the story in West Side Story is still very…it’s still a serious problem. We even have more problems on top of it with what’s been happening with the ladies and all of that. The prejudices are just blowing my mind. It doesn’t seem as though people really understand what it is when they say they want us all to be equal. You really do have to care for a human being for who they are. That’s called love, affection, understanding. It blows my mind and makes me angry.

This appearance with Seth is tied to the celebrations surrounding the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth. What’s the one thing you think people should know about him that perhaps they overlook?

I think pretty much people appreciate he was an amazing teacher, forgetting about the God-given gift. He was the sweetest and warmest and most loving. This was man who really understood appreciating the difference between people and genders. He treated everybody the same and he had a great sense of humor. To see him conduct, from our point-of-view, the Quintet [in West Side Story] is just to drop dead. He pulled it out of us using his own energy and his own physical body. So much so he fell through the chair. He was pulling and tugging and making sounds and he suddenly disappeared and went right through  the chair. It was pretty funny.

I recently spoke with Tommy Tune with whom you sometimes tour. He quoted you as saying “nobody told me to stop.” Can you imagine yourself not dancing or singing or entertaining?

Oh gosh no. Because it’s a language to me. It’s a way to relate to each other. It’s a way to express myself. It’s just a part of my DNA. I can probably say more in a dance than I can with words. That’s probably stupid to say. If I had the words, I’d have to move my body to express it all. Without music, without dance, I can’t survive. I really can’t imagine it. I say to my audience during “Sweet Happy Life,” I tell them to move their body any way you want and let it go. Then I say to them, “How does it feel when your spirit says hello to your body.” When it does it turns to dance.

In Part 2 we continue our conversation with the legendary Chita Rivera and show some rare rehearsal footage from the original production of Chicago. To see part two of this interview, please go here.

Photo Credit: Laura Marie Duncan

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Our top choice of the best of what’s New In Music This Week: October 27^th is:  

JAZZ:  THE NUTCRACKER SUITE – Chineke! Orchestra

The Chineke! Orchestra is comprised of Black and ethnically diverse classical musicians in the UK and Europe. What better ensemble to take on this suite of Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet music re-arranged by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn?

Jeff Tzyik has created a new adaption for orchestra of this wonderful score. There’s only a bit more than 17 minutes of music, but your toes will be tapping and your fingers will be snapping all the way through.

Here are my other selections for New In Music This Week: October 27^th:

CLASSICAL:  BRUCKNER SYMPHONIES 0-9 – WAGNER: ORCHESTRAL MUSIC – Gewandhausorch/Andris Nelson – Deutsche Grammophon

Austrian composer Anton Bruckner idolized Richard Wagner when he first discovered the German composer’s music in his late thirties. To get an up close at how one composer inspired the other, this 12-and-a-half hour collection provides ample insight.

Latvian conductor Nelson recorded these 49 tracks with this orchestra from Leipzig with whom Nelson has conducted and recorded the complete Bruckner symphonies. They are highly-regarded recordings and you get them all here.

Serving as companion pieces for Bruckner’s symphonies are such works as the Overtures from Der fliegende Holländer; Tannhäser and preludes from Lohengrin; Parsifal and Tristan und Isolde. 

CLASSICAL: INSECTS & MACHINES – Jasper String Quartet – Sono Luminous

If you want to get a good snapshot of composer Vivian Fung’s chamber music, this excellent recording by the Jasper String Quartet will reveal exactly how talented Fung is.

There are four string quartets on this album: String Quartet No. 1 was composed in 2003 and premiere in early 2004. The second string quartet was commissioned by Shanghai Quartet and was composed and premiere in 2009. String Quartet No. 3 was commissioned by the Banff Centre and the Canadian Broadcasting Company (Fung is from Canada). The work premiere in 2014. The last work, which gives this album its title, was composed in 2019 and had its world premiere in a performance by the American String Quartet. 

