Streisand’ll Be Smiling Soon

NEW YORK —  The reviews for Barbra Streisand’s “Back to Broadway” album have varied--some raves, some pans, some so-so’s. But almost without exception, critics have said that Barbra’s 50th album is lacking in humor; more precisely, that the great star takes herself too seriously and no longer has (or can even fake) a sense of humor about herself.

Well, we all change, but in Barbra’s case, I don’t think this intense artist has ever, in real life, been much of a funny girl. She has always taken herself, her work, her public image very seriously, and if she now sometimes comes off--even when she sings--more like a grand dame than the quirky urchin of her early years, that’s the price one pays for life under the microscope of fame. (Believe me, in a few years, Madonna will probably start looking askance at anybody who asks a “rude” or “inappropriate” question! In the end, they all want “respect.”)

In the case of “Back to Broadway,” Barbra undoubtedly approached these standards and standards-to-be with her typical seriousness and devotion to the material. Her “mannered” style and enunciation are the very traits her fans love. When the album goes double platinum, as it is almost sure to do, her critics will find Barbra indeed has a sense of humor--she’ll be laughing all the way to the Grammy Awards.

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Arsenio Hall receives the Richard Pryor Entertainer of the Year Award at the first “Soul Train Comedy Awards” to be taped Aug. 3 at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. This will air as a syndicated TV special later that month. Executive producer Don Cornelius praises Arsenio as “a great entertainer at the zenith of his career . . . he’s become both a spiritual leader and a role model for many younger African-American comedians.”