movie review funny girl

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• The First Omen Link to The First Omen
• The Beast Link to The Beast

New TV Tonight

• Chucky: Season 3
• Mr Bates vs The Post Office: Season 1
• Fallout: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• Dora: Season 1
• Good Times: Season 1
• Beacon 23: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Ripley: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• We Were the Lucky Ones: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• The Gentlemen: Season 1
• Manhunt: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• Ripley Link to Ripley
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

Box Office 2024: Top 10 Movies of the Year

100 Best Free Movies on YouTube (April 2024)

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

TV Premiere Dates 2024

New Movies & TV Shows Streaming in April 2024: What To Watch on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, and More

• Trending on RT
• Play Movie Trivia

Funny Girl Reviews

The score remains imprinted on several generations...

Full Review | Jun 12, 2023

Though the premise isn’t particularly original or memorable, Streisand’s turn is incredibly fitting.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 22, 2022

[Barbra Streisand] is the best of all possible reasons to see the movie version of the musical. In short, she is sublime -- which saves the film as a whole from suffocating under its own glossy, ill-conceived hugeness.

Full Review | Mar 2, 2022

In Barbra Streisand Funny Girl thumps down an ace.

Full Review | Jul 16, 2018

It's hard to think of Funny Girl, in fact, apart from Barbra Streisand. She is the life force. Director William Wyler simply drapes the opulent show around her.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2018

When she is singing--in a marvelous scene on roller skates--when she throws a line away, or shrugs, or looks funny or sad, she has a power, gentleness and intensity that rather knocks all the props and sets and camera angles on their ear.

Full Review | Jan 9, 2018

William Wyler's adaption of the stage musical is transformative for many millennials. Whether wearing a hijab, sporting a yarmulke, or bareheaded, my students embrace Streisand's Brice and the star/character's professional chutzpah & insecurities.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 9, 2018

In lesser hands this would fall flat because nothing is written to comfort the supporting players. They are extras with names and blurred faces.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 3, 2017

Dazzling musical romance is long but entertaining.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 15, 2012

Legendary diva Streisand won an Oscar for her performance as legendary Ziegfeld girl Fanny Brice... who else but Babs could have portrayed her so well?... Great film it isn't, but it sure is a helluva lot of fun.

Full Review | Nov 19, 2008

Streisand is stunning, but the film is a trial, particularly when the music disappears somewhere around the 90-minute mark and all that's left is leaden melodrama.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2008

A fine movie musical and a nice reminder of the time when Streisand was a talent rather than a 'phenomenon'.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 12, 2008

This extended Streisand Special has done absolutely nothing to correct the flaws in the Broadway original.

Few film debuts in the 1960s were more auspicious than that of Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 12, 2008

Barbra Streisand in her Hollywood debut makes a marked impact.

I wish William Wyler's direction was more inventive and humurous (it's his first musical), but Streisand gives a meteoric performance, as Fanny Frice and as herself, showing a tremendous charismatic presence that goes beyond physical looks and acting.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Feb 7, 2008

[Streisand gives] a natural, unforced performance, easily one of the three or four best Best Actresses in Oscar history.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 28, 2008

One of the all-time great film musicals with dazzling Streisand.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Jun 1, 2007

You will have made your mind up about Babs one way or the other, but for the rare uninitiated, this is a fine introduction to her talents.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Well worth watching, even if most later Streisand movies aren't.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2006

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Dazzling musical romance is long but entertaining.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

With much effort and courage (and some good luck,

Fanny Brice is portrayed as a talented, off-beat,

One suggestive -- and sometimes comic -- song find

One "hell," one "damn."

Lots of social drinking in restaurants, at home, i

Parents need to know that this elegant, romantic, and often funny musical is wonderful entertainment, but might be too long and mature for many tweens. The movie's nearly three hours focuses on the ups and downs in the romance of Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein and includes some mature thematic material, such as marital…

Positive Messages

With much effort and courage (and some good luck, too), talented performers can succeed; however, even great success doesn't necessarily bring personal happiness. Even the smartest and most gifted among us don't necessarily make the best decisions. It's helpful to use humor as a way of deflecting personal hurt and disappointment.

Positive Role Models

Fanny Brice is portrayed as a talented, off-beat, and spirited performer who chooses to retain her positive values even as she reaches the heights of show business success. She treats people well and is fair, honorable and generous. Still, she blindly trusts and loves a man who is weak and self-destructive, subjecting herself to heartache because of him.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

One suggestive -- and sometimes comic -- song finds Nick Arnstein seducing the innocent young Fanny Brice. At the end of the song, they kiss and sink down onto a sofa. It's implied thereafter that they are involved in a sexual relationship. There are numerous passionate kisses between Fanny and Nick throughout. There is no nudity, but there are lots of revealing costumes. Trademark statuesque, beautiful Ziegfield Follies girls appear on stage in gowns which showing lots of leg and cleavage.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Lots of social drinking in restaurants, at home, in gambling club, including to "drown their sorrows." Two leading characters smoke.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this elegant, romantic, and often funny musical is wonderful entertainment, but might be too long and mature for many tweens. The movie's nearly three hours focuses on the ups and downs in the romance of Fanny Brice and Nick Arnstein and includes some mature thematic material, such as marital woes and dishonesty. The romance includes Nick's smooth seduction of the innocent young Brice and hints of his promiscuity. However, there is no on-camera sexual activity other than passionate kissing and embracing, and no nudity. Many of the glamorous costumes reveal a lot of leg and have plunging necklines. Characters do plenty of social drinking and leading characters smoke cigarettes. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (1)
• Kids say (3)

Based on 1 parent review

What's the Story?