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL:  SLEEP: TRANQUILITY BASE – Max Richter – Vinyl Only Release – Deutsche Grammophon

Last March on World Sleep Day, Deutsche Grammophon released a thirty-minute EP of music by Max Richter. But only those who listened on CD or digitally could get new music that serves as a companion to his eight-hour Sleep could get the music.

With this vinyl release now everyone can get both some beautiful and relaxing music, but maybe even a little more sleep. Though you will have to stay awake long enough to flip the record over!

CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL:  PURNIMA – Rakhi Singh – Cantaloupe Music

Violinist Singh’s first solo recording is mightily impressive. She has recorded music composed by composers Michael Gordon; Alex Groves; Emily Hall and Julia Wolfe. Singh also composed music for Purnima entitled Sabkha.

Gordon is a member of Bang On a Can and Cantaloupe Music is their imprint.

The title is the Sanskrit word for full moon. Purnima is a beautiful album with fascinating, challenging and rewarding music throughout.

JAZZ:  THE CATS – Kenny Burrell, John Coltrane, Tommy Flanagan, Idrees Sulieman  – Vinyl Reissue – Craft Recordings

Guitarist Kenny Burrell, saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Tommy Flanagan and trumpeter Idrees Sulieman recorded this hard bop album in 1957, but it wasn’t released until late 1959.  With the exception of the Gershwin’s How Long Has This Been Going On? The songs are all Flanagan compositions.

Also contributing to the recording are Louis Hayes on drums and Doug Watkins on bass.

Billboard Magazine said of the album upon its original release, “It’s a swinging, driving album featuring some hard bop, smooth bop and pretty jazz as well.  No doubt this vinyl re-issue will bring out all these qualities.

JAZZ:  BREMEN/LAUSANNE – Keith Jarrett – Vinyl Release – ECM

On November 1, 1973, Keith Jarrett’s concerts from March and July of that year at the Kleiner Sendessal in Bremen, Germany and Salle de Spectacles D’Epalinges inLausanne, Switzerland were released. These were solo concerts and they began a long and richly satisfying series of solo recordings throughout Jarrett’s career.

This vinyl release (a must for all Jarrett fans) contains 3 records and includes just over 2 hours of music.

JAZZ:  A JOYFUL HOLIDAY – Samara Joy – Verve Records

I must be getting soft. This is the second album of holiday music I’ve included (so far) on New In Music This Week. But who can deny the joy, pun intended, of hearing this year’s Grammy Award-winner for Best New Artist sing some classic Christmas songs (including The Christmas Song) and a couple of songs I hadn’t heard before.

While she’s joined by several musicians and guest vocalists on A Joyful Holiday, keep an ear out for the stunning piano work by Sullivan Fortner (often seen and heard performing with Cécile McLorin Salvant).

MUSICALS: YENTL – 40^th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION – Barbra Streisand – Columbia Records

Say what you will about the Golden Globe Awards, they recognized a women director far earlier than the Academy Awards. Not only did Streisand win Best Director, but her film, a longtime passion project, was named Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical.

The Oscars did acknowledge the work of lyricists Alan and Marilyn Bergman and composer Michel Legrand by awarding them the Oscar for Best Music, Original Song Score and its Adaption or Best Adaption Score.

That work is celebrated on this 40^th anniversary edition. The originally released tracks are all here along with demos, alternate versions and remixes of the songs  and more. All in there is one and three-quarters hours of music. Of particular fascination is the version of Where Is It Written? With Streisand joined by Rabbinical Choir.

VOCALS: EVERGREENS: CELEBRATING SIX DECADES – Barbra Streisand – Columbia Records

Streisand has been recording for Columbia Records for over six decades and she celebrates that anniversary with 22 songs she selected that best represent the musical journey she’s taken with the label.

Amongst the 22 songs Streisand chose are showtunes like Bewitched (Bothered and Bewildered); Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man; I’ll Tell the Man in the Street; Some Enchanted Evening; Tomorrow and Where or When.

This is not a greatest hits compilation. Though it does include a new mix of her Oscar-winning song Evergreenfrom A Star Is Born.

