A play read by perraneu founder and editor Devon Urchin at Perraneu Live! At the Stonewall (6-9PM Aug. 15, 2024)
Click to listen to the Perraneu Radio Hour coverage, which includes the opening crowd scene to the left!
Devon: I just finished Barbra Streisand's 48-hour book on tape.
Crowd: Does she read it herself?

Devon: Yes.
Crowd: Wow. That's amazing. How many pages was it in print.
Devon: Over 1,000.
Crowd: Woah! It’s like a Ben-Hur-level epic of this monumental woman's experiences.
Devon: Exactly.
Crowd: Does she explain why her name is spelled like that?
Devon: Yes! She said she changed the spelling herself when she was like 11.
Crowd: “Like 11,” or 11.
Devon: I don’t remember. That was in the first chapter that I listened to 4 months ago.
Crowd: Please, go on a long explanation of why you have grown as a human with her by your side.
Devon: No, no. I won't make it too long. But …Well, in our zeitgeistian hearts, Barbra is a BROADWAY STAR! But in reality she was so quickly launched from the Musical Theatre Stage into a career of film acting, creating musical movies, producing, directing, learning the Talmud and founding schools, in addition to overcoming her stage fright to perform vocal athletics for millions in her stadium tours.
From a young age I admired and even learned from her singing belt and her speaking cadence—and was intoxicated by kkkKatie’s rebellious passions in "The Way We Were”—but I had major gaps in my knowledge.
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In her book I learned not only more of her cannon but who she was as a whole person: her love of design and obsession with FOOD, fabrics, colors, antique furniture. She loves learning.
She is specific and earnest when she talks politics. And she puts her money where her mouth is. What a mouth. What a money. What a life. She doesn't waste a second of it, taking in every beauty it has to offer. Even when it seems ugly.
Crowd: Why did it take you so long to listen to it?
Devon: Well I was reading other things irl, working, helping friends, loving life myself... BUT. Slowly, carefully, listening with intention (never as I was about to sleep like Kathy Griffin just posted doing on a plane), I savored her stories.
She's was
with me through the rise of fascism in my very own country and the rise of plantar fasciitis in my very
own foot.
Four months later, just before the print edition came out, I cried through the last five minutes of it on public transportation. Then I called my mom to tell her I love her. I was transformed.
Each listen was like visiting a wise old sage in the fire glow of a hidden cave, seeking commiseration and confidence. And gaining otherworldly inspiration.
Now I sit here: misty, watercolored and a completely scattered picture of the person I left behind. In reality, I was healing from a whole lot while I was with Barbra.
(Press play on “A very Perraneu summer" playlist on Spotify.)
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Barbra’s vitality was a constant through a breakup. And losing a job. And starting a new one.
I decided to quit drinking during that time (it was getting dark), world war screamed only louder every day and a major family health scare turned things upside down back home in Cleveland. I returned to yoga and DVDs and eating well and spending time with myself. Which I hid from in the alone-together of bars for a decade.
Barbra too has had breakups from many substantial loves. And she lived to love again. She's lost opportunities but was able to skirt her gloom and self-pity to fight for new opportunities despite the odds.
She reflects with an attempt to grow. yet maintains a stronghold for her convictions. A delicate practice.
That Audible credit my mother gifted me to buy Barbra's audiobook kept me entertained and motivated during dark, anxious times and into a year of upward momentum. Of vitalitæ, bombastee and collecteev: words right out of the Perraneu mission statement.
I started this magazine four years ago and it has brought over 100 artists together to make odd and interesting combinations of things and it is through the support of family, good friends, and Barbra Streisand that this issue and Perraneu LIVE at the Stonewall (6-9PM, Aug 15)! are able to come to life in this incredible way.
The Perraneu community only continues to grow and become more inventive. Thank you sincerely to all of you who have helped. And to readers like you! (Donate to our telethon!)
Each of the creators involved in this issue (and event: a 3D version of this issue) is an adventurer who has in one way or many inspired this "reclaim the day” energy I have found again lately. And I wanted to share that with you.
So. Bring a trail bar, wonder as you wander. Sing more. Shake things up. Talk to yourself, you’re your own best friend. Find the secret wormhole of adventures that can make the cracks of your day feel more colorful, more fragrant, more peaceful, more YOU. And, as Barbra said in her final MSG concert, be good to each other.
Crowd: We love Barbra even more than we already did and can't wait to watch On A Clear Day We Can See Forever where she has ESP!
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