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Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In on Barbra Streisand's New Netflix Special THE MUSIC...THE MEM'RIES...THE MAGIC!

By: Nov. 21, 2017
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Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In on Barbra Streisand's New Netflix Special THE MUSIC...THE MEM'RIES...THE MAGIC!  Image

With a career spanning six decades, Barbra Streisand is a legend of both stage and screen with a loyal, loving fanbase. In the Netflix film concert event BARBRA: THE MUSIC...THE MEM'RIES...THE MAGIC! she is joined by an exciting roster of special guests, including a special duet with Jamie Foxx, as she takes audiences on a journey of her life's work, like a stroll down mem'ry lane with a good friend.

Directed by Jim Gable and Barbra Streisand, Barbra: The Music...The Mem'ries...The Magic!, a Netflix film, is produced by Ann Kim and Ned Doyle, with Streisand and Marty Erlichman serving as executive producers. The film is written by Streisand, Jay Landers and Richard Jay-Alexander.

The star of stage and screen returned to the concert stage in 2016 to promote her latest album, "Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway," which paid tribute to Broadway and Hollywood. Streisand was paired with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including Hugh Jackman, Jamie Foxx, Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Antonio Banderas, and Seth McFarlane. The set list featured Broadway classics, including several iconic Sondheim tunes. The album was released on August 26, 2016 and marked Streisand's third and long-awaited Broadway album. The singer released "The Broadway Album" and "Back to Broadway" in 1985 and 1993, respectfully, both of which went multi-platinum.


Mark Kennedy, Associated Press: At no point does Streisand really interact with the crowd. In fact, she barely listens to their shouted requests or adorations. "I'm feeling the love," she tells them but it feels like a lie. One suspects she'd perform exactly like this in a completely empty arena, a ballgowned, straight-haired superstar on pure autopilot. Give it to Barbra: She never lets you see her sweat.

Robert Lloyd, The Los Angeles Time: Like any great artist, she is at the mercy of the character she converts to art. ("I could not help but do it my way" is a theme of the evening.) She is complicated and contradictory, a Countess from Brooklyn, ethnic and elevated. Her singing is the sound of aspiration, of arrival, of indomitability. It is practiced and it's punk, it's tender and ferocious; she can create an impression of great power by getting very quiet. Her diction is impeccable, her accent unreconstructed. She is precise with her consonants and extravagant with her vowels.

Glenn Gamboa, Newsday: Streisand, who knows how to use makeup to look her best, also knows what arrangements make her voice - in whatever era - sound its best. And whether she is singing "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" with Jamie Foxx or "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" with the late Anthony Newley on film, Streisand sounds masterful. Maybe even more masterful, though, is the way she knows how to best capture her performance. She directed the special with Jim Gable, and her influence is clear. She knows how far she should be from the microphone and what camera angle makes her look best as she sings. It's a small thing, but when you see how many concert films have singers whose faces are obscured by microphones, it makes a big difference.

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