Here ends New In Music This Week: October 27th.

Enjoy the music! Enjoy your weekend.

Main Photo: Part of the album cover for Chineke! Orchestra’s The Nutcracker Suite

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Joining these shows are Patti Austin, B.J. The Chicago Kid, Jennifer Hudson, Angélique Kidjo, Alfredo Rodriguez, Sheléa and more with special surprise guests rumored to be joining each night.

The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra will be lead by conductor Jules Buckley.

In this interview Siedah tells multiple stories about Quincy Jones, her interactions with Michael Jackson (she co-wrote The Man in the Mirror and sang a duet on I Just Can’t Stop Loving You both from the album Bad), meeting great artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Barbra Streisand and Sarah Vaughan and so many more at dinners at Jones’ house. She was also invited to a more personal and intimate celebration for Quincy Jones on his 90th birthday and reveals a little about what that night in March of this year was like.

I hope you enjoy this interview as much as Siedah and I did.

For tickets and more information on these two shows, please go here.

To see more interviews with artists and creators in the performing arts, be sure to visit our YouTube channel.

Photo: Siedah Garrett from Cultural Attaché‘s interview.

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Barbra Streisand’s shoes are impossible to fill. Yet the expectation was that any actress who took on this part would be required to do just that. From that perspective alone this is a losing proposition. Streisand is a once-in-a-generation artist and the musical was tailored to her particular talents. No one before or after will ever be Streisand. But somehow we expect anyone playing this part to be as good as she was.

While some might argue that casting is of paramount importance in the success of any show, I’d offer that even more credit, in this case, has to go to Feldstein for agreeing to be the first person to face the collective firing squad of theater queens, social media and critics.

The success or failure of any first revival has fallen on her shoulders. Not on any other cast member and not on director Michael Mayer. I would have to believe that Feldstein knew the eyes of the musical-loving world were focused like laser beams on her every move. How many of us would make such a brave decision? In a world where playing it safe has become far too commonplace, Feldstein did just the opposite.

Her doing so will also make it easier for anyone – literally anyone – to do the show. Even her replacement once Feldstein leaves the show in September. Someone had to be first. Beanie Feldstein chose to be that person.

Rumors have it that Lea Michele will be taking over the part when Feldstein leaves. If she does she will owe her predecessor an enormous amount of gratitude and respect. She who goes second will have a much easier path.

Simply put, without Feldstein’s nerve it might have been even longer before there was a revival of Funny Girl. I’m willing to bet there will never be as long a time between Broadway productions of this musical.

I have seen Funny Girl and while I found some of it very satisfying, it didn’t fully succeed for me for a multitude of reasons. What I did leave feeling was a profound amount of respect for Feldstein for singing she’s the greatest star knowing how many people were going to rain on her parade.

Photo: Beanie Feldstein in Funny Girl (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

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The show, which official opens on Sunday, April 24th at the August Wilson Theatre in New York, tells the story of Fanny Brice, her time as a member of the Ziegfeld Follies and her passionate and troubled romance with Nick Arnstein. Beanie Feldstein plays Brice with Ramon Karimloo as Arnstein. Michael Mayer (Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Spring Awakening) directs. Harvey Fierstein has revised Isobel Lennart’s book. The show features the songs People, Don’t Rain on My Parade and Who Taught Her Everything – all written by Jule Style and Bob Merrill.

For trivia buffs, Funny Girl is opening on Barbra Streisand’s 80th birthday. She, of course, originated the role of Brice on stage and won an Academy Award for her performance in the film version.

In January I spoke with Lynch who was planning a small tour with Kate Flannery that was postponed due to the pandemic. During part of our time we talked about Funny Girl and what follows are excerpts from that conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

Obviously, Beanie Feldstein has big shoes to fill, but I don’t think we should forget that Kay Medford played your part both onstage and in the film. What are you looking forward to most about this revival and what challenges are you going to face as an actor in bringing your own take on Mrs. Brice?