Fanny Brice ( Barbra Streisand , in an Academy Award-winning performance), an icon of comedy and music of the 1930s and 1940s, makes her way from the Jewish ghetto in New York City to the glittering heights of Broadway while she is still a very young woman. Discovered by the famous Florenz Ziegfield ( Walter Pidgeon ), known for his Follies and the beautiful Ziegfield Girls who fill the stage in his shows, Fanny begins as a novelty act and becomes his biggest star. But her personal life follows a different path. She is hopelessly in love with Nicky Arnstein ( Omar Sharif ) a gambler who makes dubious choices and is guided by questionable values. They marry and have a child, but Nick's pride and his mistakes threaten their relationship and Fanny's happiness.

Is It Any Good?

Made in 1968, this is one of the richest musical films of its era, a highlight in a period of filmmaking that was filled with great material. FUNNY GIRL (recipient of eight Academy Award nominations) is comprised of an extraordinary performance by Barbra Streisand in her first film role, dazzling production values with wondrous costumes and sets, a musical score with multiple show-stopping numbers, and a heartfelt story. What's more, the subject matter -- a young woman who becomes a great star but is naive in affairs of the heart -- gives the film emotional complexity and an ending that defies tradition.

Teens with an interest in musical theater or costume design might find this film particularly inspiring. It is interesting to note that the movie took considerable liberties with the real story -- particularly the events in the life of Nick Arnstein and Fanny's naivete -- and that Ray Stark, the producer, was, in fact, Fanny Brice's son-in-law, married to her daughter, Frances Arnstein. A movie sequel Funny Lady , also starring Barbra Streisand as a more mature Fanny Brice, was released in 1975.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the fact that most traditional movie romances follow a familiar pattern: "girl meets boy; girl loses boy; girl gets boy back" (or vice versa). How does this movie differ? What other memorable musical love stories have veered from the traditional path?

Other than her singing voice and comic gifts, what personal qualities do you think made Fanny Brice successful?

The filmmakers are known to have made significant changes from Fanny Brice's real story when adapting it for the stage and film. Does this matter to you? If it does, what resources are available to give you more information?

Movie Details

• In theaters : September 19, 1968
• On DVD or streaming : October 23, 2001
• Cast : Barbra Streisand , Omar Sharif , Walter Pidgeon
• Director : William Wyler
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : Columbia Pictures
• Genre : Musical
• Topics : Arts and Dance , Music and Sing-Along
• Run time : 165 minutes
• MPAA rating : G
• Awards : Academy Award , Golden Globe
• Last updated : March 31, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

My Fair Lady

Meet Me in St. Louis

Fiddler on the Roof

The Sound of Music

Musicals for kids, related topics.

• Arts and Dance
• Music and Sing-Along

Want suggestions based on your streaming services? Get personalized recommendations

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

• Columbia Pictures

Summary A re-release of Barbra Streisand's 1968 film debut in the reprisal of her Broadway role as Ziegfeld star Fanny Brice.

Directed By : William Wyler

Written By : Isobel Lennart

Where to Watch

Barbra Streisand

Fanny brice.

Omar Sharif

Nick arnstein.

Kay Medford

Anne Francis

Georgia james.

Walter Pidgeon

Florenz ziegfeld.

Mae Questel

Mrs. strakosh.

Gerald Mohr

Frank Faylen

Mittie lawrence, gertrude flynn, mrs. o'malley, penny santon, mrs. meeker, john harmon, company manager, thordis brandt, ziegfeld girl, bettina brenna, virginia ann ford, alena johnston, karen stride, mary jane mangler, inga neilsen, critic reviews.

• All Reviews
• Positive Reviews
• Mixed Reviews
• Negative Reviews

User Reviews

Related movies.

Lawrence of Arabia (re-release)

The Passion of Joan of Arc

My Left Foot

12 Years a Slave

The Social Network

Schindler's List

The Irishman

The Wild Child

We Were Here

Reversal of Fortune

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

The Act of Killing

The Look of Silence

Related News

April Movie Preview (2024)

Keith kimbell.

The month ahead will bring new films from Alex Garland, Luca Guadagnino, Dev Patel, and more. To help you plan your moviegoing options, our editors have selected the most notable films releasing in April 2024, listed in alphabetical order.

2024 Movie Release Calendar

Jason dietz.

Find release dates for every movie coming to theaters, VOD, and streaming throughout 2024 and beyond, updated weekly.

DVD/Blu-ray Releases: New & Upcoming

Find a list of new movie and TV releases on DVD and Blu-ray (updated weekly) as well as a calendar of upcoming releases on home video.

SXSW 2024 Recap: Best and Worst Films

Which films impressed reviewers during the 2024 edition of the South by Southwest Film & TV Festival? We recap the reactions of critics to all of this year's major SXSW premieres and tell you which titles won the festival's major awards.

Every Denis Villeneuve Movie, Ranked

Before French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve earned the attention of sci-fi fans with excellent Dune and Blade Runner films, he made a name for himself with crime thrillers and indie dramas. Here, we rank every one of his films to date from worst to best by Metascore.

