Streisand Returns--but the Thrill Level Doesn’t : Concert: She makes up performances at The Pond of Anaheim that were canceled in May because of illness during her first tour in 20 years.

She conquered, she canceled, she came.

Barbra Streisand, who called off her first performance at The Pond of Anaheim in May because of viral tracheololaryngitis, returned to make it up Monday night, but for some the thrill just wasn’t the same.

“The excitement of Barbra, the aura of her being in Anaheim, has fizzled,” said Don Myers, general manager of The Catch restaurant nearby, who is running shuttles all week to The Pond but nixed plans he had made in May to stage Streisand look-alike and karaoke sound-alike contests. “We’ve been sold out for 10 days for Streisand, but it’s not the same as the first week, when there was this big countdown: 10 more days till Barbra, nine more days . . . Now it’s (just) a postponed show.

When Streisand announced her first live performances in 20 years as part of a tour that she maintains will be her last, fans gladly paid up to $350 per ticket for the chance to hear her in May at The Pond of Anaheim. Many flew in specifically for the concerts.

But when illness forced the postponement of four of the six local concerts, fans realized that a chance was all they had bought. For ticket holders who couldn’t accommodate new dates--she opened Monday and continues Wednesday, Friday and Sunday--that chance was lost forever. But for many of those who could, happy days are here again.

Or at least pretty happy.

Terri Mammano of Costa Mesa, for instance, said that although her excitement level is still high, “We did kind of get worked up, and it was a little letdown to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait.” Mammano is holding tickets for Sunday’s performance.

But the wait was over for those in the parking lot outside Monday’s show.

“I am so excited, I tell you, I feel like a little kid at Christmas,” said Joan Virga of Corona. “I was disappointed that day, but . . .”

Mary Allen of Newport Beach agreed.

“I wore a black arm band the morning the concert was canceled, but I figure tonight’s going to be her best concert, because she has a lot to make up for now.”

Back in May, the $350 price tag for the best seats sounded like a lot. It is, in fact, still the most expensive ticket for a touring performer. But coming on the heels of Saturday’s Luciano Pavarotti-Placido Domingo-Jose Carreras concert at Dodger Stadium, where top tickets fetched $1,012, Streisand seemed like a bargain.

That concert was billed “Concert of the Century” and Greg Williford of Orange watched it on television.

“I loved it.” he said. “But I didn’t go to that one, so this one is the concert of the century. I can buy that one on CD.”

But for some fans Monday night, the anticipation of that first canceled concert just couldn’t be revived.

“I was devastated,” said a fan who requested anonymity. “My bubble has been burst. That was opening night. This is just another night.”