I’m never going to be Kay Medford, so I never think about things like that. When we were talking about doing this I watched the movie again. One of the first movies I ever saw in my life was Funny Girl and I loved it. I’ve been singing that score since I was a little girl. So I watched the movie again and she was brilliant. I mean, first of all, Barbra Streisand was like a revelation. And Kay Medford was just wonderful and grounded and funny and kind of put upon. And I think that’s definitely something that’s going to affect my performance.

I totally get that point of view. She’s a tough broad who created this business all on her own without a man. In those days that was a hard thing to do. So she’s independent and she loves her kid and she’d do anything to protect her. I just love that. I think it’s great and I think Kay Medford played it with such aplomb. And she’s Irish too, by the way. She’s a hundred percent Irish playing a Jewish mother. 

When I see a show has a revised book I wonder what’s going to be revised. I felt that way before I saw the new version of West Side Story and then I saw it and actually thought it was better than the original film. Do you feel that people who are fans of Funny Girl are still going to find the same material they loved?

Absolutely. In fact, as I was watching the movie, and this is before I had read the new book, I thought it was just going on a little too long. And if I were doing this book I’d condense this part and jump from that part to this part and forget this part. And I think Harvey Fierstein was reading my mind. 

Or you were a silent collaborator, who knew? 

Yes. Yeah, yeah. (she laughs)

Have you heard the Supremes album Sing and Perform the Songs of Funny Girl?

No. Really?

You have to. It is endlessly fascinating. But what it made me think about is how universal the songs and the story of Funny Girl really are. What do you think there is about Fanny Brice’s story and the way it’s told in this musical that it can be performed by the biggest all-female group of all time and still work? 

I think it’s about wanting something so bad and knowing that you’ve got something in you, but the world doesn’t know yet. And damn it, you’re not going to stop until the world knows it.

That was that was one of the things that impressed me so much about that movie. Seeing it after so many years was, boy, she was not to be discouraged. She was not to be denied. I mean, even with Florence Ziegfeld, she’s “Excuse me, Mr. Ziegfeld, Mr. Ziegfeld. Hello!” Nobody talks to him like that. “I can’t do that song because I’m not beautiful.” And he says, “You will do that song.” Then she defied him and did it as a pregnant woman and made a joke out of it. I mean the way Barbra Streisand played that.

I think that’s probably the truth about Barbra Streisand, too. She was not going to be denied. To look at her you might go she’s not a standard size that fits the standard dress*. She’s got a nose with deviation*, as my character says. The Supremes and Diana Ross being African-American women in that very patriarchal society that Motown was, I can understand why they would relate to those songs.

What does returning to the stage after everything we’ve gone through in the past two years mean to you?

I’m most alive on stage. I’m my happiest. You don’t realize how much you miss something until you’re back. Then you get back on stage with these people doing these songs and you go, Oh my God. We say it after every show. This is the best gig in the world. And I think if we’re having such a great time, I know that the audience is there with us and it would be nothing without them, either. They’re a big part of what makes it so joyful.

*A reference to one of the lyrics in If a Girl Isn’t Pretty from Funny Girl

Photo: Jared Grimes and Jane Lynch in Funny Girl (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

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Before I go too far, I’m keenly aware that I was one of Stephen Sondheim thousands of friends. There are certainly people who knew him better and more intimately. I was just surprised, humbled and thrilled that I could call this giant of musical theater Steve.

Since first discovering Sondheim and his music, I was familiar with his passion for puzzles and games. It made sense, at least to me, that he would therefore enjoy going to The Magic Castle. I was a member at the time, so I sent him a letter inviting him to join me coinciding with his making some appearances on the West Coast.

Mr. Sondheim’s response came via e-mail. “My time really isn’t my own,” he said of this upcoming trip. He did say that on another trip he’d love to revisit the club having only been once previously as Carl Ballantine’s guest. (Ballantine was a world-class magician, but many know him from his role as Lester Gruber on McHale’s Navy.)

It was unfortunate that he wouldn’t be available, but I held in my hand a golden ticket to future conversations: Stephen Sondheim’s e-mail.

