Hello, Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisa Part 60

[>] David Merrick was one of those: I have based my description of Merrick on an interview with Arthur Laurents, as well as Kissel, David Merrick: The Abominable Showman and Merrick's NYT obituary by Frank Rich, April 27, 2000.

[>] "didn't sing unless she was paid": I have based my account of Streisand's impromptu performance of "Moon River," her eviction from her apartment, and Don Softness's influence on her public persona on a personal interview with Softness, as well as his unpublished ma.n.u.script, "My Life with Barbra," used courtesy Softness. Quotes used in this section come from both sources.

"You can't see them": Hartford Courant, June 24, 1962.

[>] "The uphill grind": This was printed in various newspaper television listings, including the Elyria (Ohio) Chronicle-Telegram, December 21, 1961.

"as a young performer aspiring": www.barbra-archives.com.

8. Winter 1962

[>] stepped into the Fifty-fourth Street Theatre: Rehearsals were held here according to Whitney Bolton's syndicated column, as in the c.u.mberland Evening Times, February 14, 1962. Other descriptions of the rehearsal come from an undated, unsourced newspaper article, circa 1965, David Merrick file, NYPL.

"a young f.a.gin," "funny looking": Life, May 22, 1964.

[>] "A limited amount": Laurents, Mainly on Directing.

[>] "I hear you're gonna": Riese, Her Name Is Barbra.

[>] "very bad neighborhoods": PM East, October 1961, as recorded on the DVD Just for the Record.

"a loner": Time, April 10, 1964.

"like a little kid": Life, May 22, 1964.

she didn't inhale: Streisand said she didn't inhale on Let's Talk to Lucy, October 7, 1964.

Barbra was also scheduled: In Alive at the Village Vanguard, Gordon implied she was responsible for Streisand's getting hired for PM East, stating that it was her suggestion to Wallace, at the time of the January 2 show, that he bring "this young singer" on the show that secured Streisand a running gig. But Streisand had already been appearing on PM East for several months by the time Gordon appeared on the show.

[>] "You're involved in this": The anecdote comes from Gordon, Alive at the Village Vanguard.

[>] "just another piece of furniture": Holiday, November 1963.

[>] "Too many twitches": Laurents, Original Story By.

"she was different": Laurents, Original Story By.

"on blueprinting exactly how": Unsourced article, July 26, 1962, www.barbra-archives.com.

But when she argued: Accounts that portray Streisand as openly defiant or contemptuous of the director, writers, or producers of Wholesale are inaccurate, Laurents insisted. She did not ignore direction. She had "her own mind," but she was not belligerent. Such tales come from a later image of Streisand being projected back to her early days and are quite simply wrong.

"low threshold": Laurents, Original Story By.

[>] "ungrateful," "arrogant": Interview with Arthur Laurents.

"got something out of it": www.barbra-archives.com.

"too special for records": Laurents, Original Story By.

"I want to be a straight": Hartford Courant, June 24, 1962.

It took ch.o.r.eographer Herbert Ross: Streisand has insisted that it was her idea to sing the song in the chair all along. "They wouldn't let me do it," she said in an interview with TV Guide, January 2229, 2000. "But the number wasn't working, so before opening night they finally said-the director said-'do it in your G.o.dd.a.m.n chair.'" Arthur Laurents said it was true that she had auditioned that way, but there had been no suggestion, from her or from him, to do the number similarly until Herbert Ross conceived of it as a way "to give the song some structure."

[>] "fascinated," "to be protected": Time, April 10, 1964.

a full-scale s...o...b..ll fight: Gould described the s...o...b..ll fight in Time, April 10, 1964. Streisand also described the s...o...b..ll fight in Life, May 22, 1964. She conflated this event with another date she had with Gould, when they saw the film Mothra, describing both events as occurring on the same night. But Mothra did not show in New York until that summer.

Barbra was a combination of ... "most innocent thing": Life, May 22, 1964.

[>] "a throwback" to Louis Kind: Vanity Fair, November 1994.

Barbra's "weirdness," he realized: Gould said, "She always thought of herself as an ugly duckling, and made herself up to be weird as a defense." Time, April 10, 1964.

"Like out of a movie": Time, April 10, 1964.

[>] "Just thirty years": Philadelphia Inquirer, February 12, 1962.

[>] "from Brooklyn and brought up": The Rosie O'Donnell Show interview.

[>] tastes tended more toward musicals: Philadelphia Weekly Press, August 26, 2009.

"range and versatility": Philadelphia Inquirer, February 13, 1962.

[>] "brings down the house": Philadelphia Inquirer, February 13, 1962. Arthur Laurents, in the September 1991 issue of Vanity Fair, contended that out-of-town audiences didn't "get" Streisand as Miss Marmelstein. This review, as well as other contemporary accounts, would seem to dispute that view. Although some accounts have said that Merrick persisted in wanting to fire her all the way to New York, this seems highly unlikely given that she was often the only cast member singled out for such unqualified praise.

"She stops the show": Philadelphia Inquirer, February 18, 1962.

"registered considerable enthusiasm": Dorothy Kilgallen's syndicated column, as in The News Tribune (Fort Pierce, Florida), February 21, 1962.

"as large and melancholy": Playboy, November 1970.

[>] "G.o.dfathering the romance": Laurents, Original Story By.

"most of [his] life": San Francisco Chronicle, October 26, 1987.

"psychic power": Playgirl, May 1975.

"trip on anything": Time, September 7, 1970.

"communicate in a world": Interview with Elliott Gould at www.aish.com.