Professor David Peimer
Barbra Streisand
Summary
Barbra Streisand: Incomparable, indomitable, influential.
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
I think, you know, Ella Fitzgerald has, I think they are unique in their own way. I really do. I think Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, Barbra, you know, I think they have their own uniqueness, and I’m very hesitant to compare. You know, it’s a bit like, well, I don’t want to get into, but you know, these are such wonderful voices and I don’t want to sit on the fence here or take an easy way out, but I don’t want to get into a binary, you know, this. I think that they contribute to the enormous treasure chest of art and the ability for singers to vary, to range and to find all different interpretations of the connection between emotion and sound. For her, through what the character’s going through every second.
Absolutely. “In ‘The Way We Were,’ she constantly anticipates the beat.” Yes. “Letting the orchestra catch up.” Yes. “With her voice. Keeps the song from dragging. It’s a lesson in pop singing.” Couldn’t agree with you more, Karen. Thanks for that.
No. “Her breath control is remarkable.” Yes, I agree completely. I mean, from what I understand, I don’t think she had serious vocal training or serious, you know, and certainly with diaphragm, breath control, all the rest of it. And she went for actor training, but that’s very different to what you’re talking about, which is for singing. You know, specifically singing, vocal training for singers.