Barbra Streisand’s triumphant shows in home town Brooklyn at the new Barclays Center will be chronicled on the November 25 release Back to Brooklyn.
The album will be packaged as a CD/DVD combo and as a single CD. A unique and compelling attraction of Back To Brooklyn is that the CD and CD/DVD combo features nine never previously performed songs by the star in concert.
The DVD provides biographical video and still photo images of the artist’s childhood and early career. The evening marked her 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, Barbra reflects upon her years growing up in Brooklyn, and to mark the occasion, she commissioned special lyrics for two songs:
ACT I opens with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s As If We Never Said Goodbye, which she 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 II 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!”
In her own words, the evening is also about “the songs that I love, written by people who I love.” Through their words and music, she pays tribute to her friends Alan & Marilyn Bergman (Nice ‘n’ Easy / That Face / The Way He Makes Me Feel), Jule Styne (Gypsy / Funny Girl) and Leonard Bernstein (Make Our Garden Grow / Somewhere). She pays loving tribute to her friend Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away as she was preparing for the concert. Her sentimental rendition of The Way We Were featuring Hamlisch’s original movie score arrangement is heart-aching and life-affirming.
Among the many highlights of the evening, the first time ever pairing of Barbra and her son Jason Gould singing Irving Berlin’s How Deep Is The Ocean, had the audience in awe. Few could have imagined that Gould, an accomplished actor in his own right, also possessed his mother’s way with a song. Blended in harmony, their two voices combined are simply magic. Barbra also shares a special birthday video Jason made for her, which features his highly moving solo version of Nat King Cole’s Nature Boy.
Barbra also shares the stage for three songs with the extraordinary trumpet player, Chris Botti. Botti adds his instrumental sophistication to a medley of What’ll I Do and My Funny Valentine. Then he weaves 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, accompanies Barbra on a moving version of Charlie Chaplin’s Smile. For the entire concert, Barbra is surrounded by a 60-member strong orchestra comprised of New York’s finest musicians, conducted by the renowned composer and arranger, William Ross.
The DVD contains 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.
Track List:
DVD
Back to Brooklyn
As If We Never Said Goodbye
I Remember Brooklyn (Dialogue)
Nice ‘n’ Easy / That Face
The Way He Makes Me Feel
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Didn’t We
Smile (w/ Il Volo)
Q & A
Sam, You Made The Pants Too Long
No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)
The Way We Were / Through The Eyes Of Love
Being Good Isn’t Good Enough
Rose’s Turn / Some People / Don’t Rain On My Parade
I Remember Barbra
You’re The Top
What’ll I Do / My Funny Valentine (w/ Chris Botti)
Lost Inside Of You (w/ Chris Botti)
Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) (w/ Chris Botti)
Nature Boy (Birthday video performed by Jason Gould)
How Deep Is The Ocean (Duet w/ Jason Gould)
People
Here’s To Life
Make Our Garden Grow / Somewhere
Some Other Time
Happy Days Are Here Again
Bonus Material
This Masquerade (Performed by Jason Gould)
I Remember Barbra Documentary Film
CD
I Remember Barbra #1
As If We Never Said Goodbye
Nice ‘n’ Easy / That Face
The Way He Makes Me Feel
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered
Didn’t We
Marvin Hamlisch intro
The Way We Were / Through The Eyes Of Love
Jule Styne intro
Being Good Isn’t Good Enough
Rose’s Turn / Some People / Don’t Rain On My Parade
I Remember Barbra #2
You’re The Top
What’ll I Do / My Funny Valentine (w/ Chris Botti)
Lost Inside Of You (w/ Chris Botti)
Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born) (w/ Chris Botti)
Jason Gould intro
How Deep Is The Ocean (Duet w/ Jason Gould)
People
Here’s To Life intro
Here’s To Life
Make Our Garden Grow
Some Other Time intro
Some Other Time
Read more at VVN Music
