To Barbra, With Love
An 80th Birthday Celebration
Live Nation announced that Australia’s favourite leading man, Ainsley Melham, is joining the star-studded cast of To Barbra, With Love in Canberra. The highly successful celebration of the inimitable Barbra Streisand, will play in Canberra on Friday 10 February and Saturday 11 February following concerts in Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane, with local symphony orchestras. After premiering with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at Hamer Hall last year, the concert was acclaimed by audiences and critics alike.
“★★★★ …this ensemble of Australian talent was a riotous celebration of a woman whose musical legacy is rich, unique, and lasting” – Arts Hub
“The applause is justifiably strong and heartfelt throughout. In fact, I would describe it as a warm embrace of the offering and the artistry involved.” – The Blurb
As one of the most in demand performers in Australia, Ainsley Melham is currently starring as Prince Topher in Rodgers + Hammerstein’s Cinderella. Other impressive credits include the title role in Aladdin, Pippin (Pippin) and Charlie in (Merrily We Roll Along). Joining him on stage are musical theatre star Elise McCann (Matilda The Musical, Merrily We Roll Along), Australia’s own musical theatre royalty Caroline O’Connor, and genre-hopping vocalist Katie Noonan for these not-to-be-missed concerts at Canberra Theatre Centre.
Under the baton of Vanessa Scammell, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra will deliver a program of Streisand’s most memorable songs, arranged by conductor and composer Nicholas Buc and directed by one of Australia’s most versatile choreographers and exciting new directors, Cameron Mitchell.
Having celebrated her 80th birthday last year, Streisand is one of the best-selling female artists of all time, with an unparalleled career spanning six decades. Streisand’s record-breaking 52 gold and 31 platinum albums feature some of the world’s most loved songs from The Way We Were and Evergreen to Send in the Clowns, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers and Guilty.
Streisand is a multi-award-winning performer, director and producer of stage and screen, and one of only a few elite artists to hold the rare EGOT (Emmy, Golden Globe, Oscar and Tony). She has worked with legendary composers including Alan and Marilyn Bergman and the late great Stephen Sondheim, whose combined catalogues of memorable compositions are timeless treasures of the canon.