My evening with Barbra

Worth every penny, I'm happy to say. I largely agree with the New York Times' review of the concert: There were a few misfires throughout the evening, but they in no way detracted from the exhilerating whole.

Barbra's voice hasn't lost much over the years. There's an ever-so-slight rasp to it now, but the songs from "Funny Girl," "Starting Here, Starting Now" and especially "(Have I Stayed) Too Long At The Fair" are as brilliant as ever.

Yes, I could have done without the presence of Il Divo. I suppose there's a base somewhere for four tenors who can sing songs like "Unbreak My Heart," "My Way" and "Unchained Melody" in a variety of romance languages, but I don't happen to be a part of it. Actually, their solo portions in the show weren't too bad, but the four of them were far too overpowering to sing with Barbra on "Somewhere" and "Music of the Night" (her version is about the only version I will listen to of that overdone number nowadays).

The Bush sketch was much ado about nothing. Yes, it dragged a bit and wasn't terribly funny, but -- perhaps because it's been cut down in response to criticism -- it didn't take up too much time. It certainly wasn't overly nasty to Bush. At the end, in fact, Barbra showed a photo of impersonator Steve Bridges with Bush and remarked that she admired his ability to laugh at himself. Outside of that sketch, there was nothing really political about the evening at all. Some people just go to these things waiting to be offended. To put in in perspective, the lady sitting next to me was visiting from Israel and remarked before the show that there are virtually no entertainers in Israel whose political stance is unknown.

Meanwhile, Barbra seems to have addressed the other criticism of the bit, in that some felt it was inappropriate to recreate her legendary duet with Judy Garland using Bridges in Garland's role. Last night, Bridges left the stage and Barbra did "Happy Days Are Here Again" as a solo.

I also wish she had never pointed out the Teleprompter. Fortunately, the one facing me was on only when she was sharing the stage with Il Divo, but it really showed how perfectly scripted the entire show was. Every syllable of the fawning exchange mentioned in the Times' review came up on the screen, which I could read clearly through my binoculars.

My seats were not bad at all. I was on the third level of Madison Square Garden, but not too far off the stage, so I could see the trademark Barbra mannerisms -- the finger run-through of the hair, for instance -- without the binoculars. And I couldn't help but laugh at the poor schmucks not more than 15 feet down from me who paid nearly four times what I did.

I'm usually terrible at spotting celebrities, but through my scan of the floor I was able to find Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rosie O'Donnell, Regis and Joy Philbin, Sondheim and someone whom I'm 90 percent sure was Barry Manilow. There were a lot more there -- Sarah Jessica Parker, Lauren Bacall and Bebe Neuwirth among them -- but if I don't know whom I'm looking for, I'll never find them.

All in all, it was a night I'll never forget, as I know it was probably my last chance to catch one of her shows. I'll definitely be getting the inevitable CD when it came out.

The above photo, I should note, is lovingly stolen from BroadwayWorld's photo coverage of the Monday night concert. Speaking of Broadway, to which Barbra indicated that she has no intention of returning, I was reminded of seeing another legendary Barbra, or Barbara, in concert earlier this year: La Cook. Even though she has a few years on Streisand, Barbara Cook didn't need no stinking Teleprompter. Of course, that also meant that she had to start "Not A Day Goes By" about four times so she could get it right for the recording, but still...