funny girl

Ever since 'Glee' began, there's been a thread running through it that's always reminded me of Barbra Streisand. In last Tuesday's episode, the thread was more like a rope, as four characters did the medley "One Less Bell/A House Is Not A Home," just like Streisand did in the 1971 Burt Bacharach TV special.

Apparently, others have picked up on this connection, too. This review in New York magazine suggested that the 'Glee' should really do a Barbra Streisand episode -- like the Madonna show -- because Barbra is 'the patron saint' of 'Glee' kids.

Whether they do an all-Streisand show or not, the writer made a great point about how the kids in New Directions are more akin to Brooklyn Barbra than almost any other performer. Before she graduated Erasmus Hall High School in 1959, Barbra Streisand was in glee club. (So was Neil Diamond!) But Streisand wasn't the star of Choral Club. The director, Mr. De Pietto, preferred blonde soprano,Trudy Wallace, and gave her all the solos. Streisand was put in the back, in the alto section.

Every year during the holidays, we all enjoy different Christmas movies and evergreen TV specials. One that they don't run often any more but I remember with great fondness is Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Fortunately, it's now available on DVD, and if you think you've seen the best of Charles Dickens' Ebenezer Scrooge but haven't seen this one, I urge you to reserve judgment till you do. Don't laugh! I'm absolutely serious. Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol is a fantastic version of Dickens' short story.

Sure, sure, the animation is nothing to write home about. But the script and those songs are! It was 1962. NBC aired the one-hour cartoon special on December 18. It wasn't just any cartoon either. The idea was that Mr. Magoo was cast in a stage production of A Christmas Carol, so the entire enterprise had a theater angle.

I have to admit that from the first time I saw Glee, I loved Lea Michele. The character of Rachel Berry, that "determined to be a star and I don't care who knows it" attitude appealed to me. I recognized that feeling, too, because I remember watching Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl in the movies and having the same feeling of identification. When Streisand finished singing "I'm the Greatest Star" as Fanny Brice, I was convinced. Well, Lea feels it, too. She's a major Streisand fan and she loved singing a Barbra song on Glee.

Every time Lea Michele has had a chance to go diva -- like "Maybe This Time" and "Defying Gravity" -- she's displayed that Streisandesque musical power.

So when the winter finale had the New Directions show choir at sectionals and Rachel stepped up to sing "Don't Rain on My Parade," I was on the edge of my seat. I wondered if Lea would pull it off. I say that because it's a very hard song to do, everything is on the offbeat and it's a driving melody that requires a big voice and a lot of stamina.

In her Oscar-winning movie Funny Girl, Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice described herself as "a bagel on a plateful of onion rolls." Last night, CBS served up the Barbra bagel in the one-hour TV special Streisand Live 2006. As music specials go it was a delicious serving of all-time great hits like "Somewhere," "Evergreen," "The Way We Were" and "Don't Rain on My Parade." But at just an hour -- probably 48 minutes considering the commercials -- the show just wasn't enough. It was a smidge of Streisand. I wanted the whole thing.

From a marketing point of view, this was probably just what the Streisand camp wanted. On Tuesday, April 28, Sony is releasing a 3-DVD set of Barbra TV concerts, including the full, two-hour-plus version of Streisand Live 2006. So in many ways, the CBS special was an extended preview, an infomercial, a nibble that would make you want to buy the DVD.