As another event came up in early 2008, I reached out to Sondheim. He accepted my invitation and plans were made to go on Friday, January 13th. Joining us for lunch (on the only day when lunch is served there) would be Frank Rich, then of the New York Times, his wife, Alex Witchel and possibly Steve’s then-partner (now husband), Jeff Romley.

Jeff did not join us. In his place was playwright John Logan who would go on to win a Tony Award for his play, Red. He also adapted the Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler musical Sweeney Todd for film.

Mr. Sondheim immediately insisted I call him Steve when we met face-to-face. I couldn’t believe I was sitting across the table from the man who had written so many musicals I had loved. The three hours flew by quickly before Steve told me that had another appointment to get to at Barbra’s house.

I remained in contact with Steve. He invited me to his home on three occasions for wine and conversation. The first visit lasted over two hours. It was there that he asked me how I became familiar with his work.

As I usually do when asked about my passion for musical theater I responded by telling him it started when I saw A Chorus Line. Before I could finish the story he joked, “One of my best shows.” I told him that my aunt taking me to that musical opened up the world of musical theatre for me. But it was seeing Sweeney Todd in Los Angeles with Angela Lansbury and George Hearn that felt like finding religion.

He couldn’t have been more generous with his time on each of these occasions. He told me whenever I wanted to see one of his shows that all I had to do was reach out to him and he would make sure I could purchase house seats.

For over thirteen years I would send Steve a note here or there and he would respond. Like so many who have commented since his passing, I was so excited whenever there was a letter from Steve in the mail.

The last note I got from him was earlier this year. I had sent him a letter thanking him for his kindness and generosity over the years and to wish him a happy 91st birthday.

I concluded the letter by saying:

“It is my hope that when the world finally rights itself and we are able to travel and see people freely, that we will have the chance to see each other face-to-face. Not knowing when that will be, I wanted to make sure you know how grateful I am.”

In typical Sondheim fashion, I got a polite and to-the-point response from him. What stood out to me was, “As always.”

Last Friday was tough. I imagined, perhaps fantasized, that we would have one more conversation in person. Another glass of wine to be shared. Another letter in the mail.

Through his work and by virtue of who he was, Stephen Sondheim was “the god-damnd’est thing that has happened to me.”

Thank you my friend. The music and the memories will last me through the rest of my days.

Photo: Christian Witkin for The Wall Street Journal (Courtesy WSJ)

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How many people get reviews like this? In 1981, Frank Rich of the New York Times called her performance, “one of the most powerful theatrical coups to be found in a Broadway musical since Ethel Merman sang ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’ at the end of Act I of Gypsy.” 40 years later Jesse Green in the same paper said the best moment of the 2021 Tony Awards was her performance of the same song Rich raved about. So it goes for Tony Award-winner Jennifer Holliday (Dreamgirls) who will be performing on Saturday at The Wallis in Beverly Hills. (She’ll probably be booking a lot more dates after the overwhelming acclaim she received after the Tony Awards.)

If you’ve never seen her perform And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going (which I was lucky enough to see her perform twice at the Shubert Theatre in Century City), take a look here.

Four days before she made mincemeat of the roof of the Winter Garden Theater, Holliday and I spoke by phone. She was in New York for Tony rehearsals. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity.

When you when you first started out, could you imagine having a career that would go over 40 years? And what does it mean to you that you have. 

No, I couldn’t have imagined it. I really was not trying to be in show business. That was not my goal. I discovered singing in the church choir. My first show was Your Arms Too Short to Box with God because I was just doing that for a little while and then I’d come back home. But I went up to audition when Michael Bennett saw me for Dreamgirls. I was like, oh, OK. Unfortunately I never did get to college. So that’s that’s the only drawback. 

During rehearsals for Dreamgirls, director Michael Bennett gave you videos of Barbra Streisand performing to watch. How much of what you learned during that production has stayed with you and remains part of how you perform today?

