|
|
|
The Second Barbra Reunion |
New York City |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
April 12-14, 1996
The second Barbra reunion was held
in New York City and we
called it "A Happening Too...The Second Barbra Reunion." Our
guest speakers included a multiple Grammy Award winner and a Tony Award
nominee, each of whom shared with us their personal experiences of working with
Barbra Streisand.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday Evening
Our
second reunion was held at the Doral Inn in New York City. We
called it "A Happening Too...The Second Barbra Reunion" and I was
happy to have been a member of the committee this time around.
The weekend began with a
fun-filled meet and greet that was accompanied by a
buffet in the hotel's main ballroom. Giant sized portraits of
Barbra Streisand adorned the walls as fans from far and wide got reacquainted.
We knew we had
something really special on our hands when attendance at the second
reunion exceeded 200. This time around, fans from Asia, Europe and South America decided to join us for the festivities. This was truly going
to be a global event and we knew we had to deliver a world-class reunion.
It was time to
hear from our keynote presenter.
Being the only committee member to reside in New York, my primary
responsibility to the reunion was the all important (and daunting) task of
tracking down, and then getting our celebrity guests to commit to an
appearance. I felt
obligated to find not only interesting guests, but people who had actually
worked with Barbra in both her music and film careers.
 I contacted Mike
Berniker, a VP at Columbia Records who produced Barbra's first
three studio albums and the single, "People." Mike, along with
Columbia Records, won the Best Album Grammy for "The Barbra Streisand
Album" in 1963. When I asked Mike about speaking, he couldn't have
been more delighted or enthusiastic.
Mike
showed up promptly at 7:30 and kicked things off (photo, right),
amazed at the number of people gathered to hear his remarks.
His 40 minute presentation was candid and engaging as he provided us
with an amazingly vivid account on what things were like with Barbra
in the recording studio back in the early 60s.
|
Mike Berniker Speaks |
I was twenty-four and she
was all of nineteen when we started working. I couldn't
believe the strength and profundity of her voice. I could
not believe that this wasn't terrifically important to
record.
When it was all done ... I
was asked, "What do we call this?" I said, " 'The Barbra
Streisand Album', of course." Fifteen bureaucrats stood up and
said, "That's ridiculous. No one knows who she is. How could
you call it 'The Barbra Streisand Album?' " I said,
"Precisely." It comes from her chutzpah and mine. She was so
strong and so perfect on that record that the title befitted
the whole idea. It was a thrill for me to be able to enhance
her talent.
She never came
into a session wondering what she was going to do. She came in
prepared and it was up to everybody connected with the project
to understand what that preparation meant and to join hands
and get it done. And that discipline helped me become the
producer I became after her."
Read more about Mike
Berniker
|
Following the speech, Mike fielded a number of questions from
the audience, many of which were quite sophisticated. He later
told me how impressed he was by the level of Streisand-related
knowledge present in the room. This was a unique opportunity
to learn about Barbra's early years at Columbia from
the man who guided her into the realm of recorded music, and
the audience did not waste this once in a lifetime
opportunity to glean as much information from Mike as possible. In
retrospect, not only was it an honor to have Mike with us, but a real
privilege to hear from the man directly responsible for
initiating Barbra Streisand's solo recording career.
After a short break, the reunion attendees reconvened for a
bit of entertainment. The group was
treated to a private, return engagement by renowned Streisand
impersonator, Steven Brinberg. He reprised his show, called "Simply
Barbra," and brought the room to a fevered Streisand pitch.
Brinberg was the perfect way to cap off the first night of
what was sure to be a stellar weekend.
|
Saturday
Morning
 Saturday
morning brought more excitement with actor Austin Pendleton
scheduled to start the day (photo right). When I contacted Austin a few
weeks earlier about participating, he too was delighted to
appear. Pendleton, best remembered as Mr. Larrabee from the
Streisand comedy, "What's Up, Doc?" seemed the perfect
candidate to talk about his time working with Barbra on one of
her classic films.