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Love the mag?

Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

• Things to Do
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture
• Time Out Market
• Coca-Cola Foodmarks
• Los Angeles

Get us in your inbox

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

Time Out says

Release details.

• Duration: 147 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: William Wyler
• Screenwriter: Isobel Lennart
• Walter Pidgeon
• Anne Francis
• Gerald Mohr
• Omar Sharif
• Barbra Streisand
• Kay Medford

An email you’ll actually love

Discover Time Out original video

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies
• Advertising

Time Out Worldwide

• All Time Out Locations
• North America
• South America
• South Pacific

• Entertainment
• Rex Reed Reviews
• Awards Shows
• Climate Change
• Restaurants
• Gift Guides
• Business of Art
• Nightlife & Dining
• About Observer
• Advertise With Us

‘Funny Girl’: Move Over, Barbra. Welcome, Beanie. A New Star Is Born.

The new production of 'funny girl' knocks your socks off before the intermission. by that time, the star's hidden magic has hit you squarely in the heart in ways you didn't see coming..

Funny Girl | 2 hours 50 minutes | August Wilson Theatre, 245 W. 52nd St. | 212-560-2188

Rules unwritten but widely believed and rarely broken include the belief that some roles become so identified with the actors who originated them that they cannot be successfully performed by anyone else. This may be a narrow view that is challenged on a regular basis, but in a few cases the assumption firmly defies debate. I’m talking Marlon Brando as brutish Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire , Julie Harris as 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams in The Member of the Wedding, Judy Holliday as dumb-like-a-fox Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday , and, until last week, Barbra Streisand’s historic life-and-career transforming Fanny Brice in Funny Girl . Then I saw an actor with the unlikely name of Beanie Feldstein in the sparkling and explosively entertaining new Broadway production of Funny Girl and the one transformed is me.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our <a rel="nofollow noreferer" href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Like the opening song in the score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill says, “when a girl isn’t pretty like a Miss Atlantic City” she doesn’t always inspire the constant refrain of screaming applause you hear exploding nightly from the August Wilson Theatre like the eruption of Vesuvius. I’ve heard applause before, but not as loud or as often as the end of every song Beanie Feldstein sings in Funny Girl . Not, in other words, since Barbra Streisand launched the role in 1964 that led to more star-spangled fame, fortune and awards than anyone remembers. Move over, Barbra. Welcome, Beanie. A new star is born.

Like everyone else, I arrived at this refurbished classic dragging anxiety, trepidation and a show-me attitude with me, one eyebrow arched and wondering if this roly-poly newcomer was a misguided fool or the bravest kid in show business. I had no evidence of the kind of talent that deserved a starring role on Broadway. Her Minnie Fay in Bette Midler’s 2017 Broadway take on Hello, Dolly! did not impress, and despite the welcoming applause from a sold-out, standing room only crowd that admired her as Monica Lewinsky in the TV series Impeachment: American Crime Story , about the Bill Clinton scandal, I still wondered what the fuss was all about. She was nothing special to look at — hardly in the same league as Streisand. But just as the first whiff of cinnamon and clove fills the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning, she begins to sing “Who Are You Now?” and it is obvious something special is happening. One of several things accomplished by the newly revised book by Harvey Fierstein and the nimble direction of Michael Mayer in the shoes once filled by Garson Kanin is the shuffling around of the musical numbers. You don’t have to wait until the end of the first act for “People” or feel the thrill when your heart skips a beat on the passionate “Don’t Rain on My Parade”. They knock your socks off before the intermission. By that time, the star’s hidden magic hits you squarely in the heart in ways you didn’t see coming.

She’s not the reincarnation of Barbra, and, wisely, no pale imitation, either (close but no cigar). She can’t sing like Streisand, although her voice is beautiful and clarion-clear, and musically, it hits the top of the second balcony without even trying. I think it’s safe to say she lacks both the same comic timing and the coldly calculated genius. But she does have one thing her legendary predecessor in the role did not have—a sweet, warm truthfulness that makes her more accessible. She’s familiar, comfortable in her skin, like an old friend. You’re wary and cautious at first, but she grows on you, like a lichen. By the time the intermission seamlessly arrives, you’re in love.

The production recreates the heart and humor of the Ziegfeld Follies and the razzle-dazzle of Broadway in the 1920s in all of its rude comedy and gaudy glory. Mr. Fierstein adds an edge to the story without diminishing any of its values. New songs have been borrowed from the movie version and other sources, moved around in different acts and inserted for emphasis, and sometimes the whole thing moves too fast to digest. One minute Fanny is the awkward girl from Henry Street in Brooklyn, the next minute she’s auditioning for Ziegfeld, and before the applause wears down, she’s doing the pregnant bride bit that catapulted her to super-stardom, startling her mother (a sour Jane Lynch) and her poker-playing friends. On the rare occasion when the pace slows, there are luscious, leggy show girls to keep you enthralled, a swirl of spectacular tap dancers led by Jared Grimes to keep your pulse racing, and barrels of confetti that fall on your head like Technicolor rain. The show is three hours long, but Ms. Feldstein makes the minutes fly by with such pleasure that you wish it would never end. And she is bolstered every step of the way by the first completely drop-dead lover-husband version of gambler-racketeer Nick Arnstein in the history of Funny Girl . The dashing, glamorous Ramin Karimloo, so wonderful in Anastasia, is also the first Nick who can sing, dance and render an audience stricken with such awe that new numbers had to be added to enhance his role and showcase his varied talents appropriately. He makes Fanny’s fairy tale romanticism breathe with the realism that all things are possible. If this isn’t a star in the making, then justice no longer exists in the American theater.

