moonspinner55 Review of A Happening in Central Park

A Happening in Central Park (1968 TV Special)

Streisand hits New York City, and the weather bows to her arrival...

[7/10 · 12 March 2006]

I was always curious why Barbra Streisand's free concert to some 150,000 people in New York's Central Park was filmed in June 1967 but didn't air on CBS television until September 15, 1968. Now, thanks to the DVD, that's been made clear: Streisand wanted to keep her specials down to one "happening" a year, and later in October 1967 she had scheduled "The Belle of 14th Street"; also, her movie debut in "Funny Girl" was set to hit screens in late September 1968, and this show was probably more appropriate to coincide with the film's premiere than the entirely-forgettable "14th Street" special. Only an hour of the show (counting time for commercials) actually made it to air, but that's more than the handful of songs on the record album, and it's really just enough to make this a perfectly pleasant time-filler for Barbra-watchers and casual fans. Musically, Streisand is bogged down in novelty tunes, using her comic, Jewish shtick to get the punchlines over the heads of the crowd (a remarkably polite bunch). She tries out few new songs, relying more on album favorites and singles, yet she is shrewdly self-effacing and doesn't show her infamous stage fright at all--watch when she cues a waiter with a nod of her head to bring her cup of tea over, all while telling a crazy story of a suicidal woman who broke her glasses. If there's one thing happening here, it's a bona fide music celebrity casually conquering her demons in front of thousands of fans, putting on a blithe, upbeat show. No behind-the-scenes 'sturm and drang' here; this friendly concert is presented matter-of-factly and without diva fanfare.