Among the more than 1,000 items in the exhibit are eight
original contracts from Streisand's first club performances, makeup face
cast, high school yearbook and scholastic memorabilia. Special
historical works of art include a doll crafted by a Hollywood makeup
artist when she starred in Funny Girl, original oil portraits, and
even Streisand stamps. There are also set decorations from several
films including Funny Girl, The Mirror Has Two Faces, and Nuts. Also featured in the exhibit will be posters for Streisand movies, life-size standees, trade ads, press materials and 45 record picture sleeves, as well as photos, books and hundreds of newspapers tracing her career.
The exhibit was assembled by Lou
Papalas, who owns the largest collection of Streisand
memorabilia in the world and operates the BarbraShop in Palm Springs,
CA. Papalas, who worked for 36 years as a human resources executive at
Ford Motor Company, retired at the age of 55 to devote himself to his
passion of collecting Streisand memorabilia full time. He has assembled
memorabilia from other collectors in addition to providing artifacts
from his own collection for the exhibit.
Streisand has been a theatre, film and music legend for over four decades. She received Tony nominations for her Broadway debut I Can Get It For You Wholesale and for her star-making turn as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (she would receive a Star of the Decade, Hall of Fame Tony in 1970). Streisand would go on to recreate the role on film for a 1969 Oscar (she tied with Katharine Hepburn that year). She was also nominated for her performance in The Way We Were, and for her direction of The Prince of Tides. She received another Oscar for co-writing "Evergreen" for A Star is Born and was similarly nominated for "I Finally Found Someone" from The Mirror Has Two Faces. Other film credits include Hello, Dolly!, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, What's Up, Doc?, Funny Lady, Nuts and Yentl. She is also accomplished as a film producer, and did so for several of her movies.
A 5-DVD set of Barbra Streisand: The Television Specials is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. With a November 22nd release date, the DVD set encompasses "My Name is Barbra," "Color Me Barbra," "A Happening in Central Park," "The Belle of 14th Street" and "Barbra Streisand...And Other Musical Instruments." For more information on the upcoming DVDs, visit www.barbratvshows.com. For more on Streisand, visit www.barbrastreisand.com or www.barbranews.com. Visit www.thehollywoodmuseum.com for more on the exhibit.
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