Girls, I Am Simply Verklempt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       As Linda Richmond herself might have said, "It's like buttah!!!!!!"

                                        Reading William J. Mann's bio of BARBRA is like a dream come true, because it covers the only period of her life that really interests me--from birth in Brooklyn, to Broadway in "Funny Girl."  The idea that someone could come out of nowhere to make it was something that gave hope to many, including yours truly, and is part of the explanation for BARBRA's lasting influence and inspiration as an icon.

                                         I can remember, tucked into bed at night, back in Highland Park, New Jersey, listening to the NYC disc jockeys of that day talk about the glamour life in New York--the show openings, the club engagements, and projecting myself, by imagination, so that I was there.  And, when the reality of cardiac illness made its appearance, with me being hauled back and forth, it seemed all the time, to doctors in New York, the way I dealt with it was by assuring myself of my "specialness;" other kids did not bus into the city on a regular basis, and somehow relating it all to show business, which is what I would have preferred it to be then in the first place.

                                           One of my favorite parts of the trip was passing a section of the Jersey marshes, alongside the railroad tracks, behind which there were these mountainous hills, and atop each one was a billboard poster that advertised a Broadway show.  There were, in fact, several of these, stretching across the landscape.  I can still recall some of the titles--"How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying," "Hello, Dolly!," "Fiddler On The Roof," 'Mame."  Some of these were up for years because the shows ran so long.  And, yes, "Funny Girl."

                                            So, projecting myself onto Broadway was what got me through this. And when BARBRA came onto the scene, I was as impressed as everyone, but, like Mike would say later on in "A Chorus Line," "I Can Do That!"  And that is how I felt--if  BARBRA could play "Funny Girl," so could I!!!!!!!

                                              This book takes someone of my mindset--and I know there are others of you, out there--into what it would have been like to realize this fantasy; both the positive and negative aspects of the experience.  It also recreates that period of nighttime cultural life in New York City, when people like Kay Ballard, Alice Ghostley, and countless others who went on to careers, were up and coming.  Then, out of nowhere, comes this little Brooklyn girl.  And then--KA-BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Speaking of BARBRA now, the book is fascinating.  The BARBRA persona is there in all its unstoppable glory, but so are some things I never would have thought--like tinnitus, which she battled, stage fright, intestinal and stomach problems, the specter of Mama Diana and favored younger sister Rozzie hovering in the wings, like Mrs. Hudson and the child Blanche,  at the start of "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?", as well as the men, some she stayed with, some she didn't, who helped propel her to fame.  BARBRA's talent got her deemed a performer, but making that performer noticed was a calculated move on several men's--and BARBRA's--parts!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  It also demonstrates something that I never knew was calculated. As a tender child of thirteen, sitting in the over sized (or so I thought) Menlo Park Cinema screen, in Menlo Park, New Jersey, watching BARBRA several seemingly glorious stories high, in "Funny Girl"--and that "My Man" ending, oh my God!!!!"--what always grabbed me about the show was the idea that as much as one was watching the Fanny Brice story, one was watching BARBRA's--which meant it could have been the story of all of us!!!!!!!!!  And when I got to the section dealing with getting the show on its Broadway feet, it shows how that was clearly the intention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   And just wait till you hear about Lainie Kazan, Allyn Ann McLerie, Garson Kanin, Carol Haney, and others!!!!!!!!!!  Endlessly fascinating for all my girls out there!  This will be the big Christmas gift among the Gay crowd this year!!!!!!!  You better believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                     As for me, the book has inspired me to get out there and try some things I might not have before. We shall see what happens!!!!!!!!!!  But if you LOVE BARBRA, or even if you never could figure her out, but wanted to--THIS above the rest is the book to read!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        Eyes on the target, and WHAM!, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!