Fans Anxiously Await Streisand Concert Update

With an air of disappointment and anticipation hanging over Barbra Streisand’s fans, an announcement is expected today on whether the singer’s canceled Anaheim Pond show will be rescheduled and on the fate of her concerts there.

After Streisand canceled Wednesday’s opening show because of a bout of viral tracheal laryngitis, her representatives and concert promoter, the Nederlander Organization, would only indicate that the show probably will be rescheduled. But they refused to speculate on a date and about whether any of the other five scheduled shows would be postponed.

Doctors are continuing to observe Streisand, who is resting at her Beverly Hills home, her representatives said.

Those holding tickets for Wednesday night’s show were left wondering if they would see Streisand in concert again--she has said this tour will be her last.

“I’m more distraught then when (former President) Nixon died,” said Don Higgins, a Huntington Beach sign maker who spent $275 and four hours in line for tickets for himself and his wife, Gloria.

“This morning my wife hears a yell from the front room and she said, ‘What’s the problem?’ and I showed her the newspaper,” he said.

At the Pond on Wednesday afternoon a sound check went on as scheduled, while small groups of ticket-holders converged on the Pond’s box office to commiserate and get the latest information.

“It’s amazing how one case of laryngitis can affect so many people,” said Myra Ross of Irvine, who had tickets for Wednesday’s show. Some ticket-holders won’t be around even if the show is rescheduled. Among them were Kenneth and Alice Wright of Manchester, England, who had been able to buy tickets for Wednesday at the end of a two-week U.S. holiday. Wright held up his cash refund, saying: “There’s the money. I’d rip it up if I could see her.”

Those who still will be in the area have been asked to retain their tickets, which will be honored if shows are rescheduled.

Down the street from the Pond, the mood was dreary at Mr. Stox restaurant, which had reservations for all of its 300 seats for Wednesday.

“Oh, it’s been horrible!” co-owner Debbie Marshall said. By 8 a.m. Wednesday, restaurant employees were on the phone, calling everyone who had reservations.

It seems unlikely that any show would be rescheduled on off nights in Streisand’s Anaheim schedule, which runs Friday and alternating nights after that through June 4.

A possible scenario would be for Streisand to return for makeup dates after June 7 and 9 appearances at the San Jose Arena, which was her next stop on the tour. She has no planned concerts between the San Jose shows and five shows that begin June 20 at New York’s Madison Square Garden, the final stop on the tour.

Moving the elaborate stage set to San Jose and back to Anaheim would add considerable expense to the production, said Streisand’s publicist, Dick Guttman. But there may be no alternative.

Guttman said Wednesday that the singer had been suffering the ailment for several days before postponing Wednesday’s show.

Dr. Lee Hartman, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Laguna Hills, said Streisand “may be able to sing” with viral tracheal laryngitis.

“She may not reach notes she wants to, or her voice may break,” Hartman said. But permanent injury and scarring could result if she did sing, he said.

How long can the illness last? “It may be anywhere from a few days to several weeks,” the doctor said.

Times staff writer Zan Dubin and correspondent Rick VanderKnyff contributed to this story.