'Glee' and the Barbra Streisand Connection

Ever since 'Glee' began, there's been a thread running through it that's always reminded me of Barbra Streisand. In last Tuesday's episode, the thread was more like a rope, as four characters did the medley "One Less Bell/A House Is Not A Home," just like Streisand did in the 1971 Burt Bacharach TV special.

Apparently, others have picked up on this connection, too. This review in New York magazine suggested that the 'Glee' should really do a Barbra Streisand episode -- like the Madonna show -- because Barbra is 'the patron saint' of 'Glee' kids.

Whether they do an all-Streisand show or not, the writer made a great point about how the kids in New Directions are more akin to Brooklyn Barbra than almost any other performer. Before she graduated Erasmus Hall High School in 1959, Barbra Streisand was in glee club. (So was Neil Diamond!) But Streisand wasn't the star of Choral Club. The director, Mr. De Pietto, preferred blonde soprano,Trudy Wallace, and gave her all the solos. Streisand was put in the back, in the alto section.

Like the kids on 'Glee,' Streisand yearned to be popular, but she wasn't. Nobody threw a Slushee in her face, but she was considered a kook. She wore weird thrift shop clothes, experimented with outlandish makeup, and with her odd-ball looks -- the nose -- she didn't fit in.

The fact that she made it out of Brooklyn to become -- BARBRA STREISAND! -- is inspirational to any theater-crazed kid who feels like an outsider. Like Rachel -- for sure -- and Kurt and Artie, and even Puck! What do you think it meant when co-creator Ryan Murphy accepted the Golden Globe for 'Glee' last January, he said, "Thank you to the Hollywood Foreign Press and Miss Barbra Streisand." That was a shout-out linking Streisand to that show. And don't forget that for sectionals, Rachel channeled Streisand when she sang "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Then, the other night, the Bacharach/David medley. If you doubt that the arrangement was pure Streisand, take a look at her original performance:

So now there's a Facebook petition going around to get 'Glee' to do Streisand-music episode. Here's the link.

There's yet another Streisand/'Glee' connection that's coming up. On May 8, "Funny Girl," Barbra's 1968 film debut -- which won her the Best Actress Oscar (in a tie with Katherine Hepburn) -- is being shown on the big screen. At 7:30 PM at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, 'Glee's' Ryan Murphy, executive producer Dante Di Loreto and Rachel Berry herself, Lea Michele, will do a special introduction for the movie. You think a few Gleeks will show up? Yeah, so do I.

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