Product Description

The five spectacular DVDs contained in this boxed set speak volumes about vision and integrity, fearless instinct, and a passion for discovery. If you think you remember these specials from watching them when they first aired, you'll be astonished how time has only enhanced their vitality. The five DVDs are: My Name is Barbra, Color Me Barbra, and Belle of 14th Street, Barbra Streisand: Happening in Central Park, and Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27984 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-22
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 5
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD, Original recording remastered, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French
• Number of discs: 5
• Running time: 278 minutes

Amazon.com
A feast for Barbra Streisand fans, The Television Specials collects five one-hour programs she recorded between 1965 and 1973 when she was known simply as a recording artist and Broadway star rather than a film director, reclusive performer, and political activist. The first is My Name Is Barbra (April 14, 1965), shot shortly after she played in Funny Girl. Shot in black and white, it's a little different from the other variety shows of the day (e.g., The Judy Garland Show) in that there's no parade of guest stars or dancing girls. That's a good thing, as those are the numbers that get dated very quickly . Instead, we have all Barbra, even if she's more comfortable singing than doing comedy monologues. The show winds its way through an Alice in Wonderland sequence which ends in a plain but magnificent rendition of "People," then has Streisand in a store's fur department. Last is a simple concert setting that includes a Funny Girl medley with "Don't Rain on My Parade" and "The Music that Makes Me Dance." The closing concert segment would become a staple, and the peak, of all her shows.

Color Me Barbra followed on March 30, 1966 and is, naturally, filmed in color. The first sequence was shot at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with Streisand wandering among the masterworks and antiquities, even singing "Where or When" dressed as Nefertiti. Next she's among a circus of animals, singing "Try to remember" to the elephant or poking fun at herself by telling the anteater "We have so much in common." Again, the final act is her just singing at a mike, with "Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home" and "It Had to Be You." Making its home-video debut, The Belle of 14th Street (October 11, 1967) is something of an oddity. It's styled like a vaudeville show, with period costumes (including the audience) and old-time numbers. Jason Robards (singing and dancing!), John Bubbles, and others guest-star. Streisand plays a modest stripper for "Alice Blue Gown," plays an operatic diva for "Liebestraum," then does double duty as a boy (pre-Yentl) in the audience invited to sing a duet of "Mother Macree" with the on-stage Streisand. The last segment is Streisand singing (accompanied on stage by David Shire before he wrote shows on Broadway with Richard Maltby) such songs as "My Melancholy Baby," "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows," and a medley that includes "My Buddy" and "How About Me?"

The highlight of the collection, A Happening in Central Park (September 15, 1968) is refreshingly free of gimmicks and concepts. It's just Streisand with an orchestra in front of a live New York audience. "The Nearness of You," "Cry Me a River," "I Can See It," "Second Hand Rose" (the audience enjoys singing along)," "People," and "Happy Days Are Here Again." Barbra Streisand... and Other Musical Instruments (November 2, 1973) returns to the concept-show format. Streisand takes her place among the symphony orchestra members sporting her own instrument: her voice. One medley groups a number of favorite songs but in "international" settings, such as "People" accompanied by sitar and "Don't Rain on My Parade" by bagpipe band, and Streisand changes costumes to match. Ray Charles is on hand for four songs in the second set, then Streisand returns to the orchestra to sing such songs as "On a Clear Day" and "The Sweetest Sounds."

Picture quality is good, and sound is presented in original mono, 2.0 stereo, and 5.1 surround. The only bonus features are three introductions Streisand filmed for the 1987 home-video releases, but the set is beautifully packaged with a detailed booklet of liner notes, photos, and song lists. The five 50+-minute programs are ungenerously spread over five discs, however. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

Happy Days Are Here Again
I received a preview copy of the discs this weekend for my Streisand fan site barbra-archives [dot] com. Streisand fans, I believe, will be completely happy with this 5-DVD set of Barbra's first television specials.

The packaging of the set is first-rate. After taking the top off the box, you will find a 5-panel DigiPak that unfolds and holds the 5 DVDs. The packaging is gorgeous down to the details: when you remove a DVD from the DigiPak, a Streisand "timeline" is revealed behind it. For instance, if you remove the "Central Park" disc, behind it is a black circle listing some events that happened in Barbra's career in 1968.

There are rare photos sprinkled throught the box set: on the DigiPak itself, and also in the handsome, detailed booklet that comes with the set. The booklet, in hues of burgundy and black, is art deco in design. Streisand herself is credited with "Art Direction" on the set. The liner notes by Jay Landers and Richard Jay-Alexander are thorough and revealing. Fans will pick up some new details from their notes -- for instance, that's Streisand's old friend Cis Corman in a cameo during BELLE OF 14th STREET!

As for the specials themselves, obvious care has been taken premiering them on DVD for the first time. Every disc has a creative menu design. My favorite is the MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS menu, with a music stand serving as the song selection menu. Viewers can choose from three audio options on all the specials: The original mono mix; a 2-channel stereo mix; or a 5.1 mix. The video quality is the best, for sure. Note that some of these specials are close to 40 years old. The restorers have spent time cleaning up the specials. Some of the videotape editing glitches that were viewable on the original 1987 VHS releases are gone (especially in COLOR ME BARBRA). Also, Rhino Home Video has included Streisand's original 1987 introductions to MY NAME, COLOR ME, and CENTRAL PARK. In the introductions, Streisand shares brief memories of creating the specials.