It’s hard to describe what Beanie Feldstein does exactly. Words like “endearing” come to mind immediately, but there’s more. Working carefully to make Fanny Brice her own original creation, she is simply enchanting.

• SEE ALSO : The Ellis Island Museum Is Getting a $100M Makeover

We noticed you're using an ad blocker.

We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience. But advertising revenue helps support our journalism. To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker. We'd really appreciate it.

How Do I Whitelist Observer?

Below are steps you can take in order to whitelist Observer.com on your browser:

For Adblock:

Click the AdBlock button on your browser and select Don't run on pages on this domain .

For Adblock Plus on Google Chrome:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Enabled on this site.

For Adblock Plus on Firefox:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com.

• Photos & Videos

Film Details

• Articles & Reviews

Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, william wyler, barbra streisand, omar sharif, kay medford, anne francis, walter pidgeon, photos & videos, technical specs.

In turn-of-the-century New York, Fanny Brice, a young Jew from the Lower East Side, dreams of becoming a Broadway star, despite her unglamorous appearance. When she loses her chorus line job at Keeney's Oriental Palace, Fanny lies to enter a roller skating number and, slipping and sliding, is a comedy hit. After the performance, suave gambler Nick Arnstein visits Fanny backstage and helps get her a raise. Soon Fanny's comedy routines come to the attention of Florenz Ziegfeld, and she is hired for his Follies at the New Amsterdam Theatre. On opening night she turns the show's lavish wedding finale into a comedy by appearing as a pregnant bride. Ziegfeld's anger is placated by Fanny's success, however, and he keeps the routine and yields to her demand that she choose her own material. Also at the theater that night is Nick Arnstein, who accompanies her to a party at her mother, Rose's, beer hall and then leaves for Kentucky. One year later, while Fanny is in Baltimore on tour, she again encounters Nick. During their whirlwind affair, Nick loses a fortune on a racehorse he owns and decides to recoup his losses by gambling on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic. As Fanny prepares to board a train for Chicago, she receives roses and a note from Nick. After phoning her resignation from the Follies to Ziegfeld, she catches a train to New York and boards a tugboat to take her to Nick's Europe-bound ship. After her marriage to Nick, the two move into a lavish manor, and Fanny gives birth to a daughter. Some time later, while Fanny is in rehearsal for a new show, Nick loses his money again and is forced to sell the house. Feeling overpowered by his wife's success, he moves back to New York City and spends more and more time gambling. As his debts mount, Fanny tries to help, but Nick bitterly rejects her offer and becomes involved in a phony bond deal. When he is exposed, he gives himself up and is sent to jail. Over a year later, he comes to Fanny's dressing room before her performance and tells her goodby. Songs: "I'm the Greatest Star" (Fanny), "If a Girl Isn't Pretty" (Rose & Mrs. Strakosh), "Roller Skate Rag," "I'd Rather Be Blue Over You," "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," "People" (Fanny), "You Are Woman, I Am Man" (Fanny & Nick), "Don't Rain on My Parade," "Second Hand Rose," "Sadie, Sadie," "The Swan," "Funny Girl," "My Man" (Fanny).

Mae Questel

Gerald mohr, frank faylen, mittie lawrence, gertrude flynn, penny santon, john harmon, thordis brandt, bettina brenna, virginia ann ford, alena johnston, mary jane mangler, inga neilsen, sharon vaughn, gene callahan, jacques charles, grant clarke, virginia darcy, david dworski, fred fisher, ray gosnell, james f. hanley, paul helmick, william kiernan, isobel lennart, lepard/neuhart, robert luthardt, lorry mccauley, frank mccoy, bob merrill, arthur piantadosi, channing pollock, reiss & fabrizio, charles j. rice, herbert ross, richard m. rubin, william sands, walter scharf, marshall schlom, irene sharaff, jack solomon, herbert spencer, harry stradling, robert swink, betty walberg, vivienne walker, a. willemetz, maury winetrobe, maurice yvain, photo collections.

Hosted Intro

Best Actress

Award nominations, best cinematography, best editing, best picture, best supporting actress, the essentials - funny girl.

Pop Culture 101 - Funny Girl

Trivia - funny girl - trivia & fun facts about funny girl, trivia - funny girl - trivia & fun facts about funny girl, the big idea - funny girl, behind the camera - funny girl, funny girl - funny girl, critics' corner - funny girl, critics' corner - funny girl.

Hello, gorgeous. - Fanny Brice

You think beautiful girls are going to be in style forever! I should say not! Any day now they're going to be over! Finished! Then it'll be my turn! - Fanny Brice

I'd be happy to wait while you change. - Nick Arnstein

I'd have to change too much, nobody could wait that long. - Fanny

Look, we're going to Delmonico's for supper. Would you care to join us? We'd be happy to wait while you change. - Nick Arnstein

I'd have to change too much. Nobody could wait that long. - Fanny

Where I come from, when two people... well, sort of love each other... oh, never mind. - Fanny Brice

Well? What do they do when they "sort of love each other"? - Nick Arnstein

Well, one of them says, "Why don't we get married?" - Fanny Brice

Really? - Nick Arnstein

Yeah, and sometimes it's even the man. - Fanny Brice

"The Swan" was written especially for this movie. The original number, "Rat-a-Tat-Tat", was deemed too dated (though appropriate for the setting of the show).

