“Yes! Mrs. Roosevelt went down into the mines, and she said, ‘I am my husband’s legs.’ Did you tell the cripple jokes too? Is there anything that isn’t a joke to you people?!”

That’s Barbra Streisand in one of her greatest movie hits, "The Way We Were." She was Katie, the liberal political activist, lashing out against indifference. This scene ended with Robert Redford chastising her: “The president’s death didn’t happen just to you. Everything in the world that happens doesn’t happen only to you!”

Later, when Redford comes to break up with her, he opens with, “Look …” and Barbra interrupts: “Oh, God. Please don’t begin a sentence with ‘look.’ That’s always bad news.”

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In my humble opinion, for all the glory of her film career, Miss Streisand has yet to have her greatest moment on screen. She came closest as the belligerent hooker in the much underrated “Nuts.” But there are many years to come, and I feel sure someday Barbra will want to leave commercial movies like “Meet the Fockers” and realize her final legacy as a movie star. (Although, natch, “Fockers” was a huge hit – so Barbra is not likely to take my humble opinion too seriously.)

But as a singer, Miss Streisand has perfected herself and reached the heights. You can get a fantastic glimpse of Barbra, the singer, in the new DVD set, “Streisand: The Concerts,” which features two of her 2006 concerts. This is great stuff, with Barbra in splendid voice, performing songs new to DVD. The set arrived at my office last week and it is an impressive thing, with a recent "Hello gorgeous" shot of Barbra on the cover, all golden and glittery; like a goddess bathed in “buttah.”


Image via Amazon/Streisand: The Concerts

The DVD’s had extraordinarily brisk sales over the last  weekend, helped by her CBS TV special which beat out “Law & Order: SVU,” a “Harry Potter” movie and “Cops.”  In “Funny Girl” she sang, “I can make ‘em laugh, I can make ‘em cry/Someday they’ll clamor for my drama!” 

You said it, Barbra. Forty-plus years later, they are still clamoring.

P.S. In fact, "Streisand: The Concerts" has now scored the No. 1 spot on both the UK and USA charts. In America, the set has had the highest sales for any music DVD so far this year.

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Speaking of great singers, one to put alongside Barbra is k.d. lang. This genius has been off the radar in recent years after legendary albums and hits such as “Absolute Torch and Twang,” “Miss Chatelaine” and “Constant Craving.”

But k.d. is alive and well on Nonesuch Records – "Watershed" was her 2008 release – and is still generating fantastic response to her live appearances. Monday night she performed at St. George Theater on Staten Island. 

I didn’t attend, alas, but Dirk Kennedy, the super-smart musician/bartender at East 37th Street’s El Rio Grande did. He reports, k.d.’s “attention to detail is exquisite. Her breath control and intonation is unrivaled. The zenith of the evening was Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah.’ While this song has had many covers, hers is the definitive; oozing defeat, loyalty and sacrifice. She shows us how a song is supposed to be put over.”

And apparently, it was one of those evenings when the star was greeted with a standing ovation, and after that — nobody sat down again.

I experienced k.d. in concert some years ago; when she sang Cole Porter’s difficult “So In Love,” the audience nearly killed itself in tribute! In a time of disposable, cranked-out, techno-jigged acts, the pure voice of Miss Lang has no rival.

She is still around. Seek her out!

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Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage has been filming “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” in New York City, but over last weekend, he staggered patrons at the Penny Lane Pub in Old Saybrook, CT, by dropping in for lunch.

Nick was just a stone’s throw from the new and beautifully restored Katharine Hepburn Theater in the little town the great Kate called her summer home and where she died not many years ago at her Fenwick estate.