Liberace helped young Streisand

Barbra Streisand was all of 21, newly married and on the brink of stardom when she made her debut engagement in Las Vegas.

Streisand, who returns to one of her main Las Vegas haunts - the MGM Grand - on Friday, was the opening act for Liberace from July 2 to Aug. 4, 1963, at the Riviera.

One of the most detailed accounts of her Las Vegas stop appears in the latest Streisand book, "Hello, Gorgeous."

According to author William J. Mann, Liberace worried about the tepid reception Streisand received and tossed her a sequined lifeline.

Liberace had been ecstatic about signing her, wrote Mann, but he very quickly "discovered that his fans weren't necessarily hers."

"The first couple of nights, the audience of ladies with much costume jewelry and reluctant husbands sitting beside them hadn't applauded Barbra quite as loudly as she was used to. Nor had they seemed to get the jokes.

"Barbra's long, rambling African or Estonian or Armenian folktales probably fell horrendously flat in Vegas; even sophisticated hipsters in New York and San Francisco didn't always know what to make of them.

"Peter Daniels, cringing at the piano, thought those first two nights were 'disastrous.' So Liberace had decided to come out at the top of the show and do a bit of an opening number, then introduce Barbra as his 'discovery.' "

Liberace gave her such a buildup, wrote Mann, that "with such a benediction from the master, Barbra could have come out and read from 'Robert's Rules of Order' and Liberace's audience would still have loved her."

THE SCENE AND HEARD

Jamms Restaurant is catering breakfast today to 65 members of the White House press corps in town for President Barack Obama's speech in North Las Vegas.

SIGHTINGS

Supermodel Tyra Banks, dining Wednesday at Le Thai on Fremont Street with a group that included Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. Later, Banks had dinner at Julian Serrano Restaurant (Aria at CityCenter). Robert De Niro, filming "Last Vegas" at Aria early Wednesday. Cast mate Morgan Freeman had heads spinning at Mon Ami Gabi (Paris) on Monday. They are in town shooting with Michael Douglas, Kevin Kline and Romany Malco, who is cast as a concierge at Aria. Malco played Conrad in "Weeds." ... Red Foo of LMFAO fame, in the company of world No. 1 tennis player Victoria Azarenka at the Wicked Spoon Buffet (Cosmopolitan) on Wednesday. They attended "KA" (MGM Grand) on Tuesday, with members of his Party Rock Crew.

THE PUNCH LINE

"New Jersey took a pounding. Gov. Chris Christie was actually knocked over." - David Letterman

Norm Clarke can be reached at 702-383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com. Follow Norm on Twitter @Norm_Clarke.