My mother was a fan of Lainie's singing and had 3 of her early recordings from the mid-late 1960's. I grew up listening to them--and fell in love with her voice. Later, in 1973 when I was living in Boston, I went to NYC to visit a close friend. While there, Lainie was appearing at the "Rainbow Room" at "Top of the Sixes". My friend took me to hear her. She mesmerizing, and her voice was still stunning. My friend and I had our pic taken together at our table, and Lainie was kind enough to autograph for me. She was very gracious. A bit later, she sang a medley of tunes made famous by Judy Garland, which were terrific. After the medley, she asked the audience if there was anything they would like her to sing. A lady in the back of the room asked Lainie to sing "My Man" from "Funny Girl." Lainie, without hesitating responded: "I couldn't possibly sing 'My Man,'---it belongs to BS." The room broke out in uproarious laughter!! I'll never forget that special evening 45 years ago. Lainie, thank you for sharing your many gifts as an actress and singer. Only a handful have accomplished what you have!! You're very special! :)
I have never fully appreciated Lainie Kazan until seeing her do such a wonderful job with this great Merrill/Styne song. Classic song, classic performance. And then, as I watched the video further, I had no idea that there would be a tribute to one of my favorite of all musicals: BEN FRANKLIN IN PARIS. Robert Young does a great job with it!
I think all of the women who covered Barbra or did the show on the road sound really good, nice warm tones none of that nasal sound that a lot of the new girls on Broadway sing with. Can we go back to this style of singing please.
She’s had a wonderful career doing exactly what she wanted with the gifts she has. And she still brings honest pleasure to her audience. And she has a buoyant sense of humor, which shines through each and every performance. Lainie Kazan is a true American Master. Not everyone gets to be a superstar. Nor do they wanna be.
She didn't become big because at the time Barbara and her where both joining into Movie and Music she did became famous for while but she wasn't pushing it like Barbara was
@@Melancholie89 Lainie Kazan Interview. In show business, you don't say “good luck,” you say “break a leg.” But one day, when Lainie Kazan was running along the beach with her dog, while taping a TV show, she literally fell and broke her leg.
I wish Lainie could have been teleported to the present day to star as Fannie in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. What a beautiful rendition of People.
There are songs from Funny Girl and another 1964 musicals likeGolden Boy(Sammy Davis),Ben\Franklyn inParis(Robert Preston),Something more (Barbara Cook) and the success Fiddler on the roof Robert Young introduced th eshow and also sang but not only Lennie Kazan.
Lanie had such control and really was a more personal rendition. Strong vibrato, but i love the color of her voice. And she was and still is a looker. Bravo! The only time she went on for Babs->she called the press to come watch. she got such great reviews that "someone" got her fired. Lanie: I would have done the same thing!
Ironic that although Lainie was Barbra’s understudy in Funny Girl on Broadway, Mimi Hines replaced Barbra when she left the production in December 1965. Mimi played the role for a year and a half until the show closed in July 1967.
Talk about theater obscurity: understudy Lainie Kazan singing "People" -which she would do for exactly ONE performance when "the star" was finally "out" -15 months ithe run. Lainie went into Eve Harrington mode and made sure members of the press were there. However, unlike Eve, poor Lainie was sacked -by order of "the star."
That's so not true. "The Star" might be described as a extremely power mad ruthless stop-at-nothing-to-get-what-she-wants monster over the years by the press. But to suggest that in the early sixties she could exercise this kind of clout is simply absurd.
That's so not true. Almost everything you, "Michael Pantyhose", wrote was fabricated: Kazan was two yrs Streisand senior, so the likelihood of them getting familiar with each other back at Erasmus hall was slim, thus "they were high school classmates and competitive even then" was totally made up. Another such is Streisand used her clout to have Frances' screen time in FUNNY GIRL butchered: Streisand was too much of a neophyte in Hollywood when she made her first movie. She didn't know a single thing about movie-making, she didn't have any experience before and behind the camera, she didn't have a clue as to what worked and what didn't. More than anything, the moguls in Tinseltown was trepidatious about Streisand's power in drawing people into the cinemas: No matter how able she had been in packing arenas, stadiums in the concert circuit, how highly regarded a Broadway star, how her records had been selling like hotcake, how her TV specials vaulted to the top of the rating, Streisand was still untried merchandise in the movie business. The basket case of Liberace was still too ingrained in memory to forget.
Utter nonsense, propagated and perpetuated by hateful, fabricated gossip. Do some factual, actual research. These silly stories have long since been debunked. Lainie is a talented performer. Despite all the anti-Streisand babble, she had some great opportunities to prove it. And she did. Neither of these two women stood in each other's way. And each created the level of success and recognition that their own individual talent and style deserved.
@@KingTriton1837 That's like saying the Beatles had a better publicist and promoter than The Dave Clark Five. Streisand had a more unique talent, more unique voice and more unique looks. She was destined for immortality. If anyone didn't need help getting publicity in the sixties, it was Barbra.
@@KingTriton1837 I disagree. Streisand is an original, a talent that comes once in many genrations. She would have succeed no matter what, a voice like hers couldn't be denied. Lainie's singing is great. But there is something ethereal about Barbra's singing that is so natural, un-manufactered, real that's set her apart from everybody else. And she never worked on her voice, it's totally natural. The girl didn't even want to become a singer! Even though I don't believe in God, she has a God given gift.
Singers seem to 'own' certain songs. Lainie's rendition of 'A house is not a home' is simply the best. But then there is Barbra singing 'The kind of man a woman needs'. Who else would even try. Just superb.
