Color Me Barbra - 1966 Television Special

In January 1966 Barbra Streisand started working on her second television show, to be taped in color and titled, appropriately, Color Me Barbra . CLIMBING INTO THE PAINTINGS The first stop for taping was Philadelphia’s Museum of Art with three brand new Marconi color cameras. (New York’s Metropolitan Museum denied permission to tape Color Me Barbra in their facility, but Philadelphia’s Museum of Art allowed the television crew to tape the show in their space provided it was finished by Monday morning.) Streisand pre-recorded the songs for the museum segment on January 20, 1966 at Columbia Studios East 30th Street location. Barbra and music director Peter Matz picked the takes she thought were best, all in preparation for the on-location shooting in Philadelphia. Streisand and crew captured the video they needed on January 22-23, 1966 at the museum. Barbra wrote about the taping: “As soon as the museum taping began, two of our new Marconi cameras gave out. There were no replacements. That left us with only one for the whole opening section.” “It's a great museum,” Streisand said about Philadelphia Museum of Art in March 1966. “The rooms are beautifully laid out and I go from exhibit to exhibit with my costume changing to match the period on display. It's not easy to do a musical show in a museum but I got a kick out of asking them to move a million dollars worth of paintings simply to provide an appropriate backdrop for a song. It was fun, but it took so much time technicians were falling asleep at the cameras.” Pat McBride—who in 1966 was CBS's longest working cameraman—told The Herald Mail : “I never knew anyone like Barbra. She reminds me of those pioneer women you see in the movies, always heading west in a covered wagon. She's physically strong and is always pleasant without being depressingly cheerful, if you know what I mean. She never gets ruffled and can work longer at a stretch than almost anyone I ever saw. If she lived in the old days, you just know she's a girl who wouldn't be afraid of an Indian attack.” Streisand's crew at the museum was impressive: 25 technicians, 12 electricians, and six supervisors (including director Hemion and Joe Layton). Technically, there were three microwave transmitters outside the museum that would transmit the footage to Philadelphia's WCAU-TV and also to New York. Conversely, the microwave transmitters allowed Streisand, Hemion, and Layton to view playback of each take on television monitors at the museum. A representative from the museum monitored the crew, making sure none of the museum's treasures were harmed by the miles of cable, crew, and large television cameras. One reporter who visited Streisand at the museum wrote, “Paintings and sculpture were moved from their customary spots, to facilitate camera movement or eliminate blank spaces on walls.” Further, “Control equipment and monitors were crammed into an Italian Renaissance room. Other monitors were outside the Arensberg rooms, incongruous companions for Rousseau primitives, and in one corner of the Great Hall.” For the second segment of Color Me Barbra, Streisand and crew ensconced themselves in CBS Studio 41 in New York with an array of circus animals. The production spent $350 for a tiger, $200 for an anteater, and $1200 on penguins—eight at $150 each! “Chaos threatened again,” Streisand recalled. “The lights were hell on the penguins, a lion broke out of its cage, and a baby elephant roared so loud that a nearby llama nearly suffered a heart attack.” A New York Times reporter described the “more than 30 hours” spent getting the circus segment “in the can”—the production crew taped the circus segment on January 25, 1966: ...part two was achieved through sheer tenacity. Barbra danced out onto a three-ring circus set. A baby elephant named Champagne roared so loudly that a baby llama nearby did a somersault. Barbra sang "Funny Face" in an orange ringmaster's costume. The horse reared, the penguins got sick under the hot lights and had to be carted off to a refrigerated area behind the set. The leopard refused to pose. Barbra had to worry not about being trampled to death but when to come in on cue. The show was behind schedule and the overtime was costing the star money. Four electricians chased a pig across the set and damaged part of the backdrop. The only light moment came when Barbra sang to an anteater named Izzy. "He must be Jewish," she said, as they touched noses.