Barbra Streisand, Anne Hathaway and Daisy Ridley have joined musical forces in what may possibly be the most dazzling theatrical performance since Hamilton.
The renowned icon recruited the Oscar-winning new mom and Star Wars lead for her upcoming 39th album, Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway. As the title suggests, the stage and screen legend has enlisted the vocal help of notable celebrity singers like Hugh Jackman and Jamie Foxx to create modern renditions of Broadway classics like "Any Moment Now" from Into the Woods or "Climb E'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music.
The three women were tasked with recreating "At the Ballet," an emotionally-charged trio performance from A Chorus Line. Sung from three points of view, the women describe the personal strife that lead them to become ballet dancers.
"I wanted to work with some women on this album and I thought well, give them a little character, have them act scenes, so I have to have good actresses who can sing," Streisand explained. Good actresses who can sing is exactly what Streisand got.
In the footage shared on YouTube, fans get a rare look at a bare-faced, pregnant and radiant Hathaway, who appears to be not far away from her March birth date.
"When Anne came into the studio, I was so happy to see her looking radiant and glowing, no makeuo but with the beauty of a woman about to give birth to a child," Streisand described as the Intern star was shown grabbing her baby belly and smiling from ear to ear.
While Hathaway is an Oscar winner because of her performance in the screen adaptation of Les Misérables, Ridley has thus far been known to Hollywood as an action star.
"I was interviewing [her] for Gypsy and I said, 'Can you sing?' and she said, 'Yeah, I can sing,'" Streisand recalled. However, she was reluctant about whether or not the actress was telling the truth or fibbing to get the part. "I took a chance with Daisy and it paid off because she wasn't kidding—she can sing."
Her Star Wars director J.J. Abrams is also a big fan of Ridley's pipes. "One day on set, she just started singing and had the most beautiful voice I ever heard," he said at the U.S.-Ireland Alliance's Oscar Wilde Awards.
While Ridley excitedly teased fans months ago about her musical debut, she was a bit nervous about her first time in the studio.
"I have had no experience recording, so to have my first experience recording with Barbra Streisand is pretty insane," she admitted. "Both of those actresses won Oscars for musical films, so slightly daunting."
However, the final product was nothing short of stunning.
"I think I was as nervous being directed by her as I was singing with her," Ridley continued. "I went from being like, 'Ah, I can't do it' to like, 'Oh, yeah I fit here somehow,' and it worked out."