James Spada's Blog, page 9

THE LAST TIME BARBRA STREISAND SANG AT THE OSCARS

(Above) Co-Oscar winners Paul Williams and Barbra Streisand pose with Neil Diamond, who presented them with the 1977 Oscar for Best Song ("Evergreen").

After A Star Is Born won five Golden Globe Awards, including Best Picture, Actor and Actress (in the musical or comedy category), Barbra fans had high hopes that the film would win some Oscar nominations. In the event it got just one, but it was one Barbra took great pride in: Best Song, "Evergreen," which she had composed and Paul Williams had written the lyrics to as the love theme from A Star Is Born.
     At the ceremonies, after a spirited introduction by Jane Fonda ("Yeah! Barbra Streisand!"), Barbra brilliantly sang the song to a thrilled world-wide audience. The award was presented by Barbra's friend Neil Diamond, who said that he wanted Barbra to win so much he had told her that he would announce her name no matter who won! He didn't have to fake it: "Evergreen" was named Best Song.
     Barbra glowed as she accepted her second Oscar. "Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I'd win an Oscar for writing a song," she said. "I'm very excited and very grateful."
    
Barbra will sing at this Sunday's Oscar ceremony. Be sure to tune in for what promises to be an Oscar history highlight!

BARBRA FROM "ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER."

BE SURE TO CATCH BARBRA SINGS AT THE OSCARS SUNDAY NIGHT!

Barbra Streisand has appeared at the Oscar ceremonies a number of times--four times as a nominee (two wins), about a half dozen times as a presenter, and once as a singer--of her own composition, "Evergreen," which won Best Song in 1977. Now, thirty six years later, she will sing at the Oscars again this Sunday. What she will sing is being guarded as zealously as a state secret. All the show's co-producer Craig Zadan will say is, "Barbra is going to come out and do something really special and blow people away!"
Isn't that tantalizing! I know I'll be watching!

HOW PETER LAWFORD LEARNED OF THE MURDER OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY

On Wednesday, November 20, Peter got a call from President Kennedy. During the conversation, Jack delightedly told Peter that Jackie had agreed to accompany him on a political fence-mending trip to Texas. She rarely made such trips, but this was a particularly important one, with the next presidential election less than a year away, and Jack knew that his wife’s presence at his side would help make it a success. He had pleaded with her to come, and she had finally agreed. “Isn’t that great, Peter?” the President said. “We leave tomorrow morning.” After Peter’s show the following night, he and [his companion Chuck] Pick threw “a little get-together with some people” that lasted until four in the morning. Peter didn’t have a girl stay over that night; instead he sat up with Chuck until seven A.M. Friday and talked about Jack Kennedy.
“The sun was coming up,” Pick remembered, “and Peter was telling me stories about the President. We just sat around talking, and Peter spoke about how much he loved Jack and how overwhelmed he would get sometimes just thinking that his brother-in-law was the President of the United States. I was really touched by how much Peter loved the man. He was so excited that he was going to be at the White House for Christmas.”

