My Life With Barbra: A Love Story

by Barry Dennen

The time is 1959 in New York City; the scene is a quaint 9th Street apartment with candles, play scripts, and a guitar the place struggling actor Barry Dennen calls home. He shares this space with a young, ambitious, starry-eyed actress named Barbara Streisand. Their friendship was instantaneous, and then evolved into a love that could have only existed during those exuberant, youthful days in the New York theater scene days that burned themselves into Dennen's memory.My Life with A Love Story is a moving, fascinating, intimate portrait of Streisand, the three years she shared with Dennen, and the on-again, off-again relationship he has had with her for 30 years. When they met, Dennen explains, it was Streisand's dream to make it as a stage actress. But he helped her discover her real talent, singing. She came to him looking for friendship, and he introduced her to the fabulous history of nightclub singing and cabaret. Through the richly textured performance education Streisand received from Dennen, the thrift shop threads their friend Terry Leong turned into stunning star outfits for her, and the tender touch of makeup artist Bob Schulenberg, Barbara became "Barbra" and was empowered to eventually realize that dream of fame through finding a "style" that set her apart from the rest.Drawn from Dennen's personal experiences with Streisand, his diaries and letters from that time, My Life with Barbra takes a close look at the early years of one of today's most powerful American entertainers. From her eye-popping first smash-hit as a brand-new Broadway Star in "I Can Get It For You Wholesale," to her starring role in "Funny Girl" Dennen offers you front row seats to the making of a megastar. A treasure-trove drawn from his scrapbooks, never-before published photographs, and letters makes this book of memories a unique and enduring collector's item.

Genres: Music

277 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are not many books that have chosen to focus exclusively on Barbra's early life and rise to fame much less ones written by someone who actually knew her. Barry Dennen became friends with Barbra when she first moved away from her childhood home in Queens and into Manhattan. He claims that he is the one who gave her ideas such as choosing to perform her now infamous rendition of A Sleepin' Bee and other songs. Barbra, of course, has disputed him at every turn. Which one to believe is hard to say but, nevertheless, Dennen has written a lovely portrait of his superstar friend as a young lady green to show business. It's neither overly fawning nor too critical. Instead, he achieves what is often a rare feat in the genre of celebrity biographies: that of simply telling it like it was. If you are a fan of Barbra's, especially her early work, then you will enjoy this glimpse of the start of her legendary career.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of Barbra Streisand. The reason that i loved this was that it wasn't your typical biography. it's written through the eyes of someone that actually knows and lived with Babs when she was about 18 years old. It really captures who she was at the time and how she has and hasn't changed since then.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Barry Dennen, and would have quite honestly preferred an autobiography with just a few chapters about Barbra. Some of this info is very informative, particularly as regards the selection and rehearsing of music. Some of the sexual information is just TMI. Ultimately, I rate this just so-so.

[Dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it's interesting to read about Barbra's early professional life, this book was very padded. It could have been a long Vanity Fair article instead of a book.