The more you listen to Steven Brinberg as Barbra Streisand, the more he sounds like Streisand — but that’s more because you get used to HIS version of the Streisand sound the farther your mind moves from what she really sounds like.

Brinberg has been doing his Streisand thing for 17 years or so and has been acclaimed by audiences around the world, including some people who have worked with the real deal.  I don’t get it.

Oh, the look is there, particularly the long nails, and the tics and the mannerisms.  And there are moments when Brinberg over-emphasizes a word or deliberately sustains an “oooh” for several measures when he actually sounds like her. But his “Barbra” voice has little nuance.  It’s simply a pleasant falsetto that approximates Streisand’s voice without the fullness or tonal depth that make Streisand so distinctive and exquisite.

While most of the songs Brinberg sang from the Streisand canon sounded weak by comparison with the originals, he certainly had his moments.  He was remarkable on “People” (Styne/Merrill) and “Evergreen” (Streisand/Paul Williams), and his “duet” on “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” (Neil Diamond/Alan and Marilyn Bergman), in which he sang alternately as Streisand and in his own masculine voice, was brilliant — especially when pianist John Randall joined in softly at the very end of the song to create the illusion that Brinberg was somehow singing in two voices at once.

Randall provided great musical support throughout the 90-minute show, and his brief vocal on “(They Long to Be) Close to You” (Burt Bacharach/Hal David) sounded great before the “star” took over.

Brinberg also shared the stage with the show’s director, Richard Jay-Alexander, for a couple of duets — “I Want to Be Seen with You” (Jule Styne/Bob Merrill) from Funny Girl and “Over the Rainbow” (Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg).

There is no doubt Brinberg has tremendous talents as a voice mimic, as demonstrated by his brief riff recreating Katharine Hepburn’s voice as it changed over the decades — absolutely spot-on; or in his vocal imitations of various women while singing “I’m Still Here” (Stephen Sondheim) — particularly his Eartha Kitt, Lena Horne, Cher and pin-perfect Bette Davis and Betty Buckley — though his Ethel Merman was way off the mark.

In addition, his sense of humor was on target throughout, as when he talked about possibly returning to Broadway in a second sequel to Annie that, given the star’s age, might have to be called Ann; or when he sang special lyrics to “In Buddy’s Eyes” from Sondheim’s Follies called “In Brolin’s Eyes”; or when he finished his “duet” with himself and commented how much fun it was “to sing a duet where you can control the other singer.”

But when it comes to capturing the vocal essence of Barbra Streisand, what Brinberg delivers is mostly Barbra-Lite, and that “simply” isn’t enough.

Elliot Zwiebach
Cabaret Scenes
September 10, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org