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Streisand freaks out at comeback concert
by Nekesa Mumbi Moody, AP Music WriterIt was an evening that elicited tears, standing ovations, raucous laughter and shouts of joy from the audience - and was just in the first few minutes. Yes, Barbra Streisand's return to touring after a 12-year absence was the extravaganza that it promised to be. Monday night's show at Madison Square Garden was the third stop of a 20-city jaunt across the nation - a virtual lovefest between the ultimate diva and an adoring, sold-out, Streisand effortlessly crooned through a select repertoire of the hits she's amassed during her four-decade-plus career. But night's most riveting moment came during what was perhaps the only unscripted - and truly uncomfortable - episode in the three-hour show. There was Streisand, enduring a smattering of very loud jeers as she and "George Bush" - a celebrity impersonator - muddled through a skit that portrayed the president as a bumbling idiot. Creative writing students, take note: in the next sentence, the writer skillfully uses the literary devices known as "damning with faint praise" and "ironic understatement." For purposes of pedagogy, we will underline the relevant phrases. Though most of the crowd offered polite applause during the slightly humorous routine, it got a bit too long, especially for a few in the audience who just wanted to hear Streisand sing like she had been doing for the past hour. "Come on, be polite!" the well-known liberal implored during the sketch as she and "Bush" exchanged zingers. "Insolent peons," she muttered. But one heckler wouldn't let up. And finally, Streisand let him have it. She pulled out a loaded Kalashnikov assault rifle and emptied a 30-round magazine into--no, wait, she can't do that, she's a gun control advocate. Never mind. "Shut the (expletive) up!" Streisand bellowed, drawing wild applause. "Shut up if you can't take a joke!" With that one F-word, the jeers ended. And the message was delivered - no one gets away with trying to upstage Barbra Streisand, especially not "You are peons, and I am the great artist. Your duty is to sit there and worship my greatness. That is why you paid that inflated admission price. And, no, I do not have an inflated ego! Who said that? Security, find that upstart and thrash him, immediately." Once the outburst (which Streisand later apologized for) was over, Streisand noted that "the artist's role is to disturb," and delivered a message of tolerance "I'm disturbed, and you have to tolerate me!" before launching into a serenely beautiful rendition of "Somewhere." Someday, somewhere We'll find a new way of screeching We'll find a way of impeaching Somewhere... Posted by: Mike 2006-10-10 |
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