Shot in glorious black & white, My Name is Barbra is a masterwork of simplicity. The special opens on a photograph of a 6 or 7 year old Barbra that cross-fades into the current Barbra (who at the time was all of 23 yea...展开rs old). This is television as theatre—a program done in three acts. The first act has Barbra singing a medley that represents the different stages of growing up using the White Rabbit's "I'm Late" song from Disney's Alice in Wonderland as a way to bridge all the different songs. In the second act Barbra meets the audience—until then not one word of dialogue is spoken. She's warm, self-effacing, and funny as she talks about her thrift store outfit, which is the perfect segue into another medley of Depression era classics. This time, however, as she sings in the studio, the television audience witnesses Barbra on location at the very swanky Bergdorfs in New York City, where the sheer richness of the furs, clothing, and jewelry make for a comedic and ironic twist on songs like "I've Got Plenty of Nothing" and "The Best Things in Life are Free." The third act is a straightforward concert performance in front of a live audience whom she completely enthralls with a medley from her hit Broadway show Funny Girl. The show ends with the credits rolling as Barbra sings "Happy Days are Here Again"—which stopped the show when she sang it on the Judy Garland Show.
My Name is Barbra won 5 Emmy Awards.