Chuck and Peter finally went to bed at seven in the morning. About three hours later, Pick heard the doorbell buzz. “I thought, ‘Where’s the maid?’ Then I figured she must have forgotten her key and it was her buzzing.” He got up, openedthe door to let the maid in, and groggily turned around to go back to bed. But then he realized that it wasn’t the maid at the door but a man in a suit and tie he recognizedas one of the vice presidents at Harrah’s. “You have to wake up Mr. Lawford,” the man said.
“I can’t wake up Mr. Lawford,” Chuck snapped. “What is it you want?”Pick and the man from Harrah’s argued back and forth a few times about disturbing Peter until, finally, the man said, “The President was just shot.”
“What do you mean?”“The President has been shot. You’d better wake up Mr. Lawford.”Chuck went into Peter’s bedroom. “He was lying there. He was a very heavy sleeper, and normally, when I woke him, I’d have to shake him and yell, ‘Cmon, Peter, wake up!’ But this time I just kind of stood over him and put my hand on his shoulder and he opened his eyes and it was almost like he knew. He looked at me and I said,‘Peter, the President’s been shot.’”Peter cried, “Oh my God!” and leaped out of his bed. “There wasn’t a second of disbelief,” Pick recalled. “Just ‘Oh my God!’ and up. I ran out of the room and the guy from Harrah’s was standing there. I said, ‘We gotta go to Los Angeles immediately.’The man said, ‘Mr. Harrah’s plane is at your disposal. Whatever you need.’”Peter came out of the bedroom and said, “Chuck, we’ve gotta leave now.”It seemed to Pick that the phone was ringing constantly, that everything was happening very fast. “We put the TV on and heard that the President had been shotin a motorcade in Dallas, but there was nothing about how badly he’d been hurt. Peter started making phone calls. He called Mrs. Lawford and Rose Kennedy, but the lines were busy and he couldn’t get through. Reporters started gathering outside, and the police came and blocked off the house.”
Peter rushed from room to room, trying to make telephone calls, stoppingonly long enough to listen to a few minutes of television news. But there was none; thecommentators knew nothing of what was happening at Parkland Memorial Hospital,where the President had been rushed. Peter finally got through to Pat and then toRose, but they too were in the dark about Jack’s condition.

Peter had just said once again to Chuck, “We gotta get going,” when the words from the television set caught his attention: “Here is a bulletin from CBS News.” He turned to the screen and saw Walter Cronkite, looking stricken, make the announcement: “President Kennedy died at one P.M. Central Time in Dallas.”
“Peter got up,” Chuck recalled, “went into the kitchen, and threw up all over the floor. Just threw up, everywhere. Then he fell apart. He was lying on the floor, sobbing — he was crying so hard I didn’t know what to do. I never witnessed anything like that in my life. I never saw a man break down the way he broke down. It was a terrible thing to watch. It scared me. I went over to him and he said, ‘Leave me alone.’
“I was just a kid. I didn’t know what was happening. I started crying, as much because of what I was seeing happen to Peter as because the President was dead. But I had to be okay because he was so bad. One of us had to be strong and keep it together, and I was it. I was the only person he could really hold on to.”
Within an hour, Chuck and Peter were on the way to the airport. Later, Chuck didn’t remember getting dressed. “I don’t even think we brought our luggage. We just left. Peter didn’t want to go through the crowd out front, but the police escorted us through it and took us to Tahoe airport and we took Bill Harrah’s plane. There was a lot of crying and sobbing on that plane.”
When they arrived at Santa Monica Airport, a helicopter awaited them. “We got out of the plane and ran to the helicopter and Milt Ebbins was there. It was just a three-person helicopter — there was only room for Peter, the pilot, and Milt. I said, ‘Peter, I’ll take a cab home. I’ll be okay.’ “He said, ‘No, no, I can’t leave you like this.’ I said, ‘Just go.’ Peter asked me if I’d call him when I got home. I said I would. And then they took off. I took a cab home and I called the house and told someone that if Peter needed me I’d be available.”

BARBRA IS A FRIEND OF BILL...

Bill Clinton To Present Streisand Chaplin AwardThe Film Society of Lincoln Center's press release today:
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that President Bill Clinton will present the 40th Chaplin Award to Academy Award-winner Barbra Streisand, the first American woman artist to receive credit as writer, director, producer and star of a major feature film, YENTL, during a Gala Ceremony held at Lincoln Center on the evening of Monday, April 22, 2013.
The event will be attended by a host of notable guests and celebrities honoring the international film legend’s groundbreaking career and will feature film and interview clips culminating in the presentation of The Chaplin Award.
The Gala is the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s most significant fundraiser of the year. Tickets to the Gala Tribute and champagne reception will be available for purchase by the general public. For ticketing and additional information, go to filmlinc.com/gala.
The Film Society’s Annual Gala began in 1972 and honored Charlie Chaplin – who returned to the US from exile to accept the commendation. Other honorees include many of the film industry’s most notable talents, including Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Laurence Olivier, Federico Fellini, Elizabeth Taylor, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, Diane Keaton, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Michael Douglas, Sidney Poitier, and most recently Catherine Deneuve.