Copyright length: 151 min. Filmed in 35mm Panavision and blown up to 70mm for some roadshow presentations.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States July 2009 (Shown at Outfest: Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Special Events) July 9-19, 2009.)

Limited re-release in United States August 31, 2001 (restored print; New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco)

Released in United States Fall September 1968

Released in United States September 19, 1968

Expanded re-release in United States Fall 2001

Limited re-release in United States August 31, 2001

Released in United States July 2009

Released in United States November 2003

Shown at Outfest: Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (Special Events) July 9-19, 2009.

Feature acting debut for acclaimed singer Barbra Streisand.

Released in United States November 2003 (Shown at AFI/Los Angeles International Film Festival (Tribute) November 6-16, 2003.)

Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM.

Your Browser is Not Supported

To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers:

Safari v11+

Firefox Quantum

Microsoft Edge

• Newsletters

Site search

• Israel-Hamas war
• 2024 election
• Solar eclipse
• Supreme Court
• All explainers
• Future Perfect

Filed under:

Lea Michele in Funny Girl: Yes, she is that good

There are 3 things you need to be a great Fanny Brice. Lea Michele has 2 of them.

Share this story

• Share this on Facebook
• Share this on Twitter
• Share this on Reddit
• Share All sharing options

Share All sharing options for: Lea Michele in Funny Girl: Yes, she is that good

The atmosphere at Broadway’s Funny Girl revival right now is not so much electric as it is delightedly salacious, the audience salivating for sweet, sweet gossip. After all the Funny Girl drama this summer — the rapid ousting of sweet Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice, the musical’s lead, and her replacement with reputed bully Lea Michele — everyone in that theater has put up their cold, hard cash to find out: Was it worth it? All the scandal, the bad optics? Could Lea Michele possibly be that good?

She’s not exactly Streisand. But she comes pretty damn close.

Funny Girl is a bizarre show, a hackneyed hagiography to a vaudeville star whose Isobel Lennart-penned book is the midcentury equivalent to Glitter ’s screenplay. Despite its cliché-ridden plot about a poor girl who becomes a star, only to risk her stardom for her marriage to a man who wasn’t worthy of her, Funny Girl became immortal when it debuted on Broadway in 1964. Mostly, that was thanks to the twin pillars of its glorious Jule Styne songs and Barbra Streisand’s iconic performance in the lead role. (Bob Merrill provides the just-okay lyrics.) Every production since then has had to live in the shadow of their legacy.

Streisand proved that Funny Girl can be great, if you make the songs work and if you have a terrific Fanny Brice: someone who’s funny, who has a voice big enough to nail Styne and Merrill’s octave-spanning ballads, and who can make the audience believe unquestioningly in her theatrical genius and will to power. Lea Michele nails two out of those three qualifications, and that ain’t bad at all.

Michele proved she had the vocal chops to pull off a convincing Streisand dupe way back in her Glee days, where she covered a series of Funny Girl songs in performances that tended to ape Streisand’s distinctive phrasing and pronunciations. (“ The sun’s a ball of buttah ,” anyone?) Now, at 36, she still has the pure, supple tone that made her a TV star, but she’s acquired the gravitas and confidence it takes to move past mimicry. She can interpret stone-cold classics like “People” and “I’m the Greatest Star” with a technique that nods to Streisand without copying her beat for beat, and her belt on “Don’t Rain on My Parade” fills the theater.

Is this funny girl funny? Not exactly, but she makes the jokes charming. Michele approaches Fanny’s one-liners and extended physical comedy bits with a hint of despair that suggests she finds their self-deprecation humiliating. Regardless, she throws all her Rachel Berry A-student determination at her jokes (watch her try desperately to keep a fake mustache glued to her face while patter-singing in an old-timey Yiddish accent). The combination ends up feeling endearing: Look, she’s suffering for us.

That determination, in the end, is what makes Michele’s Fanny Brice so compelling. Funny Girl is the story of Fanny’s will to succeed, her determination that she won’t be held back by her skinny legs, the men who can’t see past them, or her unworthy husband. It is the tale of ambition triumphing over all. That’s a quality Michele has always had in spades — and now, after the scandal in 2020 that saw her losing endorsement deals over her reported history of bullying on set, her ambition has been sharpened with a fine edge of desperation. She’s acting up on that stage like her career depends on it, which it probably does.

The production surrounding Michele by and large doesn’t rise to her level. There are exceptions: Jared Grimes, who was nominated for a Tony for the supporting role of dance teacher Eddie, continues to bring a welcome shot of joy to the show with his exuberant tap solos. And Tovah Feldshuh, taking over for Jane Lynch as Fanny’s mother Mrs. Brice, gives an earthy and grounded performance that shows you exactly where Fanny came from.

But even with the book reworked by Harvey Fierstein, the show still falls apart in Act 2, when the focus moves from Fanny to her sleazy gambler husband, Nick. Fierstein’s revisions attempt to flesh Nick out, but only succeed in giving him more unnecessary stage time, all of which feels wasted until we get back into Fanny’s perspective. (Ramin Karimloo, it must be said, gives a charming and creamy-voiced leading-man performance in the role; it is not his fault Nick is written so badly.)

