For 14,000, Barbra Well Worth Wait : Music: Delayed Southland debut of Streisand concert draws huge ovation in Anaheim.

Met by a huge ovation from 14,000 people as she took the stage, Barbra Streisand finally launched her long-awaited and much-hyped series of concerts at The Pond of Anaheim Thursday night.

After opening with “Everything’s As If We Never Said Goodbye,” she took a few good-natured knocks at rumors that she had faked her bout with laryngitis that led to the rescheduling of her first four Anaheim dates.

She offered a Letterman-style Top 10 list for reasons why she postponed the shows, starting with, “I’ve always wanted to spend four hot, muggy days in Anaheim in the middle of July” to No. 1, “Every time I’ve tried to get here, I got sidetracked and went to Disneyland instead.”

She then settled into a set mixing Broadway standards and hits spanning her career, chatting amiably between numbers about her life and music.

The fans had waited a long time for this moment.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” said Sue Clark, 35, of Riverside, who came to arena hours early with her friend to pick up their $125 tickets.

Streisand’s first performance Thursday evening in Anaheim was part of her first tour in nearly three decades, a tour she says will be her last.

Excitement was especially high since the 52-year-old singer, suffering last week from viral tracheolaryngitis and under strict orders from her doctor not to talk much less sing, had postponed four previously announced shows at The Pond, her only stop in Southern California.

The sold-out show attracted fans, celebrities and friends of Streisand from across the country, including director Peter Bogdanovich (who directed Streisand in “What’s Up Doc”), actress Brooke Shields and tennis pro Andre Agassi. Some arrived in limos, wearing sequined gowns and suits, while others dressed in jeans and shorts.

“I’ve been a fan of Barbra since I was in high school,” Susan Bratlien of North Dakota said. “I’m just so excited, I don’t know what to say.”

Gay Wood, 45, from El Paso said she cried for two days after her husband told her they would be getting tickets for the show through the Operation USA/LA Earthquake Relief Fund, an international disaster relief group.

“I’m a fan, let’s just leave it at that,” she said, laughing.

Streisand will perform at The Pond again Saturday night. Tickets for the four postponed shows will be honored in July, after Streisand has completed engagements in San Jose and New York, the remaining cities on her six-stop itinerary.

In announcing the rescheduling, she issued a statement saying she felt “terrible that these postponements may cause severe scheduling problems for so many who have waited for so long for me to perform live.”

While legions of fans were disappointed, including some of whom had flown across the country for the shows that did not take place, those attending on Thursday were thrilled to find themselves at what turned out to be the opening night of the singer’s Southern California engagement.

It was an especially poignant performance for a Dana Point woman. Her son, who died in 1989 at age 35, studied music and loved Streisand’s talent above all.

“Barbra was his girl,” she said. “This whole night I’m going to be thinking of him. It’s very special. . . . “

The much-anticipated concert involved extra expense and some unusual security measures, which fans didn’t seem to mind. Ticket prices were unprecedented: $350, $125 and $50 each from the box office. Private ticket brokers charged a lot more.

The initial announcement that she would be coming to Southern California turned Los Angeles into a “city of scalpers,” in the words of one ticket broker, although some tickets still were available at face value Wednesday for the Anaheim shows. Streisand is poised to set box office records with a six-night gross from the Anaheim shows expected to top $12 million.

Management at The Pond jacked parking fees up to $8 from the usual $6. And fans had to temporarily unload their metal belongings into plastic bags and pass through metal detectors, a measure more commonly associated with airports, or at least with concerts by punk-metal bands and hard-core rap acts.

Mighty Ducks fans may have felt out of place in the concession stand areas. Alongside food stands peddling the usual arena nachos, hot dogs and Cracker Jack were coffee liqueurs and $10-a-glass champagne.

The multilevel stage, including a full orchestra, re-created a swank sitting room, with stairway, elegant chairs and sofas, a fireplace and a silver tea service. Another of Streisand’s top 10 reasons for the rescheduling the dates was, “I didn’t realize it would take a whole week to dust all this furniture.”

Inside, Streisand took extra measures to boost sound quality in The Pond. The entire arena floor was carpeted, and sound-dampening fabrics were hung in other areas to enhance acoustics. Fans bought souvenirs at a brisk pace, everything from $25 T-shirts, $20 programs and $15 mugs to $50 throw rugs and $60 ties. One woman from Alaska left with more than $400 of T-shirts for her family, who also traveled to Anaheim especially for the concert.

* SOUNDS FINE: Voice belies laryngitis bout, Robert Hilburn writes. A18

Barbra’s Top 10 List

Barbra Streisand’s Top 10 Reasons for Postponing Four Concerts at The Pond of Anaheim:

10: I’ve always wanted to spend four hot muggy days in Anaheim in the middle of July.

9: I was trying to help work out Dan Rostenkowski’s plea bargain.

8: I didn’t realize it would take a whole week to dust all this furniture (that makes up her stage set).

7: I had to stay home and wait for the cable guy.

6: I hurt my voice yelling “yabba dabba doo!”

5: I wanted to add a new item to my line of concert souvenirs: Barbra Streisand tongue depressors.

4: They were having a shoe sale at Nordstrom.

3: I thought my concert tour needed more publicity.

2: It took me three days to read Dan Quayle’s new book--and four days to correct the spelling.

1: Every time I started to drive here, I got sidetracked and went to Disneyland instead.