Harper’s Other Dad and I spent much of Sunday finishing the process of getting Christmas packed away so, by the end of the day, we were both a bit tired. He retired into the blogosphere, as is his wont, while I began scanning the television guide for some type of entertainment. And I hit the jackpot finding two gems of the 1970’s playing concurrently; 1972’s Lady Sings the Blues and 1975’s Funny Lady. Oh my, didn’t that little “Last” button on my remote, the one that allows me to bounce between two channels, get a workout over the succeeding couple of hours!
I’ll save for another time, maybe never, my thoughts on the relative merits of the two films as artistic expressions. One fact about which there can be no doubt, however, is both films were ‘star turns’ for major A-list divas of the era. I speak, of course, of Diana Ross in the former and Barbra Streisand in the latter.
Here are my favorite clips from each. Diana as Billie Holiday in the grips of addiction (apologies for the poor sound quality of the clip)…
[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjODPpMVrjY%5D
And Barbra as Fanny Brice in the grips of a tantrum of self-pity…
[youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7NLx2iUXuU%5DWhat a fun way to close out the holiday weekend!
Harper's Valley 
Do I lose my membership for admitting that I have never seen anything by Barbra? (Or Diana, I think.)
Also: putting away the Christmas decorations so soon? It’s July already?
I’ve only seen ‘Lady Sings’ the once, and that was when the film was first released. I don’t recall it ever being on TV here. One of the things I most remember around then was Ms Ross qualifying as a real, true diva by her publicly expressing disappointment for not having won the Oscar as she deserved it more than the actual winner did (Liza with a zee – for ‘Cabaret’, of course). Trouble is, she was right – even though it wasn’t for her to have said so.
I know I risk having my membership in Dive Anonymous revoked (hey Dive is the plural of Diva okay!) but I can’t stand either of these two ladies…….. there I said it and I feel better.
do I lose points because I have not seen either movie?
Well, let’s put it like this, A.M. You don’t earn any BONUS points for not having seen either.
I believe that the “penalty” only applies if you were able to see them during first theater release. The penalty is the inability to earn mileage plus points on the Gay Card – affiliated with Pan Am or TWA….
Twice I had to ask Babs to tone it down and make less noise but she wouldn’t do so.
Speaking of Ms. Ross – got to see her perform live at the Providence Performing Arts Center in Providence, RI last year. At 70 something she’s still good, but very soft voice – better for studio than for concert.
And the audience, I’m at the advanced age of 52 but I felt like a kid because I had people around me in their 70’s and 80’s. A few oxygen tanks were also in attendance. This is what I get for being a teenager in the heyday of disco and dance music.
As to Barbara Streisand – never really got into her.