Sun reporter one of the luckiest people to sing along with Barbra

Monday, Jan. 3, 2000 | 10:26 a.m.

People.

Barbra Streisand needed people.

They're the luckiest people in the world. Or, at least among the luckiest in Las Vegas.

Apologies to the late Jule Styne for doctoring his lyrics to Streisand's signature song, "People," but that does tell how about 100 Las Vegans brought in the new year Friday night.

For her sold-out, big-bucks performance at the MGM Grand Garden Friday, Streisand needed a choir to back up six of the dozens of songs she offered to the crowd of 13,000. She went to the UNLV Music Department for help.

The massive job of coordinating the effort fell to Myron Martin, director of the UNLV Performing Arts Center.

Because many students were on their holiday break, a few other musicians were contacted. The result was a group of 60 consisting of local UNLV students, members of Las Vegas' First Presbyterian Church choir and a handful of recruits -- including me. To add volume, some student musicians from Las Vegas Academy, the high school performing arts magnet program, also were invited.

One piece required a young, tender sound, so the vocal music teacher at K.O. Knudson Middle School, another performing-arts magnet program, was asked to select and rehearse an 18-voice group.

"It was pretty exciting to be asked," Brenda Zahn, a second-year teacher at Knudson, said. "She's my new favorite singer now."

The competition was intense among the students for the opportunity to be on stage with the pop diva who came to prominence decades before they were born.

All of the singers rehearsed from as early as 6 p.m. to as late as midnight for four days leading up to New Year's Eve. Streisand dropped in on some of the sessions and dispelled her reputation for being difficult to work with. She was warm and charming and even cracked a few jokes during rehearsal.

On the night of the performance, the chorus and the middle-school singers were on stage for one song, "At the Same Time," an ode to optimism for the future of mankind -- perfect for New Year's Eve. The five other pieces featured background chords and melodies and were sung from a studio room off the main arena.

Conductor Bob Esty followed the lead of Streisand's musical director, Marvin Hamlisch, on a video monitor and the sound was piped directly into the arena sound system -- the group could be heard, but not seen.

That was fine for the chorus, which was under no pressure to memorize the series of oohs, ohs and ahs on elaborately structured chords. And the plan for "At the Same Time" was to prerecord the music and sing along, adding some "choralography" on stage -- some gestures and movements to help convey the message of the lyrics.

But this was a Hollywood production, and anyone who has ever worked with Hollywood knows that plans can change by the minute. That included modifying a few notes as late as the night of the performance. What Streisand heard behind her on "On a Clear Day" Friday night was something she had never heard the chorus sing.

But the biggest surprise occurred in the onstage number. The prerecorded taping didn't go as well as planned. Right before curtain time, the chorus was told it was to sing its part live that night before the packed house.

For some, there were quick memorization sessions. Then there was a quick recap of the onstage movements because the choir platform also was modified late.

The choir was 35 feet above the stage where Streisand sang, nestled between a sheer drop and a pyrotechnics array. Stage managers carefully guided the group around, telling them that the safety of the cast was paramount.

When Streisand launched into the piece, the chorus trickled on stage in the dark as planned with 13,000 pairs of eyes and ears taking it all in.

When the song was over, the performers received the greatest reward an audience can give -- applause, glorious applause. The group shuffled offstage and dashed to the studio room for the next number, less than three minutes later.

"It is a wonderful opportunity," added Dan Jenkins, a First Presbyterian choir member. "When else are you going to get a chance to sing with Barbra Streisand?"