Ann Hampton Calloway Sings the Streisand Songbook!

My friend and theater-going partner Don Grigware wrote this review of Ann's show for Broadway World and his own website grigwaretalkstheatre.com :

http://losangeles.broadwayworld.com/a...




What a glorious night of singing at the Disney Concert Hall on Grammy Award Sunday February 10! Singular singing sensation Ann Hampton Callaway presented the Streisand Songbook in honor of her mentor. On stage with Callaway was Alan Bergman, one half of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman composing team who have written 64 songs for Barbra over the years.
Diva Callaway never disappoints her fans and so the evening was a pretty thorough look at the early Barbra starting in 1961 when she performed at the Bonsoir in NYC all the way up to her last recording in 2011 in honor of the Bergmans. There was some delightful patter about how it only took ten years for Barbra to record Callaway's "At the Same Time" as well as the wonderful story about how Ann imagined Babs first hearing Rolf Lovland's beautiful song over a romantic dinner with James Brolin and instantaneously deciding to have it set to music for her wedding. Callaway spent sleepless days and nights - "I did what all Irish girls do, I drank!" - trying to come up with just the right lyrics for "I've Dreamed of You", which Barbra did indeed sing to Brolin during their wedding ceremony.
A wonderful segment of the evening was Alan Bergman's appearance; Callaway called him a true living legend. When she left to make a costume change, Bergman sat on a stool, read the lyrics of his "Windmills of Your Mind", music by Michel Legrand, proving that when lyrics are spoken by a vibrant creator, they're poetry, pure magic. He followed this with "Nice and Easy" which he had written in the early 60s for Frank Sinatra. When Callaway returned, they dueted with "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" She called the Bergmans the creators of an entire encyclopedia for the stages of love and life, which began with "Where Do You Start?". She then asked him how he had managed to keep a successful marriage for over 50 years. Nodding to his wife Marilyn seated a few rows back, Bergman replied, "One washes. One dries." This segment was a lovely treat.
Other highlights included from Barbra's great repertoire: from the early days, "Starting Here, Starting Now", "Cry Me a River", and the unforgettable "Down with Love"; from her mid-70s album of the same name a delectable "Lazy Afternoon", one of my all time favorites; "Evergreen", Barbra's own Oscar and Grammy winning composition from A Star Is Born; and from Funny Girl "Don't Rain On My Parade" and the classic "People" beautifully combined with Sondheim's "Being Alive" from Company. How magically Callaway made the lyrics blend as she segued from "being alive, being alive, being alive" to "with one person". There was also an electric "A Piece of Sky" from Yentl, bright wishes to her audience with "On a Clear Day" mixed with "Happy Days Are Here Again", then "Lover, Where Can You Be?" and as encore, in duet with Bergman, the colorful memories of "The Way We Were".
As is a signature part of any Callaway show, she sat at the piano and composed - with the help of the audience - a Streisandesque love song that was at once funny and terribly clever. "Wish I could include that organ!" she joked as she noted the pipe organ high above the backstage wall. Terribly humorous, down-to-earth and immensely talented is the amazing Ann Hampton Callaway! Christian Jacob was at the piano, Trey Henry on bass and MB Gordy on drums throughout the one hour and 50 minute... long, but remarkably enjoyable and upbeat evening. One comment that Callaway made about the amazing Streisand is that neither sound or style have been her greatest attributes, but that she, like Ella, another ambassador of song, could always sing a song as if "it were happening for the first time". That is unparalleled artistry. Callaway is a darn close match.