A great deal of it. First of all, I taught myself how to hold my notes long like she did. Because I don’t have a trained voice and I don’t think she does either. I would be so curious, like, how is she holding that note so long? [Streisand] was the first. I had never seen anybody like her. I never knew who she was. And so a lot of that just stayed with me.

And then I incorporated it. And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going that was not a part of the original kind of feeling of it. And in fact, everybody wanted me to take it out, especially David Geffen with the record company. [He] said “Why you got to hold that note so long. You’ll never get any radio play with that. Nobody’s going to listen to that if it’s soft like that in the middle, you know?” And I was like, well, I don’t know. But Michael Bennett agreed with me, said, “Well, we’re not really talking about records right now. She likes it and I like it.“

Thank God I still have the lilt in my voice and the belt. Even though I don’t sing as high as I used to sing, I still get pretty good pretty much up there.

Other actors who worked with Michael Bennett have talked about how cruel he could be. (See how his collaborator, the late Bob Avian, talked about that cruelty here.) What was your experience and how do you look back on that time with him?

I actually had a different experience with Michael Bennett. I’ll be honest with you. This is the part that I haven’t really discussed at all. The only thing I felt that he was cruel towards me is that he inserted himself as a Svengali. So him being a gay man and me being a young woman kind of made me foolishly believe that he actually loved me. And I thought that was cruel because that was not ever going to be anything like that, but I really was young. I didn’t know, you know what I’m saying? So that’s the only thing. I didn’t see that then and boy did I care back then. 

You did a television interview that I saw from 1981 and you were asked where do you get the pain that you put into your singing voice as it relates to And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going. And you said it was the experience of being on the road and leaving home at eighteen. Forty years later you still maintain that pain in every performance I’ve ever seen. What’s the source of that pain today?

I think that I have suffered greatly with depression, clinical depression, pretty much my entire adult life. And so I think that there is balancing that is there. And, you know, still the loneliness, even after all of these years, you know, of being on the road and traveling and doing all these things. And so to me, it’s still there. So I think that’s kind of in my voice. What I usually try to do now is balance my concerns now with something that speaks of joy and that I can still think of love and all that does, that kind of thing and not be concerned about it.

What I’ve learned now, which I didn’t know, is that there is no time limit or cut off time for growth. You can still grow and mature and change and become the person you want to be and just keep learning.

That growth was apparent in a 2013 interview you did with NPR. You told them your perspective on life was “Don’t try to figure out the ending of the movie. Stay to see it. Don’t don’t try to figure out how to play it because it takes different twists and turns.”

It really does. And especially with show business, it’s so up and down. It’s really a hard business. And sometimes, you know, you just kind of go, “I want to give up, I want to do whatever.” Because you just feel like you’re not making anything in this. So that’s that kind of thing. You got to just stay for the whole movie. It’s a slow movie, but, you’ve got to stay. 

At what at what point did you come to the realization that that was the best way to deal with both the highs and the lows of doing what you do? 

Unfortunately, late in life. Finally I felt like I had found a way to cope with my heartaches and setbacks and disappointments. This is a rough business and people make so many promises that just never come, you know? So you waste a lot of time with a lot of people sometimes who just say they’re going to do things for you. They probably have good intentions, but some things just don’t manifest.

And so when I was turning 50 and I was like, OK, I’m not really anywhere right now and I don’t really know what’s going to become of my career or anything. And I said, but for the first time, I’m not going to be trying to call around and see what’s going to happen or make anything happen. I’m just going to feel this. Things could turn around. That’s when I really felt that I had learned a lot about my own self. I was beginning to learn how to love my own self.

I knew that I had preserved my instrument, my voice…if I could just hold on. A lot of times in show business it is later in life that you get your just reward, you know? And I just ask God. I said, if I could just live long enough to get that third act. So to me, I feel like I’m on the verge of my third act, especially here coming full circle with returning to the Tony Awards to do my number. To feel Effie, Michael Bennett and all of the people. I feel like I’ll they’ll all be with me Sunday, you know? OK, this is going to be your third act and what will be a new beginning. 

