The Barbra Party

April 12, 2018

By Elliot Zwiebach for Cabaret Scenes

The Los Angeles cabaret community is preparing to celebrate Barbra Streisand’s 76th birthday with its annual charity concert and, while it’s an open question — as always — whether or not she will attend, she is certainly aware of the event.

In a letter presented during last year’s show to Clifford Bell, who has produced and directed the previous 19 birthday celebrations, Streisand offered congratulations for using her birthday to raise funds for Project Angel Food, which delivers meals to people in need.

“Frankly, I couldn’t think of a better gift,” she wrote. “I’m deeply touched to know that my songs are being put to such good use.”

Bell, a passionate Streisand fan, said he continues to be thrilled by the surprise of receiving the letter. “To have any sweet acknowledgment from her that she liked something I did pretty much makes my life complete,” he said in an interview.

This year’s concert — Our Name Is Barbra 2018: A Benefit for Project Angel Food — is scheduled for April 22, two days before Streisand’s actual birthday, at Catalina Jazz Club in the heart of Hollywood. General admission tickets are priced at $25 (plus minimums), with VIP tickets, which include preferred seating and dinner, priced at $100.

As in previous years, all participants will sing songs recorded or performed by Streisand at some point in her career. “In the singer community, we are often discouraged from singing songs identified with Barbra because they sort of get retired after she’s sung them,” Bell said. “But everyone secretly dreams of singing those songs.”

The event, known as the Barbra party, started 20 years ago when Bell and a handful of friends got together at someone’s home to celebrate Streisand’s birthday and sing her songs, “and it was soooo much fun,” he recalled enthusiastically. “Now, here we are all these years later, and now we do it in fancy venues and raise money for charity.”

The charity this year is Project Angel Food, founded in the early 1990s in response to the AIDS crisis to address the immediate need of feeding people who were sick, housebound, and without resources. According to Bell, “It’s become one of the most respected and admired charities in Los Angeles, delivering meals across Southern California to clients in need, with whatever illness makes them unable to leave their homes. And the volunteers deliver more than food — they deliver the nourishment of love to those people in need.”

Bell said it was “the beauty of Project Angel Food” that prompted Streisand to reach out to support his effort. “She’s a longtime donor who is largely responsible for the donation that made the kitchen they use possible,” he explained.

Streisand acknowledged as much in her letter. “In these perilous times, when some of our so-called leaders choose to turn a cold shoulder to those most urgently in need, grassroots organizations like Project Angel Food become a more crucial lifeline than ever before. For 19 years [as of last year], Clifford and Project Angel Food have walked the walk, not just talked the talk.” 

Last year’s show was held in a smaller venue, and with 100-plus attendees and a low ticket price, it raised just under $3,000, Bell said. “But the event also generated a lot of publicity and networking, so I know it inspired many more private donations, and I know a lot of people got involved with volunteering,” he added.

Bell said he had considered doing this year’s show at a theater, “but a good friend said that would preclude the ability of people to eat and drink, which seemed like a smart consideration. So, I choose Catalina because it is quite large and elegant, with state-of-the-art sound and lights.”

Being that it’s the show’s 20th year, “I wanted it to be extra special,” Bell added. “And now that I know our beloved Barbra has an awareness of us and has expressed support of our efforts for Project Angel Food, I’m putting the show together with the thought in the back of my mind about what she would think if she were watching it.”

This year’s event will feature Andrea Marcovicci, Bell noted. “We’ve tried to get her many times over the years, but she’s usually in New York in April. This year, she’s leaving two days later, so we’ve got her.”

Other scheduled performers will include MaryJo Mundy, Artie Butler, Kiki Ebsen, Melanie Taylor and Terry Wollman, and Ilene Graff and Ben Lanzarone, with additional names being added “as they commit,” Bell said.

Asked if Streisand might attend, Bell replied coyly, “I’ll tell you what I’ve always said for 20 years now. She hasn’t shown up … yet!”

Contributions may be made at www.angelfood.org