Read more about BWW Reviews: Remarkable Singer Ann Hampton Callaway Premieres Streisand Songbook on West Coast by losangeles.broadwayworld.com What a glorious night of singing at the Disney Concert Hall on Grammy Award Sunday February 10! Singular singing sensation Ann Hampton Callaway presented the Streisand Songbook in honor of her mentor. On stage with Callaway was Alan Bergman, one half of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman composing team who have written 64 songs for Barbra over the years.
Diva Callaway never disappoints her fans and so the evening was a pretty thorough look at the early Barbra starting in 1961 when she performed at the Bonsoir in NYC all the way up to her last recording in 2011 in honor of the Bergmans. There was some delightful patter about how it only took ten years for Barbra to record Callaway's "At the Same Time" as well as the wonderful story about how Ann imagined Babs first hearing Rolf Lovland's beautiful song over a romantic dinner with James Brolin and instantaneously deciding to have it set to music for her wedding. Callaway spent sleepless days and nights - "I did what all Irish girls do, I drank!" - trying to come up with just the right lyrics for "I've Dreamed of You", which Barbra did indeed sing to Brolin during their wedding ceremony.
A wonderful segment of the evening was Alan Bergman's appearance; Callaway called him a true living legend. When she left to make a costume change, Bergman sat on a stool, read the lyrics of his "Windmills of Your Mind", music by Michel Legrand, proving that when lyrics are spoken by a vibrant creator, they're poetry, pure magic. He followed this with "Nice and Easy" which he had written in the early 60s for Frank Sinatra. When Callaway returned, they dueted with "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" She called the Bergmans the creators of an entire encyclopedia for the stages of love and life, which began with "Where Do You Start?". She then asked him how he had managed to keep a successful marriage for over 50 years. Nodding to his wife Marilyn seated a few rows back, Bergman replied, "One washes. One dries." This segment was a lovely treat.
Other highlights included from Barbra's great repertoire: from the early days, "Starting Here, Starting Now", "Cry Me a River", and the unforgettable "Down with Love"; from her mid-70s album of the same name a delectable "Lazy Afternoon", one of my all time favorites; "Evergreen", Barbra's own Oscar and Grammy winning composition from A Star Is Born; and from Funny Girl "Don't Rain On My Parade" and the classic "People" beautifully combined with Sondheim's "Being Alive" from Company. How magically Callaway made the lyrics blend as she segued from "being alive, being alive, being alive" to "with one person". There was also an electric "A Piece of Sky" from Yentl, bright wishes to her audience with "On a Clear Day" mixed with "Happy Days Are Here Again", then "Lover, Where Can You Be?" and as encore, in duet with Bergman, the colorful memories of "The Way We Were".
As is a signature part of any Callaway show, she sat at the piano and composed - with the help of the audience - a Streisandesque love song that was at once funny and terribly clever. "Wish I could include that organ!" she joked as she noted the pipe organ high above the backstage wall. Terribly humorous, down-to-earth and immensely talented is the amazing Ann Hampton Callaway! Christian Jacob was at the piano, Trey Henry on bass and MB Gordy on drums throughout the one hour and 50 minute... long, but remarkably enjoyable and upbeat evening. One comment that Callaway made about the amazing Streisand is that neither sound or style have been her greatest attributes, but that she, like Ella, another ambassador of song, could always sing a song as if "it were happening for the first time". That is unparalleled artistry. Callaway is a darn close match.

Read more about BWW Reviews: Remarkable Singer Ann Hampton Callaway Premieres Streisand Songbook on West Coast by losangeles.broadwayworld.com