For tickets to see Jennifer Holliday at The Wallis in Beverly Hills, please go here.

All photographs of Jennifer Holliday courtesy Jennifer Holliday and The Wallis

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As you can imagine, Broadway has been hit hard by the pandemic with shows closed for months and likely to remain so until next summer at the earliest. So how did this show come to be? The host, Tiny Fey, certainly had a lot to do with it.

Not only has she starred in two hit shows for NBC (Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock), she is also the writer of the book for the musical, Mean Girls, based on the 2004 film she wrote and starred in along with Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. The musical was still running when Broadway was shut down.

Amongst the musicals being represented in One Night Only are Ain’t Too Proud–The Life and Times of The Temptations, Chicago, Jagged Little Pill, Diana: The Musical, Jersey Boys, Mean Girls and Rent.

Diana: The Musical has yet to open on Broadway. Rent hasn’t been on Broadway since 2008. Jersey Boys is off-Broadway after concluding its Broadway run. The latter two shows remain amongst the most popular shows of all-time.

Cast members from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will also appear.

Joining Fey in the two-hour broadcast are Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George), Antonio Banderas (A Chorus Line in Spain), Lance Bass (Hairspray), Kristen Bell (The Crucible), Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge, Jesse Tyler Ferguson (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), Sutton Foster (Anything Goes), Peter Gallagher (On the Twentieth Century), Josh Groban (Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812), Jake Gyllenhaal (Sunday in the Park with George), Sean Hayes (Promises, Promises), Ron Cephas Jones (Of Mice and Men), Patti LaBelle, Nathan Lane (The Producers), Camryn Manheim (Spring Awakening), Rob McClure (Mrs. Doubtfire), Alanis Morissette (Jagged Little Pill), Jerry O’Connell (A Soldier’s Play), Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Mary-Louise Parker (The Sound Inside), Billy Porter (Kinky Boots), John Stamos (Bye Bye Birdie), Barbra Streisand (Funny Girl), Aaron Tveit (Moulin Rouge – The Musical), Blair Underwood (A Soldier’s Play), Vanessa Williams (Into the Woods) and Susan Kelechi Watson (A Naked Girl on the Appian Way).

The show will raise funds for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

One Night Only: The Best of Broadway airs at 8:00 PM local times.

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It would be easy to assume that with so lengthy a career as Streisand has had that Brinberg would have a pat show. But as he told me last year, he keeps up with her Twitter account and if something gets posted right as he’s about to go on stage that he will include it in that night’s show.

In other words, Simply Barbra is a constantly evolving show. If you’ve seen Brinberg do this show before, you are likely to get new material if you see him again. Of course, as he said, “I’ll always sing the standards.”

Simply Barbra takes its name, I’m assuming here, from Streisand’s 1967 album Simply Streisand. That album featured such songs as More Than You Know, Lover Man and My Funny Valentine.

Just as there are countless Judy Garland impressionists, there are many people who perform as Streisand. But Brinberg is the gold standard amongst them all. It isn’t just that he can sing very well. It’s that his passion towards her, her career and her material means that each performance comes from his heart.

For tickets go here.

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Brinberg still hasn’t met Streisand, but he still celebrates her with his show Simply Barbra. His uncanny ability to sound like her has earned rave reviews from all over the world.

This week Brinberg will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Hello, Dolly! (the movie, not the Broadway musical) with an appearance on Wednesday at Martinis Above Fourth in San Diego. On Thursday he will celebrate the life and career of Hamlisch with a show at Catalina Jazz Club featuring Kay Cole (an original cast member in A Chorus Line), jackbenny, Alan Bergman (who along with his with, Marilyn, wrote the lyrics for The Way We Were) and many others.

When I spoke by phone with Brinberg he was in London for some shows. In these excerpts from our conversation, we talk about Hello, Dolly!, his time working with Hamlisch and, of course, Barbra herself.

The film version of Hello, Dolly! is considered by many to be a disaster amongst film versions of popular musicals. Is that fair or is there more to the film than people realize?

