Barbra Streisand Talks Lauren Ambrose, and New Album

Barbra Streisand discusses her new album and next film, and says her plan to star in a new version of the classic musical Gypsy are still intact, in an interview with USA Today.

"We just have to find our team and a writer," she says. "It's too bad, because I was looking forward to working with Arthur [Laurents]," who wrote the book for Gypsy as well as Streisand's hit film The Way We Were, and died last May. "I had seen him a few months before that, and he seemed so strong and healthy."

Streisand speaks to the publication while promoting her already acclaimed new album, What Matters Most, in which she sings songs written by her close friends Alan and Marilyn Bergman. "They've written for movies, so they write for stories and characters," Streisand says. "I relate to them as an actress and a person."

Streisand is also asked for her thoughts on Lauren Ambrose, the actress chosen to take on the challenging role of Fanny Brice in the revival of Funny Girl, which Streisand originated on Broadway in 1964. She says she was unfamiliar with the former Six Feet Under star so she watched a video of Ambrose singing "My Man," one of Brice's signature songs. "But it was uptempo, so I couldn't judge it," she says. "It doesn't matter because she doesn't sing it in the show."

While the entertainer's legions of fans are celebrating next week's release of the new album, they'll have to wait more than a year for her new film, according to the Examiner.

Streisand expert Allison Waldman, who authored The Barbra Streisand Scrapbook, writes that the star's upcoming comedy known as My Mother's Curse has been retitled Guilt Trip and will now be released in November 2, 2012 instead of in March as previously announced. The film, which explores the relationship between a mother and son (played by Seth Rogen) while on a road trip, is based on a highly touted screenplay and is directed by The Proposal's Anne Fletcher. Guilt Trip marks Streisand's first starring role in a motion picture since 1996's The Mirror Has Two Faces, which she also directed.

Waldman writes that Paramount's decision to move the film to the holiday season suggests confidence in Streisand's return to the screen. "The move to pre-Thanksgiving is all about maximizing exposure, positioning the film for a holiday moviegoing public," she writes. "And perhaps placing the film in the eyes of the Hollywood community during Oscar-watching season."

Actor Colin Hanks, who has a supporting role in the film, recently told website Collider that Streisand "was fantastic and so funny, so sharp, and really a fun person to work with." He went on to say, "Both Barbra and Seth are hilarious together. I'm really excited to see that movie because the two of them worked together so well. I'm just honored that I got to come and play in their sandbox for a little bit. ... I think it's going to be very funny."