In the spring of 1999, the MGM Grand announced that Barbra would return for another New Year’s Eve concert on December 31, her first big-venue performance since the end of her 1994 tour. (She had sung at a fundraiser for President Clinton’s re-election in 1996.) Ticket prices ranged from $500 to $2500, and were sold out almost immediately. A second show was added for the following night.

Don Mischer, the producer of the concert, spoke to Streisand author Allison Waldman about the preparations for the show. “There’s a process you go through in which everything is examined and it’s re-examined and all avenues are explored constantly, so the process is extremely focused and very consuming, but always with Barbra, you end up at the right place, with the right material. I remember being at her house many times with long, long meetings. And if there was some reason that we’d want to hear music, she would get up, go over to the piano and Marvin Hamlisch would be there, he was our musical director, and she’d sing “Some Enchanted Evening” and you just got goose bumps. I mean, I’m here in a room with Barbra and Marvin Hamlisch and she’s just singing “Some Enchanted Evening” for the three or four of us there. What an honor! I just have the greatest respect for her.”

The same level of excitement gripped Barbra fans over these concerts as had the ones in 1994. Once again they came from all over the world, many who had been there for the 1994 concerts, and those who were seeing Barbra live for the first time. She didn’t disappoint anyone.

Gone was the elegant set from the previous concerts, replaced by a rather industrial-looking pyramid set. The first person on stage was Savion Glover, wearing a heavy black ankle-length coat, playing “Brother Time” and tap dancing while Marvin Hamlisch conducted the overture. Then a little girl who looked a lot like Barbra came out, along with her mother. It was fourteen-year-old Barbara and Mrs. Kind, played by Lauren Frost and Randee Heller, arriving to make Barbra’s acetate recording of “You’ll Never Know.” The pianist, frustrated by Barbra’s improvisations, tells her “I’ve played the Catskills!” and adds that she’ll never amount to anything.

Barbra then burst out from behind Savion’s coat to sing a rousing “Something’s Coming.” After the song ended Barbra said hello to the crowd and said she felt that the eve of a new millennium should be a time of reflection before singing “The Way We Were.”

After a not-as-amusing-as-they-might-have-hoped onscreen interview with Shirley MacLaine about her experiences at the beginning of the last millennium, Barbra brought the audience back to her days at the Bon Soir and sang an emotional “Cry Me a River.” Then it was “Lover Come Back to Me, which Barbra said she had sung at the Basin Street East with Count Basie accompanying her. (She was his opening act.)

Next came “A Sleeping Bee,” sung beautifully after a rarely-heard introductory verse. Savion Glover then brought her a secretary’s chair, which she used to sing “Miss Marmelstein” just as she had done it in “I Can Get It for You Wholesale” in 1962. (Well, not exactly. For some reason she changed the words “fussed” and “bust” to “knots” and “plotz.”

Now is was time for “Funny Girl,” and Barbra sang a medley of “I’m the Greatest Star,” “Second Hand Rose,” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade” to Florenz Ziegfeld, who was “up above—like God.” Staying on Broadway, Barbra sang “Something Wonderful” (she occasionally looked down at James Brolin in the front row) and a forceful “Being Alive.”

Then it was on to movie songs: “As Time Goes By” and “Alfie.” Barbra told the story about hearing the song on the radio a few years back while riding in a taxi and thinking she should record it. She called the radio station to see who had been singing it and was told it was Barbra Streisand. She had completely forgotten recording the tune, which was on her 1969 album What About Today.

“Evergreen,” which had originally had meaning for her because of Jon Peters, now caused her to wriggle her pinkie and smile at James while she sang it.

Barbra then told of receiving a letter that her father had written to a girlfriend when he was nineteen, before he met her mother, and how meaningful and even “mystical” it had been for her to read it. Lauren Frost reappeared and she and Barbra reprised “You’ll Never Know, then segued into “Papa Can You Hear Me,” and concluded with “A Piece of Sky,” with an additional voice added—Barbra’s as Yentl. A huge screen behind them showed all three singers and made for a rousing finale to Act One.

Act Two opened with a film montage of Barbra’s movie roles that ends with a series of photographs of her (from early childhood to present day) morphing into each other. Barbra came on stage in a stunning burgundy taffeta gown (complete with hoop to keep the skirt full) under a floor-length green cape in matching material with burgundy liner. (Barbra designed the dress herself.)

Barbra then sang “On A Clear Day,” did a bit with the Nola Recording Studios pianist (who is now a waiter), and gave a moving rendition of “Send in the Clowns.” A Duets segment followed, with film of Barbra singing with Judy Garland, Barry Gibb, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, and Neil Diamond. (“My friend Neil. We went to the same high school!”)

Her favorite duet partner, Barbra added, was her son Jason. She then showed a home movie of a five-year-old Jason singing “Sing, sing a song” along with her, holding a whisk as a microphone. (The film takes on a little more meaning in 2012, with Jason having launched a recording career and singing a duet with Barbra on stage in front of thousands.)