There definitely is. It has improved with time. What people once thought was elephantine and overblown, now it looks like the last MGM musical – even though it was made  at Fox. I think it’s better now looking at it.

[Streisand] was young, yes, but she didn’t look 26. When you put  that heavy hair and make-up on a woman for that period, she looks 36. Just like Funny Lady. She was in her 30s, but she looks 50. She’s funny and the singing is really good. No one who has done it on stage has ever sounded like that.

How much does the success of the Broadway revival and its subsequent tour give us a new lens through which to view the film?

I think you can see the improvements in the film over the show. In the film Dolly literally tells Barnaby and Cornelius to go to that shop and meet those girls. In the musical that doesn’t happen. It’s by chance. The first number in the movie, “Just Leave Everything to Me,” is so much better than “I Put My Hand In.”

All the years you have been performing as Streisand, how has your relationship to her and her career evolved?

I started doing the show just before she announced she was coming back doing concerts after all these years. Her career has fed my career ever since. Whatever happens in her life enters my show. It’s quite different than doing a show about Judy Garland or someone whose life is over. I could literally be about to go on stage and someone shows me a Tweet and it goes right into the show. Last year was the 50th anniversary of Funny Girl. Next year is the 50th anniversary of On a Clear Day. I’ll always sing the standards, but with this Dolly show I have almost every song in the movie except “Elegance.” I do “Hello, Dolly!” as Barbra and Louis Armstrong. It’s a strain on my voice, but it’s fun.

Marvin Hamlisch was her music director for many years. You did a tribute for his birthday in New York earlier this year. Now you are bringing a celebration of him to Los Angeles. What made his musical relationship with Streisand unique?

Marvin and Barbra had a strong relationship going back to Funny Girl. Every decade they came back together again. In the 70s it was The  Way We Were. He wrote more stuff for her and he conducted her tours. 

I traveled with him for 11 years and I was a surprise guest. He would start The Way We Were and I’d be in the wings. This is my way of honoring him and his wide range of music from A Chorus Line to The Way We Were to other Broadway shows. He’s kind of under appreciated, even though he won every award. I think he’d be thrilled we’re doing this.

What part of Hamlisch’s career excites you the most?

I think the fact that he had two careers: one as a film composer and another as a Broadway composer. He did both simultaneously. He was a personality on Match Game and The Hollywood Squares. He was really funny.

He was such a down-to-earth person. There was a concert outdoors in Pasadena. There weren’t tons of dressing rooms and I had to get dressed as Barbra. He said “you can use my trailer.” I was in there and he says, “There’s something wrong with my tie.” And here I was, dressed like Barbra with the nails and all, and I’m fixing his tie.”

You did an interview in 1999 with the Associated Press where you said you hadn’t met Streisand. But you thought, “it might happen soon. I think she’ll really like me.” In 2015  you said “I came really close to meeting her recently.” Is meeting Streisand the holy grail? Is it a good thing to meet your idol?

She did send us a letter we’re going to read [at the Hamlisch concert.] More than meeting her, I would love to sing with her or for her. That would include meeting her I would assume. That’s how I met Marvin. He was on her second tour.  He said, “She has a bit in the show where she says ‘sometimes, I wish there were two of me.’ They loved the idea [of Brinberg being a second Streisand in the concert tour.] But it was a week before the tour started and there just wasn’t time.

When she turned 50, she hired Jim Bailey [another artist who performed as Streisand.] I think she told everyone at the party, “I’m going to change and sing.” And she sent him out. Maybe when Barbra Streisand turns to 80, I can sing for her. I have had vision of her saying to me, “I love how you did this song, but if you would hold your finger back a little bit longer, you’ll get this response.”

For tickets to the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Hello, Dolly! at Martinis Above Fourth go here.

For tickets to the Marvin Hamlisch Celebration at Catalina Jazz Club go here.

Main photo: Simply Barbra on stage/Courtesy of Steven Brinberg
Marvin Hamlisch photo courtesy of MarvinHamlisch.com

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