East Side, West Side, All Around the Town

Barbra came to NYC in 1995 and 1996 to film "The Mirror Has Two Faces."  It was a great experience for me as a fan.  As word of Barbra's NYC whereabouts circulated on the internet, fans from all over the US converged to witness Barbra as Director, Actress and, as we were delighted to witness, Stage Performer. With Barbra in town directing her third picture, streets, stores and restaurants around the city had to close in order to accommodate the production. Was it all worth it, well, if you've seen the film, you know it was.

Central Park
For me, it began on Halloween night - October 31, 1995.  Barbra and her crew had taken over the Tavern on the Green restaurant in Central Park for several nights, shooting the wedding reception scenes from "The Mirror Has Two Faces."  Barbra was there along with Pierce Brosnan, Brenda Vaccaro, Mimi Rogers and Lauren Bacall.  Though we weren't allowed inside, we were able to watch the entire scene being filmed from our bird's eye location outside Tavern's bay windows. Of all the assembled cast that night, Bacall was the most friendly, stopping by to chat with the fans.  Too bad her scenes at the reception didn't make the final cut of the film.  It was a great two nights of shooting

West End Avenue
In May, 1996, Barbra returned to New York.  This time she was at W 84 Street and West End Avenue to film the movie's finale.  Fans were treated to five nights of excitement as Barbra and Jeff Bridges laboriously worked the scenes that would bring the love story to its conclusion.  Again, we were allowed to watch the action from a manageable distance. Barbra had a lot of fun shooting these particular scenes.  After one especially technical scene with Jeff Bridges (requiring the actors to work on a rotating turntable), everyone burst out in spontaneous applause.  Barbra turned to her faithful fans and took a bow, acknowledging our approval.  She loved it as much as we did.

Bloomingdales
Finally, a few weeks later, word circulated that Barbra was going to be at Bloomingdales department store on Manhattan's east side to shoot the scenes with Brenda Vacarro, Mimi Rogers and Pierce Prosnan. Barbra arrived in costume at closing time to the surprise and excitement of exiting shoppers. As she entered the Third avenue side of the store, I came face to face with Barbra and wished her a good night of shooting. Her response was a simple thank you. Upstairs in the store's cafe, she worked with the film's extras, positioning them appropriately for her scenes with Mimi and Pierce in the store's cafe.