Sometimes even Barbra Streisand needs a little help from her friends.
The 74-year-old stage and screen legend decided early on that her 36th studio album would feature Broadway duets. So she called on some of her friends and favourite actors including Anne Hathaway, Daisy Ridley, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine and Bradley Cooper to bring her vision to life.
The result, Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway, is a quirky mix of surprising and entertaining collaborations pulled from hit musicals such as My Fair Lady and A Chorus Line, as well more obscure productions such as Evening Primrose and Smile.
Despite the group effort, the album — out on Friday — is still authentically Streisand.
“Records I have control over,” said Streisand, who was hands-on with every aspect, from song conception to directing each performance.
“That’s what I cared about as a young performer as well. I didn’t know about what salary it was,” she recalled. “I cared about creative control. That nobody can tell me what to sing or force me to sing or album cover design or anything that had to do with my creativity. It had to feel right to me.”
In a recent interview at the oceanside Malibu, California, studio where she recorded Encore, Streisand delved into her directing process with some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
Baldwin came ready to play
Streisand admitted that some stars took a little persuading. Alec Baldwin, for example, feared he didn’t have the vocal chops.
“And I said, ‘You’re a personality and it’s perfect for the song,’” she said of her early conversations with the 30 Rock actor. “Will you try with me? Because if it’s really terrible we won’t use it. Will you experiment with me? Will you play with me?”
Luckily, he agreed and the outcome is the cheeky, romantic duet, The Best Thing That Ever Has Happened, from Stephen Sondheim’s lesser-known musical, Road Show.
“It’s hard work getting the notes right for people who are not singers, but I know they can act their way through it. They’ll get it and that’s the fun of doing this kind of project,” Streisand said.
Funny girls unite
Streisand wanted a new twist on the classic Anything You Can Do, from Broadway’s Annie Get Your Gun.
So the Funny Girl star tapped fellow funny lady Melissa McCarthy to reimagine the song as comedic banter between showbiz frenemies.
“When I approached Melissa, the first thing she said to me was, ‘I can’t sing you know’, and so she’s a little bit tone deaf,” Streisand explained. “But she compensates with so much personality and so much laughter and so much spontaneity.”
Streisand recalled how McCarthy struggled to hit some of the notes, but other times she nailed it.
“There are moments she sings and I go, ‘Melissa that was fantastic! You sang that beautifully!’ And she surprises herself,” she said.
Willy Wonka reimagined
“When I was a child I had imagination. I lived in Brooklyn. You know, I slept in the living room. But I imagined myself as somebody, as having something worthwhile to be noticed and somehow I manifested it. So I know anything is possible,” said Streisand.
This was the idea behind her heartfelt duet, Pure Imagination, from the 1971 film, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Streisand teamed with actor-filmmaker Seth MacFarlane for the dreamy ballad and penned a spoken-word introduction about imagination she hoped will resonate with modern audiences.
“The divisiveness, the violence, these are very sad times,” she said. “I just believe in the power of whatever it is — faith, prayer, visualisation ... who knows what that can manifest?”
Foxx for the finish
Streisand had full confidence that Jaimie Foxx would rise to the challenge of performing one of Broadway’s most-beloved songs: Climb Ev’ry Mountain from The Sound of Music.
“I did because I saw him get an Academy Award for playing Ray Charles. So I know he can sing,” she said. “His soulfulness, his great voice ... he was able to sing it in one session, you know. I mean he’s that good. So I was thrilled. I was thrilled to sing with him.”
Streisand closes the album with the soulful, moving duet, which she said is about “having dreams and taking chances.”
“Step-by-step we will get there,” said Streisand of her approach to any obstacle. “We will climb that mountain. You have to have faith in today’s world. Don’t you?”