Michael Mayer’s direction tends to the flat and predictable, with confetti guns and proscenium lighting changes thudding emotional cues out at the audience with all the subtlety of a freight train. David Zinn’s scenic design, meanwhile, is if anything too subtle: A giant and powerfully ugly brick silo looms inexplicably in the center of the set, whether it’s representing Brooklyn or a luxury hotel or a theater. It’s less enigma than annoyance.

Still, if Funny Girl ’s legacy proves anything, it’s that this show can withstand a lot — a clichéd story, clunky lyrics, and a questionable set too, why not — as long as it keeps delivering the big moments.

For Funny Girl to succeed, what it really needs is to land the panicked, nervous exuberance of the long buildup of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (“Don’t tell me not to live, I’ve simply got to!”), the anxious delight of someone willfully ignoring the good advice of her friends and family to throw her arms around a bad decision that may well ruin her life, simply because she can’t bear not to do it.

Right now, with Lea Michele at the helm, Funny Girl is landing the big moments. And every time it does, the ravenous, voracious audience rises up out of their seats to applaud, and the gossip starts mattering a little bit less.

Will you help keep Vox free for all?

At Vox, we believe that clarity is power, and that power shouldn’t only be available to those who can afford to pay. That’s why we keep our work free. Millions rely on Vox’s clear, high-quality journalism to understand the forces shaping today’s world. Support our mission and help keep Vox free for all by making a financial contribution to Vox today.

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via

Next Up In Culture

Sign up for the newsletter today, explained.

Understand the world with a daily explainer plus the most compelling stories of the day.

Thanks for signing up!

Check your inbox for a welcome email.

Oops. Something went wrong. Please enter a valid email and try again.

The radical social conservatives who could define Trump’s second term

The lies that sell fast fashion

The terrifying and awesome power of solar eclipses

When is the next total solar eclipse?

Americans are hooked on the fantasy of financial liberation

The Western visuals of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, decoded

Join or Sign In

Sign in to customize your TV listings

By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy .

• TV Listings
• Cast & Crew

Funny Girl Reviews

• 89   Metascore
• 2 hr 25 mins
• Drama, Music, Comedy
• Watchlist Where to Watch

The life of legendary stage comedian Fanny Brice is enhanced by an excellent Jule Styne-Bob Merrill score, including "People", "Don't Rain on My Parade" and "I'm the Greatest Star".

Few film debuts in the 1960s were more auspicious than that of Barbra Streisand in FUNNY GIRL. Already a legit and recording star, she shot to superstardom and nabbed an Academy Award for best actress in the bargain. William Wyler's musical debut is less assured than one would have liked, but no matter; La Babs had played musical-comedy star Fanny Brice on Broadway and had the role down pat by the time director Wyler brought the story to the screen. In the early 1900s in New York City, young Fanny, an ugly duckling with an unstoppable ambition to be a star, is determined to get out of the Lower East Side. Her big break comes when she's spotted by handsome gambler Nicky Arnstein (Sharif), who helps her catch the eye of Florenz Ziegfeld (Pidgeon). Ziegfeld hires her for his new Follies presentation, where her subversive comic style proves extraordinarily popular; soon she is one of the Follies' biggest stars. The remainder of the picture--which, despite its real-life subject, tells a formulaic story--recounts her steady rise to national celebrity and her tumultuous marriage to Arnstein. The oddly cast Sharif is better than usual, but Streisand, of course, is most of the show, belting out songs, pulling heartstrings, alternating between raucous slapstick and dramatic power, and generally demonstrating that she has arrived in a big way. The memorable Broadway score was augmented for the screen with several tunes from Brice's life, including her signature, "My Man."

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Review: Broadway’s First ‘Funny Girl’ Revival Shows Why It Took So Long

Beanie Feldstein stars as the comic Fanny Brice in the show’s return after almost 60 years.

By Jesse Green

It must be a plot. Why else would it have taken nearly 60 years for “Funny Girl,” the hit 1964 musical about the comic Fanny Brice, to be revived on Broadway, when most Golden Age shows with even half a wit left in them — let alone such a fabulous score — have been revived unto exhaustion?

And why does the mild version that finally made it, in a production starring Beanie Feldstein that opened Sunday at the August Wilson Theater, seem likely to prolong rather than break the spell?

That I can answer in two words: Barbra Streisman.

Or so Jerome Robbins, who “supervised” the original production, misspelled the name of an exciting young singer, then about 20, on a list of possible Fannys he drew up around 1962. That list, which also included such established stars as Judy Holliday, Eydie Gormé and Tammy Grimes, put Streisand, as she was properly but barely known, in third place.

She was first on Jule Styne’s list, though. The show’s composer deliberately wrote the “toughest score” he could — rangy and histrionic in places, delicate and restrained in others — so “only Barbra could sing it.”

And so it has been. As the show developed, coiling itself around Streisand’s offbeat, aggressive, once-in-a-lifetime talent — not to mention her Brice-like nose, which shows up repeatedly in Bob Merrill’s lyrics — the odds of a truly successful successor diminished. And without a stupendous Fanny to thrill and distract, the musical’s manifold faults become painfully evident.

