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Revealed: Barbra Streisand's diva demands
Last updated at 10:54am on 11.07.07
On tour: Miss Streisand's agent has defended her ticket prices
Most performers insist on hot towels and drinks in their dressing room, or, just to be difficult, that their M&Ms be separated according to colour.
But after nearly five decades in the business, Barbra Streisand obviously feels she can demand a little extra investment in time and money.
As she swept into town yesterday for what is being billed as the most expensive concert tour of all time, the preparations were furious.
The stage at Manchester's MEN arena, on which she was going to croon classics such as The Way We Were and Evergreen last night, was strewn with roses.
The arena had been swept by police dog teams trained to sniff out explosives and there were metal detectors on the doors.
Waiting for her backstage were five fabric-upholstered furniture suites, 60 tables and 120 bath-sized towels.
Even the security staff were immaculate in the 'dark jackets, blazers or sweaters with no T-shirts' that she requested.
The diva herself would be ferried around in a limousine accompanied by her entourage in 13 tractor-style trailer trucks, before being whisked to London on her private jet after the two-and-ahalf-hour concert.
Miss Streisand, 65, also shocked fans with her exorbitant ticket prices. Though they start at £75 in Manchester, some cost a staggering £600, and are fetching £1,400 a piece in Internet auctions.
Many die-hard Streisand fans were not deterred. But others complain that it is three times that for the best seats for a Madonna or Rolling Stones concert.
And some say they were duped into paying high prices for her last British concerts in 1994 in the belief it was her final tour. Former fan Rocky Fernandez from London said: "Miss Streisand has often spoken out about equality.
"She claims to be donating a percentage of her hugely vulgar ticket prices to disadvantaged youngsters but where is the equality for those fans not able to fork out £100, let alone £600?"
The singer, who kicked off her tour in the U.S. and Europe, will go on to play Dublin this weekend and three dates in London's O2 arena later this month.
Although she broke box-office records in 14 of her 16 venues in the U.S., raking in £46million, she had to cancel the first leg of her European tour amid a row about 'absurd' ticket prices.
In Italy, consumer campaigners even urged authorities to refuse her permission to use Rome's 24,000-seater stadium.
A spokesman for Miss Streisand, who has 50 gold, 30 platinum and 13 multi-platinum albums, and starred in many movies including the 1969 musical Hello Dolly!, justified the cost by likening her to Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra.
He added: "Seeing her in concert is a pretty momentous occasion."
Reader views (4)
I don’t know about the money Miss Streisand makes but I know the ticket agencies are once again ripping fans off the agency promised to "get me in" 2x £100 face value tickets at £187.50 plus £71.50 fees that’s £446.50 for tickets worth £200 and although we were led to believe they were reserved seating tickets upper tier they are actually 4 rows from the back! Isn’t it about time the fans and the performers made a stand against these money garbing companies?
- Karen, Newhaven, East Sussex
It is obvious to me that the "two" previous reviewers are just jealous that they won't have the chance to see the world's greatest living legend. I was fortunate enough to see "La Streisand" in 1994 when she last performed here and nothing was going to prevent me from seeing her again this time - in fact I'm going to see her twice! You just can't put a price on perfection - it's like saying, "how can you pay £55 million for Van Gough's Sun Flowers". If you've got it and you want it then why not pay it. These small-minded "Victor Meldrew's" as I call them, don't have anything better to do than complain - put up amd shut up. As for me, I'm going to love every moment of both concerts - the memories I shall take away with me will far out-strip the the ticket price.
- John Yates, London
For once I applaud the Italians for standing up against the absurd prices these 'entertainers' charge. It's blatant extortion and nothing can possibly justify these exhorbitant prices. She may have been a force in the 60s and 70s but she's definitely faded since then. I was a huge Streisand fan for many years and if she'd stuck to her singing and not rattled on with her political shenanigans so much I'd still be a fan today, but there's not a person on the planet I'd pay £600 to go and see and definitely not Streisand.
- Paul Wilson, London, UK
Anyone going around buying tickets for Barbara Streisand must have more money than sense. Don't these people realise, if you don't buy the tickets at the ridiculous price then she'll have to reduce them. The people who buy the tickets are the ones with the power! As for Ms Streisand, she should be ashamed of herself.
- Marianne, Twickenham