MY NAME IS BARBRA has a very special treat for Streisand fans: An alternate performance of "Lover Come Back to Me" has been inserted in the Act Three concert segment. It is quite a surprise to see! The original VHS release featured a version in which Barbra and the orchestra seemed to be competing in tempo. Streisand looked visibly frustrated at the end of the song. On the Rhino DVD release, that version has been replaced with another (a dress rehearsal? a different take?) in which Streisand is in full control of the song, playful, and fabulous. Accordingly, her introduction to the FUNNY GIRL medley that follows has some different wording, then the rest of the show is as it has always been.

CENTRAL PARK, unfortunately, does not include any of the unaired footage (it was a 2-hour concert). However, the sound mix on this DVD is wonderful. And it has an animated DVD menu with shooting stars.

It is fantastic to finally have BELLE OF 14TH STREET on DVD. Many of us Streisand fans have watched horrible bootleg dubs of this show for years. BELLE was never rebroadcast, and has never been commercially available on home video. So, to see it restored in this box set is very welcome. The show has a bad reputation of being Streisand's first television failure. That's an unfair assessment. BELLE is charming, has a wry sense of humor (I love "The Mongers", the Shakespeare couple who perform an 11-minute version of "The Tempest". Barbra has a BIG WIG and a hilarious Southern accent. ) Plus, BELLE has some great period songs sung as only Streisand can. "Everybody Loves My Baby" is superlative!

Finally, BARBRA STREISAND & OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS is the other special never commercially available before this set was released. Taped in 1973, MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS has above par production values: Streisand looks fabulous in it with her long hair and empire-waisted gowns. Beautiful lighting and videography are on display throughout the entire special. There's some funky stuff on this show, including the whole middle section where Barbra performs amidst computers. The Ray Charles guest spot is pure talent congealed! His performance of "Look What They've Done to My Song" is classic, with Streisand watching a genius at work. Barbra wraps the show up with "The Sweetest Sounds" and looks absolutely gorgeous while singing it.

The Variety Show went out of style years ago. But even when Streisand was creating her first television specials, she dared to do them differently and succeeded. By watching these specials, which span the years of 1965-1973, you'll see how Barbra's unique talent spread itself over the television airwaves, just as she conquered the recording and film industries. She is a truly talented lady, and "Happy Days Are Here Again" with the STREISAND TELEVISION SPECIALS from Rhino Home Video.

Wow! Just in time for the 2005 Holiday season, the perfect gift for Streisand fans!
For those who didn't get a chance to see her early performances, ones in which she showed her tradmark combination of bravado and style, along with a glorious voice, this is a very special treat.

I'm old enough to remember seeing the televised Central Park performance and knew immediately that she was something special, with a certain delivery that was hers alone. There were other specials since then and, of course, she went on to act in movies and on Broadway.

But these first specials stand apart from the rest,showcasing a young Streisand who appears, at times, to be nearly as amazed as her fans at her performances, which truly seem to pour directly from her soul, unedited, unrevised.

She is friendly, accessable and just awkward enough to be totally irresistable. None of the famous "diva" reputation seems to be showing here. She appears to be enjoying every moment in front of her fans and she hasn't become used to celebrity yet. The novelty of it all shows on that beautiful face, a face which is truly testimony to how so many imperfect parts can add up to one glorious whole.

The specials themsevles would be reason enough to buy this set but there are some added features which make it even more attractive, including rare photos, detailed liner notes and little known trivia. From My Name is Barbra to a Concert in Central Park to the rarely seen Belle of 14th Street, this is a must for Barbra's many fans!

The single best moment in the history of TV entertainment
I know this is pure hyperbole even from an admitted Streisand super-fan, but I believe Streisand's live performance of "Why Did I Choose You?" from the concert segment of the first special ("My Name is Barbra") is the single best moment in TV history (at least what I've seen, and I'm 52). I have tried to understand my feelings for this particular number (it's not even a song that I like much), but the whole ambience of this number is essential Streisand (or God) and wholly magnificent. She has just finished a physically intense version of "Cry Me a River", then turns her back to the audience and retreats into the darkness where a stool waits. Remember, this is live, in front of a small, studio audience, and she was still a little out of breath from the previous song. She sits on the stool, a leg and hip slighly askew, her foot in black high heels slightly touching the floor and gently revolving the stool, regal and elegant in black, and starts the verse ("Why did I choose you, what did I see in you?"). She in in complete control, yet she pauses at the end of this first phrase, and catches her breath. Will she be able to continue? Will she crack? I don't know why, but the moment is electrifying. She looks down, recollects her energy, then continues the rest of the song without hesitation. Slowly the camera works its way from above to focus only on her face . . . a strikingly bright, beautiful face against an absolutely black background. I kept thinking, this girl is knocking them dead at the Winter Garden every night in "Funny Girl", and she is in great shape, both physically and vocally. She looked like an athlete, a gymnast in some sort of high-tech, black costume (it was really just a long, form-fitting black gown with a small, sparkly pin at the waist). There is not a mistake in this performance. Her face literally occupies the entire screen for the last half of the song as she builds in emotional intensity. This is black & white TV, but it looks filmed by one of the great cinematographers, Haskell Wexler, Then, on the ultimate, climactic, operatic high note, her hand comes into the picture and becomes part of her voice, the long, white nails and fingers become an extension of the notes. She brings the song down to quietness, turns her face in profile for a moment, then back to the camera, with a slight smile. Exquisite. Unbelievable. Art!