 OH HAI STREISAND's HOUSE! In 2003 as part of an ongoing effort by the California Coastal Records Project to document the very serious cliffside and beach-erosion occurring up and down the Caifornia coast, a photographer named Kenneth Adelman took an aerial photo of Barbra Streisand's Malibu home. (Let us pause here to clarify that the house he photographed is in fact the same home featured in Streisand's book "My Passion for Design." Ok, carry on) Mr. Adelman also took 12,000 other pictures of the coastline, beaches, and residences perched precariously on the cliffs from the Oregon coast down to Mexico, as part of an ongoing effort from the late 1980's to present day to document, monitor, and hopefully stop the terrible erosion problems occurring throughout the state. These photos were then uploaded into the publicly available but largely unknown site to be used mainly by scientists, civil engineers, and environmental researchers, the California Coastal Records Site. Streisand then sued him for $50,000,000.00. Guys, pour yourselves a cocktail because this is about to get really, really good.  An image is worth a thousand words, or in this case, fifty million dollars. Claiming that Mr. Adelman's photos would show people how to "gain access" to her home, (Yes, the same home she relentlessly photographed in her own book, "My Passion for Design") Streisand slapped the lawsuit on Mr. Adleman personally. At the time of said lawsuit, the photo in question shown above had been viewed exactly 6 times. 4 by research scientists focusing largely on the malibu cliffs, and twice by her attorneys. Her demands were for her house, perched on a cliff that is rapidly eroding, in a section of California that is plagued by wildfire, drought, and landslide issues, to be removed from the database, and she be paid $50,000,000.00 for damages. Immediately upon learning of the lawsuit, the media picked up on this ridiculous and hilarious claim and the photo in question was then viewed over a million times by the public. Stories exploded online, in print, and all over the late-night news, with Streisand rightfully being the punchline to her own joke. La Streisand, Queen of Zero Self-Awareness and having long abandoned her legendary sense of humor, to put it mildly--lost her shit.
What began as Streisand's greatest tamtrum (and she's had many) ended up becoming a widely-used data and analysis term. "How long is it going to take before lawyers realize that the simple act of trying to repress something they don't like online is likely to make it so that something that most people would never, ever see (like a photo of a urinal in some random beach resort) is now seen by many more people? Let's call it the Streisand Effect."
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 If clutter were butter, Barbra would be on a roll. 1 STAR This book makes me feel sorry for James Brolin. It makes me want to enroll Barbra in a feng shui class. It makes me glad I don't have to dust her tchotchkes  So much talent, PLUS such fabulous design! 5 STARS!! I was fortunate enough to tour Ms. Streisand's magnificent architectural masterpiece in the Malibu Canyon compound that she created, and then donated to the Nature Conservancy, and I was amazed and inspired, and never forgot it. So when I heard about the book she has written on design, I bought it immediately. What a delight to turn the pages and be transported into a dream world that ordinarily only Hollywood and smoke and mirrors could create. But Barbra did it! She made it real! What a heaven on earth she has created for her and her family and friends. How fortunate they are to live there and experience it, and how lucky we are to be able to savor it vicariously in the delicious pages of her book. Bravo Barbra for the book, and the home!  If I could give this book 10 stars I would! Barbra Streisand is an amazing talent of our time, who knew she was also a visionary designer? This book is an inspiration and a gift to anyone who reads it. If you don't believe in heaven, you might want to reconsider when you see the environment by the sea that Babs has imagined and brought to glorious life. No detail has been left to chance and she has been extremely generous in sharing her thinking, her point of view, her life. My Passion For Design is luscious. I would have paid $300 for it  her passion is not my passion 1 STAR Who designs a home with a street of stores underneath? Weird...a doll store? It's more like Bab's fantasy land. What the heck does James Brolin like? Does he have a "store", too? I guess if you worship Babs...anything she does is okay. Whatever.  Insight into BJS is INCREDIBLE! 5 STARS!!
Who knew that her favorite color was burgundy? Who knew that she had an unwavering patience for just the right shade of fabric, the perfect symetry of every room, door and window, not to mention the flow of each room into the other. Well, I don't want to spoil the entire book for you. ORDER IT, BUY IT, LOOK FORWARD TO IT'S ARRIVAL, and SET ASIDE ALONE TIME TO SAVOR THIS JEWEL. I can't wait to reread mine over and over again. You won't be disappointed, I promise.  Subtle and tasteful as always. There was a glorious, golden period in Barbra Streisand's career around the time of her third album, right after she won her first Oscar for "Funny Girl," when her sense of humor was as big as her voice. Always a lover of theatricality in all of her stage and screen performances, she translated this bombastic, over the top style to her television special called "Color Me Barbra." Back before YouTube and the medium of music videos, television specials were the main method to reach a wide audience and give them a taste of the style a performer would put on in their shows. In early 1966 color television was still somewhat rare, and to host a television special entirely in color like Streisand did with "Color Me Barbra" was such a novelty that hundreds of thousands tuned in just to see what the special would look like.
