The Belle of 14th Street (1967)
Barbra’s third television special for CBS and her sponsor, Monsanto, got off to a rocky start.
In February 1966, shortly after finishing up Color Me Barbra, Streisand and husband Elliott Gould took a second honeymoon in Paris. The trip was financed by her television corporate sponsor, Chemstrand. Barbra told the press, “I’m here to purchase the wardrobe for my next TV special. Cost is no object because my sponsor is picking up the tab.” At that point the theme of her third TV show would be fashion, and Paris offered many couture choices.
Barbra was seen at a Dior fashion show wearing not the designer’s clothes, but a jaguar suit and hat she had designed herself.
In all, it is said Barbra chose nine Dior outfits at a cost of $150,000. However, her third television special was postponed.
In March ‘66, Barbra flew to London to appear at the Prince of Wales Theatre in Funny Girl. Shortly after beginning her run in London, Barbra announced her pregnancy. Not only did that cause her concert tour to be abbreviated, but Barbra’s television special was postponed as well. Barbra told the BBC in July 1966: “I also can’t do my third television show, which I was supposed to do here [London].”
Returning to the States, Barbra performed four concert dates, and then retired to enjoy the rest of her pregnancy and give birth to her son, Jason, in December.
The production picked up momentum in March 1967.
By now, though, Barbra was under the gun. She was due in Hollywood in May to begin shooting the Funny Girl film. And CBS and Chemstrand wanted a new special by the end of the year. That left Barbra with a short window of time — March and April, 1967.
The format and theme of the television show had changed, too. Instead of centering on fashion, Barbra’s next special would include guest stars and be situated in a 1900’s Vaudeville theater. Entitled The Belle of 14th Street, the special would allow Barbra to play several different characters but not have to shoulder the burden of carrying another one-woman show. Barbra’s creative collaborators did meticulous research on Vaudeville — “We even called George Burns in Hollywood and Jack Pearl,” said Barbra’s manager, Marty Erlichman.
“We were all determined that the show not be just a variety format,” director Joe Layton said. “We wanted something different. So we hit upon the idea of restaging a vaudeville performance. All the acts, songs, skits and specialties had to be derivative of the period between 1895-1912.”
This time Broadway actor Jason Robards would co-star. Vaudeville veteran John Bubbles was given a solo number, too. And Lee Allen, who played Eddie in Funny Girl on the stage (and would reprise the role in the film) joined the 14th Street cast.
Barbra Streisand’s voice was failing her. She had no choice but to push on and fulfill her commitment to tape The Belle of 14th Street over four days in April 1967.
She recorded demos of the Belle songs, singing them quietly to conserve her voice. Below is a demo of “Put Your Arms Around Me Honey” (click to play):
Belle was taped at CBS’s Studio #41 at 57th Street in New York April 26—29, 1967. A beautiful art nouveau theater was built inside the studio, designed by set whiz Tom John. For scenes in which the Gay Nineties audience is watching the performance on stage, the extras were also costumed in period clothes. The extras were comprised of Monsanto employees and customers. Barbra’s mother and step-father were around for some of the taping, as well.
(Above: Two Belle of 14th Street shooting schedules. Called “call sheets”, they are used in the film and television industry as tools for letting cast and crew members know what they will be doing on the next day. The call sheets above illustrate how hard Barbra worked on this television show. Special thanks to Rich Kleinberg for providing these documents from his collection to The Barbra Archives.)
Reportedly, filming was intense. With Barbra battling voice problems and singing non-stop for three days, the shoot sometimes went until four AM. She was visibly exhausted.
The most grueling part of the shoot was the “Alice Blue Gown” sequence. Barbra, wearing a breakaway costume in which pieces of it were pulled off by nylon wires, had to keep her energy up as the costume kept malfunctioning take after take. A doctor was summoned to give her a cortisone injection to help her voice.
(Photos, above: Streisand sings the strip-tease number Alice Blue Gown. The costume she wore was auctioned in 2004. The costume description said it was a “two piece novelty costume consisting of a light blue heavy satin leotard corset style top, ribbed, featuring self attached light blue chiffon, decorative sash with bow at rear, lower hem edges with fringe tassels, zipper hook and eye closure at back, together with a full length voluminous light blue chiffon skirt, featuring rows of decorative silk ribbon, ending in bows with attached faux mini flower bouquets, snaps attached inside waistband, rear seam with Velcro closure, bottom hem trimmed in white lace. ”) The costume sold for $900.
There was no live orchestra; Barbra sang with pre-recorded tracks. David Shire played along with her at the piano during the concert segment.
(Above photo: Streisand wore a blue-colored gown while rehearsing the final concert sequence. For the actual taping she wore a form-fitting black dress.)
Cut From Belle
A few scenes were edited from the 1967 Streisand television special...
(Photo, below: A cut scene from the Tempest segment! Streisand is costumed as Juno. Following is a short excerpt from Shakespeare's “The Tempest” with the lines that Streisand most likely spoke. Photo from the collection of Jorge Rodriguez in Spain.)
CERES
High'st queen of state, Great Juno, comes; I know her by her gait.
Enter JUNO
JUNO
How does my bounteous sister? Go with me
To bless this twain, that they may prosperous be
And honour'd in their issue.
They sing:
JUNO
Honour, riches, marriage-blessing, Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you! Juno sings her blessings upon you.
(Photo, below: Some of Streisand's friends and family appeared in the theater audience for the television special. That's Cis Corman on the left, and Barbra's sister Roslyn Kind on the right. Photo from the collection of Jorge Rodriguez in Spain.)
When taping for The Belle of 14th Street wrapped, a lavish party was thrown for cast and crew by Monsanto downtown at Luchow’s ... on 14th Street! Luchow’s was a favorite eating place of the old-time Vaudeville stars.
Next “Belle” page: Costumes & Advertising >>
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