Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Planning to catch Barbra Streisand on her tour with the "popera" quartet Il Divo? Better arrive on time.
"I open the show," Streisand, 64, quips. "After all these years, I'm still the opening act."
That's not to say that the diva -- whose first national tour in more than a decade starts Wednesday in Philadelphia -- will be a supporting player. Streisand will be the star the moment she appears on stage, mixing classics with songs she has never performed in public.
Il Divo, whose operatic approach to pop ballads has fueled a pair of chart-topping CDs, will join Streisand for several numbers. "It's like having 'The Four Tenors' -- but the four young, hot tenors. They're cute and they have beautiful voices. What more could you ask for?"
Additional surprises will include a special guest joining Streisand on Happy Days Are Here Again, "and some comedy, some fun stuff. Everybody will know after Philadelphia."
Streisand describes her new production as "more intimate, not as elaborate as I've done before. I have 58 musicians. But it's really about the singing. In listening to certain things from my past, I thought I could revisit them."
Another goal is to help raise money for Streisand's charitable foundation, which focuses on health, education and the environment. She has committed $1 million to Bill Clinton's Climate Initiative.
"To do good things you need lots of money," Streisand says. "Of course, my foundation has done great things with small amounts, too. We stopped a nuclear power plant from turning waste-grade plutonium into weapons-grade plutonium."
Fans can learn about other projects and goals in Streisand's concert program. "There are things in terms of peace organizations between Arabs and Israelis, and blacks and Jews. A lot of it is non-partisan. People will be able to see where a lot of the money they're spending is going. I want to do some good things in my lifetime -- and pay for my house, which is double the budget already."
Indeed, Streisand jokes that part of the reason she's hitting the road again is "to escape the horror" of constructing a new home in Malibu. "But I end up dealing with it anyway, by phone and fax and e-mail. It's harder than doing the concert."
"My tours are very limited," Streisand says. "I speak to my friends, to people like Diana Krall, who said she toured 300 out of 365 days. People like Madonna do 60 cities, where I'm only doing 20. It's rare for me to go out. But at this time in my life, this feels right."
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
© Copyright 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
