See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Vanessa Ogle
Brooklyn Daily
Singer Gayle Robbins never expected to make it big with someone else’s voice.
But the vocalist looks, acts, speaks, and sings so much like Barbra Streisand, fans kept requesting she do impersonations — so she made a career out of it.
“When I’m really talking Brooklyn, people are like, ‘Oh my God, you’re like Barbra,’ ” said Robbins.
Robbins has now been imitating Streisand on stage for nine years, but found fame in her own right after appearing on the band Duck Sauce’s 2010 viral hit song “Barbra Streisand,” which has racked up more than 71 million views on YouTube.
On July 27, the Manhattanite will perform in her doppelganger’s home borough, appearing at a fundraiser for the Marine Park Alliance at the Carmine Carro Community Center.
It will not be her first foray into Brooklyn. In 2012, Robbins judged a Streisand singing contest before the diva’s first performance at Barclays Center. During the actual show’s intermission, Streisand played the Duck Sauce song, and the impersonator was shocked when she heard her voice coming from the stage.
“I’m out going to the bathroom during intermission and I hear myself,” she said.
But Robbins said she’s not looking for the fame or the money. She sings songs to remind people of the way they were.
“People come up to me and they’ll say, ‘I’m so thankful,’ ” said Robbins. “It’s a memory I brought back to them.”
Gayle Robbins at Carmine Carro Community Center [3000 Fillmore Ave. between Madison Place and Marine Parkway in Marine Park, (347) 492–5193] July 27 at 4 pm. $25, seniors $20.