What a glorious night of singing at the Disney Concert Hall on Grammy Award Sunday February 10! Singular singing sensation Ann Hampton Callaway presented the Streisand Songbook in honor of her mentor. On stage with Callaway was Alan Bergman, one half of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman composing team who have written 64 songs for Barbra over the years.
Diva Callaway never disappoints her fans and so the evening was a pretty thorough look at the early Barbra starting in 1961 when she performed at the Bonsoir in NYC all the way up to her last recording in 2011 in honor of the Bergmans. There was some delightful patter about how it only took ten years for Barbra to record Callaway's "At the Same Time" as well as the wonderful story about how Ann imagined Babs first hearing Rolf Lovland's beautiful song over a romantic dinner with James Brolin and instantaneously deciding to have it set to music for her wedding. Callaway spent sleepless days and nights - "I did what all Irish girls do, I drank!" - trying to come up with just the right lyrics for "I've Dreamed of You", which Barbra did indeed sing to Brolin during their wedding ceremony.
A wonderful segment of the evening was Alan Bergman's appearance; Callaway called him a true living legend. When she left to make a costume change, Bergman sat on a stool, read the lyrics of his "Windmills of Your Mind", music by Michel Legrand, proving that when lyrics are spoken by a vibrant creator, they're poetry, pure magic. He followed this with "Nice and Easy" which he had written in the early 60s for Frank Sinatra. When Callaway returned, they dueted with "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" She called the Bergmans the creators of an entire encyclopedia for the stages of love and life, which began with "Where Do You Start?". She then asked him how he had managed to keep a successful marriage for over 50 years. Nodding to his wife Marilyn seated a few rows back, Bergman replied, "One washes. One dries." This segment was a lovely treat.
Other highlights included from Barbra's great repertoire: from the early days, "Starting Here, Starting Now", "Cry Me a River", and the unforgettable "Down with Love"; from her mid-70s album of the same name a delectable "Lazy Afternoon", one of my all time favorites; "Evergreen", Barbra's own Oscar and Grammy winning composition from A Star Is Born; and from Funny Girl "Don't Rain On My Parade" and the classic "People" beautifully combined with Sondheim's "Being Alive" from Company. How magically Callaway made the lyrics blend as she segued from "being alive, being alive, being alive" to "with one person". There was also an electric "A Piece of Sky" from Yentl, bright wishes to her audience with "On a Clear Day" mixed with "Happy Days Are Here Again", then "Lover, Where Can You Be?" and as encore, in duet with Bergman, the colorful memories of "The Way We Were".
As is a signature part of any Callaway show, she sat at the piano and composed - with the help of the audience - a Streisandesque love song that was at once funny and terribly clever. "Wish I could include that organ!" she joked as she noted the pipe organ high above the backstage wall. Terribly humorous, down-to-earth and immensely talented is the amazing Ann Hampton Callaway! Christian Jacob was at the piano, Trey Henry on bass and MB Gordy on drums throughout the one hour and 50 minute... long, but remarkably enjoyable and upbeat evening. One comment that Callaway made about the amazing Streisand is that neither sound or style have been her greatest attributes, but that she, like Ella, another ambassador of song, could always sing a song as if "it were happening for the first time". That is unparalleled artistry. Callaway is a darn close match.