Imagine my surprise when, during my first
phone call with him, Austin informed me that he had just completed
filming scenes with Barbra on her as-yet unreleased film, "The
Mirror Has Two Faces." This was big news at the time as no one
even knew that he was cast in the picture. Suddenly, Austin
Pendleton's participation with us was not only going to be a
delightful trip down memory lane, but an exclusive and
privileged first hand report direct from Barbra's current
movie set. How lucky we were to have him.
Austin is not only a performer, but a stage director as well
(in 1981 he directed Elizabeth Taylor in the Broadway play,
"The Little Foxes" and received a Tony nomination as Best
Director). He shared with us a delightful story of how
Barbra cast his friend, Kate Nelligan
in "The Prince of Tides" after seeing her perform in
a play he directed.
Austin's presentation had two dimensions to it. First,
as a director, he discussed the technical aspects of
filmmaking and had lots of marvelous insight to share about Peter Bogdanovich
and how he directed Barbra in "What's Up, Doc?".
From his perspective as an actor, Austin also shared
some candid moments of what it was like to work in front of the camera in his
many scenes with
Barbra.
|
Austin Pendleton Speaks |
On "What's Up, Doc?"
We would all sit around between shots on the set and just talk
intensely abut all kinds of things. Barbra was always part of that
group. She would not retire to her trailer. There was no feeling among
us that she was "The Star".
On Peter Bogdanovich
On the set, every day on "What's Up, Doc?"
we talked about "The Last Picture Show." Every time you would go to a
party, people would ask what you were doing, and I'd say I was in
'What's Up, Doc?'. They'd say, "Oh, the new Peter Bogdanovich film."
They would not say "The Streisand film." He had this tremendous power
and clout on the set of "What's Up, Doc?".
On "The Mirror Has Two Faces"
We would be playing the scene on the phone. We would
say our lines back and forth, and without missing a beat, Barbra would
say, "I don't know, Austin. I don't think it's right." This was on the
phone, and I would think we were still in the scene.
Delightfully, Austin
stayed with us for quite some time that morning. During
the Q&A, he fielded numerous questions about "Mirror" -
offering a steady stream of first hand glimpses into the latest
Streisand film that none of us had yet seen. He also took time
to meet personally with each and every one of the reunion
attendees, shaking hands, posing for pictures and signing autographs.
As Austin's character in
"What's Up, Doc?" might say, he was a delight.
|
Saturday
Afternoon
Following
a luncheon, fans chose from a number of scheduled activities.
Of course, there was the Barbra sightseeing tour, an organized
bus ride around Manhattan that visited many
important locations associated with our hometown star. The
three hour tour took fans past the Bon Soir, The Winter
Garden, Madison Square Garden, and of course the Plaza hotel,
where Barbra and Robert Redford created a magical movie moment
in "The Way We Were."
Some might have elected to stay behind at the hotel where
several additional programs were offered. A trade show was
held in one of the ballrooms. There were also video rooms
where you could watch rare Streisand television footage
and movie outtakes. An innovative workshop called "Collecting
Barbra" offered the inside scoop on how best to collect Streisand memorabilia. In yet another room,
William Ruhlmann, noted author of the hardcover book "Barbra
Streisand" held a book signing and an informative lecture titled "Barbra
Streisand - A Career in Music."
Saturday
Evening
After an exciting day of lectures and tours, it was time for
the reunion attendees to let their hair down just a bit more.
A formal banquet was provided, followed by an "interactive"
screening of the film, "Funny Lady." With a cue from "The
Rocky Horror Picture Show," our own screening of "Funny Lady"
involved an assortment of props and invited spontaneous
commentary and outbursts from the audience. It was a fun
evening and everyone had a ball camping it up with one of THE
campiest of all Streisand films.
Sunday
Morning
As our weekend began to wind down, fans were treated to an
"Oscar Brunch" - a 27th anniversary celebration of Barbra's
Academy Award win for "Funny Girl." Streisand biographer Rafe
Chase offered one final presentation called
"Genesis of a Star: Barbra's Beginnings."
And finally, this being April, we couldn't end our weekend
without a special acknowledgement. To mark Barbra's 54th
birthday, a giant cake was brought into the room. And as
everyone said their goodbyes, the Reunion committee ran a
special video inviting everyone back for "Barbra - The Third
Reunion" to be held the following year in Los Angeles. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