  Yasss Kween! Yass! Let it be stated for the public record and the High Court of Gay, (presided over by the Honorable Judge "Queen Christopher Ginger Devine Daniels XI", long may he reign) that we love Barbra Streisand. We love her voice, her acting, her theatrics, her god-given talent, and her refusal to bow to a male-dominated industry. This does not mean that we can't equally love her delightfully batty antics, her insistence on a pristine aesthetic in every room she enters, and her delicious lack of self-awareness. Our reverence for her talent and our reverence for her crazy are not mutually exclusive.
Like every Heroine of Gay culture, Streisand's first opportunity to perform was at the gay club "Lion" in Greenwich Village. Like Bette Middler who performed in bathhouses and Judy Garland who sold out every tiny gay nightclub in Manhattan, women with big voices and big personalities considered "too much" or "not enough" would always be welcomed in gay establishments. Patrons of these clubs were themselves discriminated against and often had to hide their relationships and orientation, painfully aware that they too were "too much", (too effeminate, too loud, too boisterous, too funny, too smart...) or "not enough", (not "hetero" enough, not traditionally handsome enough, not quiet enough, not complacent enough...) and thus they would happily host anyone who simply wanted to dance or sing or joke.
Her voice was big and powerful, and she could belt out everything from torch songs to jazz classics, and she loved performing as much as her fans loved watching her. She quickly rose to a higher-paying nightclub gig opening for Phyllis Diller, but never forgot the original patrons of the Lion in Greenwich Village, her very first fans. Since the story of her very first performance has become such a legend, whispered about in near- reverent tones, we doubt any of them forgot her.
Next time.... Streisand makes her stage debut, her television debut, and earns an Oscar for her very first movie.  Life goal #1: Fake shopping mall full of antiques I bought, that I then re-buy from myself Darlings, cupcakes, my precious streusel muffins, we have missed you. After taking a break from blogging when King Lear ended, we are back with our "inspiration" series for our next show, and lovies........its amazing. "Buyer and Cellar" tells the story about one of the most storied, mythical places on earth, a magical place spoken about in hushed tones and whispers of reverence, the Vatican of Asinine, Taj Mahal of Self-Absorbtion and the Holy Grail of Gay.......the fake shopping mall Barbra Streisand built in her Malibu house, just for her to use.
 When playwright Jonathan Tollins heard about this, he wondered if Streisand ever hired salespeople for her fake shops, and if so, what would that be like? Thus, "Buyer & Cellar" was born, with the character of Alex hired to "work" in the basement sweet shop that only Streisand visits. Hilarious, insightful, oddly sweet and utterly fantastic, "Buyer & Cellar" will run from July 8 to 30th at Good Luck Macbeth theatre, with the brilliant and gorgeous Christopher Daniels in the role of Alex.
Join us for the show and follow our theatre blog for our Inspirations behind the show, our Streisand obsession, and stories about the greatest design book ever written.  As American as Nicholas Cage..... Voting is open for Reno News and Review's annual "Best Of", where the good people of Reno pick their favorite local businesses, restaurants, bars, people, and activities. Last year your favorite local theatre (hint--us) was voted into the #2 spot for "Best Theatre," and we were so excited we drank the city out of Jameson to celebrate. Like the wind blowing through Nicholas Cage's glorious mane, your accolades and support give us life. If you'd like to vote, click the link below. Vote in Reno News and Review 2016 Best Of   'Cause I slay  “Get ready for a show unlike anything that you’ve seen. Our shows are very interactive and audience driven. We will be down in the crowd, we will bring people up on stage, we will be showing a lot of skin, and we will have something for everyone. This will be a fantastic show filled with oohs, aahs, and things that will blow your mind. This is NOT your regular drag show, this is the Caravan of GLAM.” America's Got Talent Season 10 participants, Reigning Queens of the Great American West, and purveyors of "New Age" Cabaret, the Caravan of Glam will be rolling into Reno this weekend. What is New Age Cabaret? the troupe’s creator, manager and producer Justin Buckles explains: “It encompasses drag, burlesque, live singing and acrobatics. And we have aerial performers, fire performers, contortionists and we have live singing. We have a little bit of everything.” Caravan of Glam will be performing 5 shows: Friday 6/3: 800 and 9:30 Saturday 6/4 5:00 (Family Friendly) 8:00 and 9:30
 Role Models Our Prayers to the Drag Gods have been answered, because our Patron Saints the Caravan of Glam will be at GLM this weekend, to bring their "new age cabaret" to Reno. Full of singing, dancing, elaborate costumes, glowing hula hoops and acrobatics, feathers, glitter, crowns, glamour, and a seven-foot tall drag queen, the Caravan of Glam is going to put on a S-H-O-W, SHOW for you! A SHOW, DARLINGS!!! There are TWO performances on Friday June 3rd, one at 8:00pm and another at 9:30pm, both shows are $15.00 presale/ $20 at the door and both are for patrons who are over 18. Saturday 6/4 consists of 3 shows, because these queens never sleep! The 5:00pm show is family-friendly and is $10 pre-sale/ $12 at the door, so bring your drag-babies.
The 8:00pm and 9:00pm shows that night for adults and $15 pre-sale/$20 at the door. |
AuthorsChristopher Daniels is the current Managing Director of GLM Theatre and a bright shining light upon the stage. Archives
February 2019
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