Read more about BWW Reviews: Remarkable Singer Ann Hampton Callaway Premieres Streisand Songbook on West Coast by losangeles.broadwayworld.com What a glorious night of singing at the Disney Concert Hall on Grammy Award Sunday February 10! Singular singing sensation Ann Hampton Callaway presented the Streisand Songbook in honor of her mentor. On stage with Callaway was Alan Bergman, one half of the Alan and Marilyn Bergman composing team who have written 64 songs for Barbra over the years.
Diva Callaway never disappoints her fans and so the evening was a pretty thorough look at the early Barbra starting in 1961 when she performed at the Bonsoir in NYC all the way up to her last recording in 2011 in honor of the Bergmans. There was some delightful patter about how it only took ten years for Barbra to record Callaway's "At the Same Time" as well as the wonderful story about how Ann imagined Babs first hearing Rolf Lovland's beautiful song over a romantic dinner with James Brolin and instantaneously deciding to have it set to music for her wedding. Callaway spent sleepless days and nights - "I did what all Irish girls do, I drank!" - trying to come up with just the right lyrics for "I've Dreamed of You", which Barbra did indeed sing to Brolin during their wedding ceremony.
A wonderful segment of the evening was Alan Bergman's appearance; Callaway called him a true living legend. When she left to make a costume change, Bergman sat on a stool, read the lyrics of his "Windmills of Your Mind", music by Michel Legrand, proving that when lyrics are spoken by a vibrant creator, they're poetry, pure magic. He followed this with "Nice and Easy" which he had written in the early 60s for Frank Sinatra. When Callaway returned, they dueted with "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" She called the Bergmans the creators of an entire encyclopedia for the stages of love and life, which began with "Where Do You Start?". She then asked him how he had managed to keep a successful marriage for over 50 years. Nodding to his wife Marilyn seated a few rows back, Bergman replied, "One washes. One dries." This segment was a lovely treat.
Other highlights included from Barbra's great repertoire: from the early days, "Starting Here, Starting Now", "Cry Me a River", and the unforgettable "Down with Love"; from her mid-70s album of the same name a delectable "Lazy Afternoon", one of my all time favorites; "Evergreen", Barbra's own Oscar and Grammy winning composition from A Star Is Born; and from Funny Girl "Don't Rain On My Parade" and the classic "People" beautifully combined with Sondheim's "Being Alive" from Company. How magically Callaway made the lyrics blend as she segued from "being alive, being alive, being alive" to "with one person". There was also an electric "A Piece of Sky" from Yentl, bright wishes to her audience with "On a Clear Day" mixed with "Happy Days Are Here Again", then "Lover, Where Can You Be?" and as encore, in duet with Bergman, the colorful memories of "The Way We Were".
As is a signature part of any Callaway show, she sat at the piano and composed - with the help of the audience - a Streisandesque love song that was at once funny and terribly clever. "Wish I could include that organ!" she joked as she noted the pipe organ high above the backstage wall. Terribly humorous, down-to-earth and immensely talented is the amazing Ann Hampton Callaway! Christian Jacob was at the piano, Trey Henry on bass and MB Gordy on drums throughout the one hour and 50 minute... long, but remarkably enjoyable and upbeat evening. One comment that Callaway made about the amazing Streisand is that neither sound or style have been her greatest attributes, but that she, like Ella, another ambassador of song, could always sing a song as if "it were happening for the first time". That is unparalleled artistry. Callaway is a darn close match.

Read more about BWW Reviews: Remarkable Singer Ann Hampton Callaway Premieres Streisand Songbook on West Coast by losangeles.broadwayworld.com

Recollections from Union College alumni about the filming there of The Way We Were