More film of Jason growing up followed, as his mother sang “I’ve Got a Crush on You.” The song then turned into a duet with Fran Sinatra, who appeared on screen in an old clip while Barbra sang live alongside it.

Barbra then did a funny bit about today’s often confusing technology, especially remote controls, during which her “mother” reappeared and started to nag her about eating right. “Where’s the mute?” Barbra asked plaintively.

She then did an energetic version of “Main Event/Fight,” with three backup singers. The audience started waving light wands as though at a rock concert. Afterwards, to give Barbra a chance to change from what must have been a cumbersome outfit, Savion Glover, minus the great coat, did some more tap dancing to “Time After Time.” Barbra then reappeared in a lovely new ensemble—a white gown that resembled her wedding dress, covered with a sequined tulle mantle that a few minutes later she revealed to have been her wedding veil in its previous incarnation.

She spoke a bit more about her father’s letter, then sang “I Dreamed of You.” A photo of James Brolin then appeared on the huge screen behind her. “Hello Gorgeous!” Barbra exclaimed. She then sang “At the Same Time” as dozen of people, young and old, gathered to sing above and behind her.

It was close to midnight. Barbra sang “Old Lang Syne” followed by “People.” At one minute to midnight, Barbra brought her husband up on stage. As the countdown began, and Savion Glover tapped, Jason and other friends and family joined them. At midnight, Barbra kissed James several times, then kissed and hugged Jason and a few others on the stage. A blizzard of confetti poured from the Grand’s rafters, and fireworks went off above the stage. James and Barbra then danced, and Barbra hugged Lauren Frost, calling her “Mini Me!”

Barbra closed the triumphant show with “Happy Days Are Here Again,” “Don’t Like Goodbyes,” and an “I Believe/Somewhere” medley sung with Lauren Frost.

Fans left the MGM Grand Arena knowing they had seen a fantastic show and Barbra Streisand at the absolute top of her game.

Three weeks before the millennium shows, Barbra announced that she would embark on her first foreign concert tour in Australia the following March, to “fulfill a lifelong dream of performing for her Australian fans.” Barbra later admitted that another strong reason was that she and her husband had always wanted to visit the country.

Barbra’s entourage Down Under, according to Billboard, comprised “a team of 333 people including production staff; a 78-piece orchestra conducted by Marvin Hamlisch; and locally hired choirs of 87 people each in Sydney and Melbourne.” Barbra also brought along some of the hardware from the Vegas shows: the LED screen, TelePrompTers, the pyramid set, and “a 250,000-watt sound system.” The costs of mounting the concerts fell in the range of nine to thirteen million U.S. dollars. The profits fro ticket sales would went 90% to Streisand and 10% to promoters Jacobsen Entertainment.

The original cast members accompanied Barbra on the tour, with the exception of Savion Glover, whose “Brother Time” character was no longer needed.

Barbra’s Australian shows were a triumph, and although she had said her Vegas concerts would be her last in the United States, she decided to reprise the show in Los Angeles and New York in September. The tour grossed a record-breaking $70 million and drew audiences of 200,000 for only ten dates.

On September 19 (before her last four concerts in Los Angeles and New York), Columbia released a live 2-CD recording, using the best from both of the Vegas concerts. Timeless debuted at No. 21 on the Billboard chart, where it remained for fifteen weeks, and was certified Platinum. On February 14, 2001, the Fox channel ran an edited version of the MGM Grand concerts, removing all references to New Year’s Eve and the numbers “Miss Marmelstein” and “A Sleeping Bee,” among others. Fans who had seen the show were greatly disappointed by the truncating, and annoyed by the frequent commercial interruptions.

Happily, a week later Sony released VHS and DVD versions of the complete concert. This was Barbra’s first release in the new digital videodisc format. Matt Howe, whose “Barbra Archives.com” is arguably the best Streisand fan site, reviewed the DVD on Amazon: “Compared to 1994-95’s ‘Barbra: The Concert,’ you will find ‘Timeless’ to be full of more lights, costume changes and theatricality (it opens with a cast of three, and includes Lauren Frost portraying a 14-year-old Barbra). ‘Timeless’ is what I would call the Ultimate Streisand Concert. You get a fleeting idea of what it would be like to see Streisand on stage at the Winter Garden Theatre in ‘Funny Girl’ back in the 60s. Barbra gives a very athletic performance in ‘Timeless.’ She dances, crosses the stage, and flaps those wonderful long arms up and down like a bird (ahhh, vintage Streisand moves!) The 1994 “Concert” is serene, yet simpler in comparison... As for the voice, I have realized that sixty to seventy percent of experiencing Barbra as a performer is watching her. The voice, although older and richer, is still amazing. The actress and performer is still exciting and idiosyncratic.”