|
| performances page | home | news | television | films | recordings | magazine archives | streisand links | about this site | support this site |
The Caucus Club Les Gruber, a restaurateur in Detroit, Michigan, recalled, "Back in early 1961, Irwin Arthur, a New York agent called me. He said, 'I’ve just heard a girl at an amateur show at Bon Soir and I think she'd be good for you.' I have a lot of faith in Arthur's taste. He knew what we were looking for in youngsters to work the Caucus Club. Everyone he sent me was what he said." Ross Chapman, publicist for The Caucus Club, remembered the near fiasco of hiring Streisand: "We told her she had four spots to do at the Caucus and she'd need at least 11 numbers. I asked how she was going to learn seven or eight numbers by nine that night—her first show. She looked me right in the eye and said, 'I'm a fast learner.' Matt [Michaels, pianist] rehearsed her until eight, when he had to go to work. He got her up to 10 songs. By the time she left Detroit, she knew 80 songs." Barbra added "Soon It's Gonna Rain" from the Broadway musical The Fantasticks to her repertoire. Barbra said the eleven audience members at her March 2nd opening night performance were more interested in drinking and talking to each other than listening to her. A week later she complained to Barry Dennen (still back in New York) that pianist Matt Michaels was too overpowering and wouldn't stick to her Bon Soir arrangements. Barbra got her first taste of life on the road outside the comfort zone of New York. Related Article: Detroit Magazine 1966 >> |
During her Caucus Club gig, Barbra flew to New York to appear on the Jack Paar Show (hosted by Orson Bean). On air, she thanked her Detroit friends Bernie and Dick for clothing her. |
 |
|
 |
It was while Streisand was working at The Caucus Club in Detroit that she finally connected with Marty Erlichman. He told Vanity Fair in 1991: "She was playing some club in Detroit and was only making $150 a week. She wanted $200 a week plus dinners. Her agent wasn’t helping her out, so she remembered I wanted to represent her. She called and told me her problem. 'But I can’t pay you any commission,' she warned me. I got on the first plane to Detroit and worked out a deal. The owners— a pair of brothers—only offered her $175 and no dinners. I told them behind her back I’d pay them the twenty-five-dollar difference if they’d throw in the dinners, which is what happened. The brothers said to me, 'Let us get this straight. You flew here at your own expense so you could pay us twenty-five dollars and you’re not even her manager? You must really believe this girl is going to be a star.' I sure as hell did." |
| Variety Review by Fred Tew:
Barbara Streisand has natural talent as a singer-performer ... Her voice is strong and of good pitch; her mannerisms and facial expressions uninhibited and unusual. She opens with 'Lorelie', adding plenty of body action to capture interest, following with 'A Sleepin Bee' and 'When The Sun Comes Out'. Vocally, her best number is 'Cry Me A River' which brings her back with an encore of 'Lover, Come Back To Me.' Miss Streisand lacks polish, which will come with experience and direction, which she needs to reach her potential. She impresses as a youngster who will succeed in intimate spots and, perhaps, musical comedy later on." |
From Here to Paar Show [Excerpt from Detroit newspaper] Detroiters who have heard young Barbra Streisand at The Caucus Club have been wondering how long it would take her to land on television. Not long at all; she'll be on Jack Paar's NBC show tomorrow night. An actress with a few off-Broadway credits, she was turned down for a role in the national company of "Sound of Music," but was urged to begin a singing career. That was just four months ago. With only a fair voice but an unusually good style that puts a song over, she drew fine reviews in her New York appearances ... |
 |
copyright © 2003-2007 Matt Howe |
May not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
www.barbra-archives.com