 Robert Redford, as I remember, was very friendly and you could find him outside with the extras.  The boy or male extras were mostly from Union and I remember him tossing a football around.  Barbara Streisand for the most part would be in her trailer and would come out when she had to shoot.  I was chosen as an extra and Sydney Pollack had everyone who wanted to be an extra meet at Memorial Chapel.  He was in my opinion choosing girls or women who looked a little older and were for the most part not from Union.  The boys seemed to come from Union.  As he walked down the rows of Memorial Chapel, I shouted out to him, “How about a part for a Jewish kid from Brooklyn.”  I knew that he was Jewish and had grown up in Brooklyn and he said to me “Go and get a costume.”
I was to be in the gym scene where a formal dance took place and fitting was for a tuxedo.  I was being paid something less than $2.00 an hour.  I remember waiting for a scene to be shot and we were outside and it was real hot and it took forever.
Andrew Richman ‘73
Being an overloaded engineering student, I didn’t have much time to watch the making of the movie. But I do recall going into the upper classman’s dining hall and suddenly realizing that it had been turned into Barbara Streisand’s changing area. I quickly excused myself and left.
Rick Sparber ‘73
I remember when they were filming TWWW, Robert Redford often came out of his trailer and talked and goofed around. One day, they were passing a football around and Redford went for a long pass and totally wiped me out. It was muddy out and I was covered with mud from head to foot. All I could think about was that I was “short on clothes” having not done my laundry in a while and probably short on cash for laundry…typical for a college kid. I was really ticked off and didn’t know who had done this because I had my back to the quad. I started to get up and yelled “watch where you’re going; who do you think you are?” (I didn’t swear back then.) And Redford said, “I’m Robert Redford; sorry we had to meet this way.” He helped me up and shook my hand (I was too muddy for a hug!). “Are you OK?” he said. “Just a little muddy, but I clean up pretty good!” And then he was called for filming.
Margaret Mancuso Rowe ‘73
I was in the office of Dr. Thomas Kirschner presenting my ideas for my honors thesis in economics (which fortunately was completed successfully nine months later) and was gazing out his second floor office window. To my surprise and astonishment I was gazing down on a parade of my schoolmates dressed in impressive formal wear (both men and women) from the 1940′s marching across the quad near the Nott memorial. It simply created a rather bizarre scene in my mind that I still can chuckle about to myself. In fact the classmates for that scene can be still visualized in the movie in which there is the scene of the formal dance where the stars, Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand appear. (Check it out). The school really was a Hollywood set for the three weeks they were on campus.
Alan Fischman ‘73
During the filming of the movie, I was an evening student in my last year. I took both day and evening classes, so got to see some of the daytime filming. Of the stars, Redford and Streisand, they were very private people. Neither of them interacted with any of the students or the public that gathered to watch the filming. Bradford Dillman, on the other hand, was very approachable, walking the campus and interacted with people.
It was a great time in my life as I was about to complete my BS started 8 years earlier. Life in general, marriage, military service and a move from Boston to Schenectady all contributed to add to the excitement of that time.
Attainment of my goal at Union opened new doors for me. In all, I spent 34 years working for the Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, retiring in 2000. I lost my first wife, Carolyn, in ’99. It was she who helped me attain my goal. I remarried in 2002. My wife, Janet, and I are “snowbirds” living here during the summer and in FL in winter.
Union and the film “The Way We Were” both have a special place in my memory and heart.
Vernon Nordstrom ‘73
For classmates, my friends, and me the filming was a “nonissue.” I lived in what was at the time Psi Upsilon fraternity house opposite Schaffer Library. I remember looking out the window and seeing an old jalopy type car careening down the street in front of our house with Robert Redford singing and cavorting in the back seat. I also remember seeing a crowd of students outside of the Nott Memorial for the filming of a speech given by Barbara Streisand. Both of these proved to be happenstances for me. I don’t recall a big hype about the movie being filmed on campus and I think most of the student body went about the business of going to school.
Peter Kircher ‘73

BARBRA TO DIRECT AGAIN!!

The announcement that Barbra Streisand has signed a directing deal with Los Angeles-based sales and financing outfit Aldamisa International for several (as yet undetermined)  projects is great news for Streisand fans and film fans as well. Barbra has proven herself to be a gifted director. In the three films she has directed (Yentl, The Prince of Tides, and The Mirror Has Two Faces, she has shown herself to be a master of the look and the emotion of a story. Yentl lyricists Marilyn and Alan Bergman told me that Barbra “knew the palette she wanted” for that movie, and indeed many of the scenes could have been created by a European master.        Barbra has shown herself to be equally adept at sweeping romantic melodrama and harrowing tragedy (think of the rape scene in Tides). She was also able to balance nicely the comic and dramatic elements of The Mirror Has Two Faces.             I doubt there’s any genre Barbra couldn’t conquer if she set he mind to it, but she is unquestionably drawn to romantic stories. I hope she continues to be (despite the sometime sniping of straight male critics), because there are a lot of movies left in Barbra Streisand and a lot of romantic stories left for her to tell.

Dolce & Gabanna Streisand T-shirt

Here's the link, but it's sold out--at $192 each!

http://www.polyvore.com/dolce_gabbana...

