Barbra Streisand just signed on to present an award at the Tony Awards ceremony, to be televised on CBS on June 12, and you can bet the category won’t be best lighting design. Though it wasn’t announced, she is likely to be presenting the award for Best Musical, which is a lock for “Hamilton,” Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit phenomenon that is poised to win fistfuls of other awards that night.Though Streisand began her career on Broadway in 1962’s “I Can Get It For You Wholesale,” and started her rise to mega-fame in 1964’s “Funny Girl,” she has not appeared on a Tony Awards broadcast since 1970. But with a nine-city North American concert tour, “The Music…The Mem’ries…The Magic,” to begin in August, the multi-talented performer is savvy enough to know that the big story coming out of the Tonys this year will be the “Hamilton” sweep. And among the show’s many appeals is to endow a hip cachet to anyone connected to its exultant story of founding father Alexander Hamilton, as told by a multicultural cast.Interest in “Hamilton” has crossed racial, social, and political boundaries in unprecedented ways, and the curiosity about the show — which is sold-out for months — is likely to gain a big TV audience on Tony night. In addition to Streisand’s presence will be host James Corden of “The Late Late Show,” along with other presenters, including Oprah Winfrey, Audra McDonald, Cate Blanchett, Steve Martin, Carole King, Patina Miller, and Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”, “The Crucible”). With such a stellar lineup, more marquee names are sure to be added.The Tonys have not entirely embraced Streisand in the past. She lost the 1962 Tony Award in the featured musical category for her debut in “Wholesale” to Phyllis Newman (“Subways Are for Sleeping”), and Carol Channing was the winner in 1964 for “Hello, Dolly!” that season’s phenomenon. The Broadway community made up for the omissions when Streisand was awarded a special Tony in 1970, marking her last appearance on the telecast. Meanwhile, on Monday, June 6, Corden will welcome Miranda and a slough of Broadway stars to his “Late Late Show” for the popular “Carpool Karaoke” segment, a version of which is certain to figure in the Tony telecast. Joining Miranda in that segment will be Jesse Tyler Ferguson, currently on Broadway in “Fully Committed”, Jane Krakowski, a Tony nominee this year for “She Love Me,” and Audra McDonald, the six-time Tony Award winner, who is starring in “Shuffle Along.” The latter show is competing on in ten categories, second only to the record 16 nominations for “Hamilton.”One of the most pleasurable numbers from “Hamilton” is “Helpless,” evocative of the lush romanticism of Destiny’s Child. Of all the songs in “Hamilton” this is the one most primed for the Streisand treatment. The pop singer is due to release a new album later this year titled “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway.” The record is described in a press release as pairing Streisand “with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars to sing Broadway classics.” It might be too much for “Helpless” to be considered an instant classic and included in the album. But “Hamilton” has been star-kissed from the very beginning. So nothing, at this point, seems out of the question.By the way, “Encore” will be the third in a series: Streisand’s “The Broadway Album” and “Back to Broadway” were both multi-platinum sellers. Expect this one to follow suit.
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