To rip the bandage off quickly: Feldstein is not stupendous. She’s good. She’s funny enough in places, and immensely likable always, as was already evident from her performances in the movies “Booksmart” and “Lady Bird” and, on Broadway, in “Hello, Dolly!” You root for her to raise the roof, but she only bumps against it a little. Her voice, though solid and sweet and clear, is not well suited to the music, and you feel her working as hard as she can to power through the gap. But working hard at what should be naturally extraordinary is not in Fanny’s DNA.

Still, you can’t blame Feldstein for the show’s problems; that would be like blaming the clown for the elephants. The main elephant is the book, written by Isobel Lennart and fiddled with for this production by Harvey Fierstein, to no avail. Tracing Brice’s rise from gawky waif to Ziegfeld star between 1910 and 1927, along with the corresponding decline of her romance with the “gorgeous” gambler Nick Arnstein (Ramin Karimloo), it bites off more than it can chew and then, at least in Michael Mayer’s production, repeatedly refuses to chew it.

The highlights-only approach is a problem in most biographical musicals, exacerbated in “Funny Girl” by its unusually high quotient of fictionalization. Brice’s family was well off, not poor, but the rags-to-riches arc made the plot more appealing. When she met Arnstein, she was no innocent, as suggested by songs like “You Are Woman, I Am Man”; she’d been married already — and he still was. The famous Ziegfeld number in which she stuffs her wedding gown to appear pregnant (“His Love Makes Me Beautiful”) never happened, and if it had, she’d have been fired.

But those distortions at least make a good story. The bigger distortions — perhaps necessitated by the fact that Ray Stark, who produced the original, was Brice’s son-in-law — avoid one. Arnstein did not get involved in illegal activities because he hated being supported by Fanny; he was a crook and a jailbird who had been gladly sponging off her from the beginning. Yet Brice, knowing all that, still adored him, which makes a far more interesting tale than the bowdlerized one the show offers, of a duped woman finally and regretfully seeing the light.

That Arnstein wasn’t remotely gorgeous, and Karimloo totally is, we can allow. Karimloo also sings beautifully and, to the extent the new book tries to beef up the role, he’s got the beef to do it.

Unfortunately the effort is counterproductive. The song “Temporary Arrangement,” in which Nick expresses his mounting fury, has been retrieved from the Styne-Merrill trunk, where it was stashed after one performance in 1964 and should have remained; its intensity comes out of nowhere and rips at the show’s thin fabric. A bit later, Nick gets a version of the title song, which though shot for the 1968 film, starring Streisand and Omar Sharif, was cut for good cause.

More happily, when Feldstein sings her own version of “Funny Girl” near the end of the show, it’s simple and touching — not overstretched like her merely loud renditions of the big three hits: “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

Perhaps that’s because she’s finally just sitting down with no one else onstage. (Most of the musical staging, by Ellenore Scott, is hectic.) But if Fierstein’s stabs at strengthening the secondary characters pull focus from the central one, they do help the production in small ways. As Fanny’s mother, the naturally eccentric comic Jane Lynch brings us closest to the Brice spirit, suggesting in “Who Taught Her Everything She Knows?” that zany ambition is a heritable trait. And though Jared Grimes, as Fanny’s pal Eddie Ryan, is somewhat wasted in that song, he earlier makes a fine cameo of the production’s most notable dance, a stunning tap sequence choreographed by Ayodele Casel.

That the sequence has little to do with the story is not a deal-breaker; in “Funny Girl,” it may even be an advantage. Nor are Fierstein’s anachronisms and vulgar jokes about sex with chorines and men in trench coats catastrophic. This is not a unified work like Styne’s 1959 hit, “Gypsy,” arguably just as fictional in its portrait of the stripper Gypsy Rose Lee yet one of the indisputably great musicals. In that show, no song was allowed to serve less than double duty; everything pointed back to the plot. “Funny Girl” reaches for the same complexity but most often contents itself, except in its best songs, with mere entertainment.

If the revival actually provided enough of that, it might prove irresistible. But Mayer’s staging, which at times seems to aim for the ghostly nostalgia of “Follies,” feels lumbering and underfunded, with cheap-looking sets (by David Zinn), a cast of 22 in place of the original 43 and wan new orchestrations for 14 players, based on the glorious originals by Ralph Burns for 25. (You’re going to sell me “People” with two violins?) Only the aptly gaudy costumes by Susan Hilferty suggest the Ziegfeldian overabundance that shows like “Funny Girl” were designed to purvey.

This could all have been predicted; over the years, many revivals have been attempted and defeated because the thing a revival is trying to revive is not to be found in the property itself. It’s in the personality of the necessary star: someone not nice but inevitable, not diligent but explosive, not well-rounded but weird. They don’t grow them that way much, anymore, nor write new material for them. Paging Ms. Streisman!

Funny Girl At the August Wilson Theater, Manhattan; funnygirlonbroadway.com . Running time: 2 hours 50 minutes.

Jesse Green is the chief theater critic. Before joining The Times in 2017, he was the theater critic for New York magazine and a contributing editor. He is the author of a novel, “O Beautiful,” and a memoir, “The Velveteen Father.” More about Jesse Green

Find the Right Soundtrack for You

Trying to expand your musical horizons take a listen to something new..

Beyoncé’s “Cowboy Carter” is a vivid mission statement. Let’s discuss !