GRACE KELLY UNDERGOES A FERTILITY TEST

Before the engagement of Grace and Rainier could be announced, there were several important hurdles that needed to be cleared. Rainier’s taking a wife was a matter of state, and as such it carried with it certain unavoidable necessities. The first of these was medical assurance that Grace Kelly was physically able to bear an heir to the Monegasque throne. “I must get married and raise a family,” Rainier had told Collier’s. “I told my people recently that I am keenly sensitive to the political implications of my bachelorhood.” Even had Rainier been more cavalier about this very singular example of noblesse oblige, his advisers could not be. The survival of Monegasque life as they knew it hung in the balance; the fertility of a future princess would have to be all but guaranteed—or Rainier would not be allowed to marry her.
     This had been made painfully apparent to Rainier in 1953. He had been in love with Gisele Pascal; she had, for several years, lived in his Beaulieu villa where he spent most of his time with her. So entrenched was she in Rainier’s life that the citizens of Monaco thought of Gisele as their “uncrowned princess.” After six years of romance, Rainier wanted to marry Gisele, and the thought of becoming the Princess of Monaco thrilled her. She refused even to discuss the romance, lest she say something wrong; “I am living in a dream and nothing must spoil it.”
     Unfortunately for Gisele, something did. When Rainier told his advisers that he planned to marry her, they reminded him that it would be necessary for her to take a fertility test. Instead, Gisele presented a letter from her Paris doctors certifying that she could conceive. This was not sufficient for the Monegasque officials, who insisted that the Prince’s own doctor perform the test. When the first test came back negative, the physician took another, then a third. All indicated that Gisele was infertile. Rainier was told that he would not be allowed to marry her.
     Although he seriously considered it, abdication for the woman he loved was not a solution for Rainier, since there was no one to assume the throne; such an action would have the same effect as a childless marriage: Monaco’s seven-century Grimaldi rule would end and the country would become a French protectorate. Bitterly Rainier broke off his relationship with Gisele. The Prince told Francis Tucker, “Father, if you ever hear that my subjects think I do not love them, tell them what I have done today.” (Gisele later married and had a child, and one can only imagine the Prince’s reaction to the news.)
     Now Rainier was faced with the same dilemma, and it was as distasteful to him as it had been several years before. He knew it must be done, and by his own doctor. (Hence Dr. Donat’s otherwise inexplicable presence in America; the first reason proffered was that the Prince had come to have a checkup at Johns Hopkins University Hospital and wanted his own doctor along; later it was said that Rainier had brought Donat here to enroll in the school. Neither explanation makes any sense; Rainier didn’t have to travel three thousand miles for a medical checkup, and neither would the Prince of Monaco’s private physician have any compelling reason to attend an American university. But it was necessary to explain Donat’s presence thus, in order to avoid speculation about the real reason. Rainier sensed, correctly, that Americans would neither understand nor sympathize with the need for a fertility test of Grace Kelly before she could marry him.)
Rainier was loath to broach the subject to Grace. “Her family is very religious, very conservative,” the Prince told one of his advisers. “I don’t dare even suggest it to her!”
     But it simply had to be done. Father Tucker, who had already spent hours questioning Grace about her religious beliefs, informed her of the need for the test. Faced with the fact that without a test there was no possibility of marriage, Grace agreed.
     The test—kept secret from Grace’s family—was performed at a private sanitarium on the outskirts of Philadelphia, because its director was a man Grace knew and trusted. She was terribly anxious about undergoing the examination—not only because so much depended on it, but because Prince Rainier was under the impression that she was a virgin.
    During this emotionally charged period, Grace fell back on her intimacy with her former lover Don Richardson, and she telephoned him every day, confiding her innermost thoughts. He vividly recalls her telling him about the fertility test. “They had her in stirrups, taking all kinds of tests to make sure that she could produce an heir for Monaco. She was frantic about the fact that the test would reveal she wasn’t a virgin, because the Prince thought she was. She told me she explained to the doctors that her hymen had been broken when she was playing hockey in high school.”
     Could Prince Rainier, a sophisticated man, have actually believed that Grace, a well-traveled movie actress of twenty-six, was a virgin? “You have to remember that this was 1955,” Richardson says, “when twenty-six-year-old virgins were a lot more common than they are today. And that was Grace’s image. People believed she was a nun. Everything about her spoke of virginity and pureness; the Prince knew she came from a ‘good Catholic family.’ When you looked into the face of Grace Kelly, you couldn’t believe she was anything but unblemished, untarnished, and virginal. It’s entirely possible that the Prince, worldly as he was, believed she was a virgin.”