Act II
Liebestraum (Barbra as German Diva Madame Schmausen-Schmidt)
Mother Machree (Barbra, via editing, duets as the German Diva and a small boy)
Scenes from Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST

Act III (Concert Segment)
My Melancholy Baby
Everybody Loves My Baby
I'm Always Chasing Rainbows
My Buddy / How About Me?
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Some of These Days
Put Your Arms Around Me Honey (Animated end credits sequence)

Barbra's third television special for CBS and her sponsor, Monsanto, got off to a rocky start.

In February 1966, shortly after finishing up Color Me Barbra, Streisand and husband Elliott Gould took a second honeymoon in Paris. The trip was financed by her television corporate sponsor, Chemstrand. Barbra told the press, "I'm here to purchase the wardrobe for my next TV special. Cost is no object because my sponsor is picking up the tab." At that point the theme of her third TV show would be fashion, and Paris offered many couture choices.

Barbra was seen at a Dior fashion show wearing not the designer's clothes, but a jaguar suit and hat she had designed herself.

In all, it is said Barbra chose nine Dior outfits at a cost of $150,000. However, her third television special was postponed.

In March '66, Barbra flew to London to appear at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Funny Girl. Shortly after beginning her run in London, Barbra announced her pregnancy. Not only did that cause her concert tour to be abbreviated, but Barbra's television special was postponed as well. Barbra told the BBC in July 1966: "I also can't do my third television show, which I was supposed to do here [London]."

Returning to the States, Barbra performed four concert dates, then retired to enjoy the rest of her pregnancy and give birth to her son, Jason, in December.

The speed picked up on production in March 1967.

By now, though, Barbra was under the gun. She was due in Hollywood in May to begin shooting the Funny Girl film. And CBS and Chemstrand wanted a new special by the end of the year. That left Barbra with a short window of time — March and April, 1967.

By now, the format and theme of the television show had changed, too. Instead of centering on fashion, Barbra's next special would include guest stars and be situated in a 1900's Vaudeville theater. Entitled The Belle of 14th Street, the special would allow Barbra to play several different characters but not have to shoulder the burden of carrying another one-woman show. Barbra's creative collaborators did meticulous research on Vaudeville — "We even called George Burns in Hollywood and Jack Pearl," said Barbra's manager, Marty Erlichman.

This time Broadway actor Jason Robards would co-star. Vaudeville veteran John Bubbles was given a solo number, too. And Lee Allen, who played Eddie in Funny Girl on the stage (and would reprise the role in the film) joined the 14th Street cast.

Belle was taped at CBS's Studio #41 at 57th Street in New York. A beautiful art nouveau theater was built inside the studio, designed by set whiz Tom John. For scenes in which the Gay Nineties audience is watching the performance on stage, the extras were also costumed in period clothes. The extras were comprised of Monsanto employees and customers. Barbra's mother and step-father were around for some of the taping, as well.

Filming was tense. With Barbra battling voice problems and singing non-stop for three days, the shoot sometimes went until 4AM. She was visibly exhausted.

The most grueling part of the shoot was the "Alice Blue Gown"  sequence. Barbra, wearing a breakaway costume in which pieces of it were pulled off by nylon wires, had to keep her energy up as the costume kept malfunctioning take after take. A doctor was summoned to give her a cortisone injection to help her voice. It is obvious that some of the "Alice" number is re-dubbed on the final show.

There was no live orchestra; Barbra sang with pre-recorded tracks. David Shire played along with her at the piano during the concert segment.

Want to see the Belle of 14th Street shooting schedule?

Click on the thumbnails below to view full-size versions of Belle's "call sheets" — used in the film and television industry, call sheets are essential tools for letting cast and crew members know what they will be doing on the next day.

The call sheets below illustrate how hard Barbra worked on this television show.

Special thanks to Rich Kleinberg for providing these documents from his collection to "The Barbra Archives"!

Click the thumbnails below to view the full-size picture

< Tim Lewis Poster

Artist Tim Lewis created a series of art nouveau posters to advertise Barbra's television special.

(Version 1)

< Tim Lewis Poster

(Version 2)

< Tim Lewis Poster

(Version 3)

< Luchow's Menu from Wrap Party

When taping for The Belle of 14th Street wrapped, a lavish party was thrown for cast and crew by Monsanto downtown at Luchow's ... on 14th Street! Luchow's was a favorite eating place of the old-time Vaudeville stars.

< Luchow's Menu from Wrap Party

Barbra (along with Elliott Gould and Jason Robards) signed this menu to her fellow cast-mate and Beef Trust Girl "Barbara with affection & appreciation.'