Over the course of her career, Barbra Streisand has made some very odd choices of songs to record, from "Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf?" to "Guava Jelly." That said, the diva's first Christmas album -- released some 40 years ago -- still ranks as the strangest item in her discography. Sure, she sounds at home in such secular numbers as Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song," and her custom-tailored version of "Jingle Bells" is lots of fun. But hearing one of the world's most famous Jewish women sing about Jesus Christ and/or the Virgin Mary in "Silent Night," "Ave Maria," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," and other religious songs remains a deeply weird experience.
So, which if any of these items has the ace Streisand impersonator Steven Brinberg programmed for A Simply Barbra Holiday Spectacular, the benefit concert for the Ali Forney Center that's set to unfold at Symphony Space on Saturday, December 20 at 8pm? "Well," he says, "I won't be doing any of the religious songs, mainly because I'm not that fond of them. But I'll be doing 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' and 'The Christmas Song.' There's also a pretty obscure Patti Labelle song called 'I'm Christmasing With You.' I include 'I Don't Believe in Christmas' as a sort of poisoned Christmas card to one of Barbra's exes, Don Johnson. And I'll be doing 'Another Winter in a Summer Town from Grey Gardens."
Brinberg's guest stars for the concert will also dip deeply into the holiday music repertoire: "I think Tituss Burgess is going to sing 'Christmastime Is Here' from `A Charlie Brown Christmas,' and Julie Wilson will be doing a funny holiday song."
As a nod to the New Year, Brinberg/Barbra will duet with Will Taylor -- who has appeared on Broadway in the revivals of A Chorus Line and La Cage aux Folles -- in "The Perfect Year" from Sunset Boulevard. Last but not least, The Broadway Boys, justly billed as "a collection of the hottest male voices currently working on the New York stage," will sing 'Silent Night' and other season-appropriate songs.
If you attend this special event and notice that Brinberg's Barbra seems recharged, it may be due to the fact that he recently had a rare personal encounter with the icon. "Barbra was in the audience at August: Osage County when I went back to see it last week," he relates. "I'm not sure why she chose that particular show to see while she was in town. Maybe she wants to direct the movie, or maybe she wanted to marvel at her former co-star, 81-year-old Estelle Parsons, running up and down those stairs. Barbra looked great -- much thinner than in some recent photos -- and she seemed really friendly when she was talking about the play with the house manager afterwards. It's always a thrill to be in the same room with her."
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