Funny Barbra captures a rare moment behind the scenes during the filming of Funny Girl. Barbra Streisand appears in a moment of silent tension, just before stepping onto the stage. The finger pressed to her lips expresses that fragile balance between doubt, concentration, and inner demand, at the threshold of a performance that must be rehearsed to perfection.

 

Originally, her strap was adorned with a cluster of grapes, now reinterpreted and enhanced with crystals. This detail, both theatrical and symbolic, acts as a sign charged with presence and meaning. The light glides across the costume, revealing the human element behind the public figure.

 

Two fragments of text concealed at the heart of the image offer an intimate and secret reading of the work. One of them, “Life’s too short, start with dessert!”, recalls the artist’s characteristic wit and spontaneity. The other echoes the passionate relationship Streisand shared during filming with Omar Sharif, her first onscreen leading man and a central figure in this career-defining role. Their love story, brief and intense, lasted only as long as the production. Lived with the utmost discretion, it was nonetheless fully reflected in their onscreen romance, performed with an emotional truth that transcended fiction.

 

The invocation integrated into the work refers to the words of tribute she addressed to him much later, at the time of his passing. The phrase remains deliberately hidden, like a buried memory that only an attentive eye can discover.

 

Created from an original negative and sourced from a previously unpublished shot, this image bears the trace of a singular moment: the instant where the star fades behind the woman, just before the stage calls her back into the light.