RE: "Hello Gorgeous: Becoming Barbra Streisand" by William J. Mann Read mo

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Hello all. I highly recommend this book for fans of musical theatre...and of Barbra. William J. Mann writes a very interesting book on Miss Streisands rise to the top of Broadway in the early 60's. The struggles involving "Funny Girl" are amazing. from RC in Austin, Texas
Hello Gorgeous!

[BrodyFosse123]

I totally agree.

Since I was 14 years old, I've only been interested in very early Barbra -- the pre-fame The Lion/Bon Soir/The Blue Angel (pre-Broadway) period of her career, so this book is a delicious morsel. Its a perfect addition to Barry Dennen's book on her and Shaun Considine's fantastic (and detailed) bio (he wrote in great detail on this period as well).

How quickly she rose to global fame is astonishing and is unlikely to ever be seen again. Its was the perfect mesh of a talent and an era of entertainment being in-sync with each other.

I've been fortunate to have met a few people who remember her during those days and they say she had this cocky and self-assured way about her back then that wasn't obnoxious but she made you feel like even YOU knew she was going to be a big deal one day. They mentioned it was an odd presence but you really felt it. People have also said this about Madonna. She also had this self-assured cocky way about herself even when she was a coat check girl at Danceteria. You just felt she was going to be a big deal one day.