Back to Broadway 1993

Back to Broadway 1993
Columbia Records had never been gung-ho about The Broadway Album, but the success of that Grammy-winner made them ecstatic about Barbra's decision to return to theater music one more time with a second set called Back to Broadway. This time around, there was no skimping and no squabbling from the label, but the creative team no longer include arranger/conductor Peter Matz and that made a difference. Back to Broadway is a good album, just not as good as its predecessor. Perhaps they all were trying just a bit too hard, so instead of one duet, there are two. With her childhood idol Johnny Mathis, Barbra does a medley from West Side Story, "I Have A Love"/"One Hand, One Heart" and with her former Hello Dolly co-star Michael Crawford, she does his definitive song from The Phantom of the Opera "The Music of the Night." The Streisand/Crawford collaboration is bewitching and beautifully rendered. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber offered Barbra the entire Sunset Boulevard score from which to pick and choose before it debuted on stage, and she chose "With One Look" and "As If We Never Said Goodbye," making them her own. Ultimately, it's the Streisand/Sondheim collaboration that are most memorable; "Children Will Listen" with never before recorded lyrics, and a powerhouse rendition of "Move On"/"We Do Not Belong Together" from Sunday In The Park with George. Undiscovered gem: from Sondheim's Anyone Can Whistle, "Everybody Says Don't"

Some Enchanted Evening
Everybody Says Don't
The Music of the Night (duet with Michael Crawford)
Speak Low
As If We Never Said Goodbye
Children Will Listen
I Have A Love/One Hand, One Heart (duet w/Johnny Mathis)
I've Never Been in Love Before
Luck Be a Lady
With One Look
The Man I Love
Move On/We Do Not Belong Together

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