Peter Brown , one of the Beatles’ closest confidants, tells all (again).

Alice Coltrane’s explosive Carnegie concert and 7 more new songs on the Playlist .

Pedal Steel Noah ’s covers charm fans online. Up next? His own songs.

5 minutes that will make you love Shirley Horn .

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• March Madness
• AP Top 25 Poll
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

Review: Broadway’s ‘Funny Girl’ a Beanie Feldstein triumph

This image released by Polk & Co. shows Beanie Feldstein, center, with the cast during a performance of “Funny Girl.” (Matthew Murphy/Polk & Co. via AP)

This image released by Polk & Co. shows Ramin Karimloo, center, with the cast during a performance of “Funny Girl.” (Matthew Murphy/Polk & Co. via AP)

This image released by Polk & Co. shows Beanie Feldstein, center, during a performance of “Funny Girl.” (Matthew Murphy/Polk & Co. via AP)

• Copy Link copied

NEW YORK (AP) — When Broadway’s revival of “Funny Girl” begins, star Beanie Feldstein sits in a Broadway dressing room, getting ready to go on. She wonders nervously to her assistant: “You ever feel like there’s someone watching from the shadows?”

The line takes an extra jolt of meaning because Feldstein is stepping into hallowed ground. She’s playing Fanny Brice, a role so associated with Barbra Streisand in the ‘60s that no Broadway revival has been attempted until now — with a Sunday opening at the August Wilson Theatre that even coincides with Streisand’s 80th birthday.

And yet Feldstein stays strong, letting the pressure drop like one of her fabulous coats slipping off her back onto the floor. Almost three hours after that scene, she’s completely won the audience over. No shadows are holding her down.

Feldstein’s Brice is earthy, saucy, physical — a lovable underdog. She may not posses Bab’s vocal prowess, but she radiates the hunger, wry humor and fragility to be an unlikely heroine for a new generation. Her opening line is a classic and she owns it: “Hello, gorgeous,” she says to the mirror.

Set in New York City before and following World War I, “Funny Girl” is a semi-biographical musical account of the life of stage star Brice and her loving but ultimately toxic relationship with gambler-businessman Nicky Arnstein.

If any show was tonally split into two, this is it. Act One is a comedy as it charts Brice’s rise from awkward Brooklyn-born Jewish hoofer to comic star of the Ziegfeld Follies. Act Two is a downer, the fall of two lovers who finally understand that they are incompatible.

The creative team led by assured director Michael Mayer have their own challenges — 27 scene changes, more than a dozen songs and a cast of over 30. Costumes by Susan Hilferty are sumptuous and David Zinn’s set uses a revolving turntable around a giant brick cone at the center of the stage that opens to be various interiors — living rooms and train stations, among them.

Though the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill song list has been scrambled over time, two of the most famous are here, “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and Feldstein makes the former small and sadly longing, while the latter is a boisterous, almost bullying threat. Both appear toward the end of Act One and the second half looses steam and treads water for a while.

Ramin Karimloo plays Arnstein stilted at first, struggling with a role both slimy and charismatic, but ends strongly, always shining when he’s singing. His Arnstein remains a bit of a cipher, often drenched in a kind of noir that’s not in keeping with the rest of the show.

“Glee” star Jane Lynch as Brice’s mom is at her cutting, catty best, a master of comic timing, while Jared Grimes as a pal of Brice nearly tap-dances away with the show, a bright spark of talent and energy whenever he’s on stage.

But the show rests and falls on Feldstein, who must posses as Brice both a grand confidence — “I’m the greatest star” — and an insecurity (“You mean it?”). Brice is a beacon for all the misfits, a stand-in for the unconventional — “a bagel on a plate full of onion rolls” — and Feldstein nails it. Plus, she can deliver a “fakachta” with authenticity.

Highlights include a hysterically seductive and hungry “You Are Woman, I Am Man;” a crowded celebration of married life in “Sadie, Sadie;” the touching duet “Who Taught Her Everything She Knows”; and the showstopper-in-the-show “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” with 12 dancers mimicking soldiers. Look for a moment when Karimloo shuffles playing cards theatrically and Lynch does the same not long after.

The original book by Isobel Lennart has been tweaked by Harvey Fierstein, who also supplies the preshow warning about silencing our phones. There is a winking, fourth-wall-smashing flavor to the show, with Feldstein starting Act Two by jumping up through the orchestra pit and Grimes acknowledging and encouraging cheers during his Act One dance break. Confetti cannons and fake dollar bills are also tossed into the audience, perhaps too cloying a step.

It turns out you don’t need that. All you need is Beanie Feldstein. Hello, gorgeous, indeed.

Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits

‘Funny Girl’ Review: A Star Is Reborn With Lea Michele Headlining Broadway Musical

By Frank Rizzo

Frank Rizzo

• ‘Water for Elephants’ Review: Broadway Musical and Circus Merge for Spellbinding Entertainment 3 weeks ago
• ‘The Notebook’ Review: Broadway Musical of the Popular Romance Hits All-Too-Familiar Notes 4 weeks ago
• ‘How to Dance in Ohio’ Review: Musical About Autistic Young Adults Is a Touching Broadway First 4 months ago

Take two, and not a moment too soon. Lea Michele steps into one of Broadway ’s most iconic roles, which in her mind — or at least the mind of Rachel Berry, the character she played in TV’s “Glee” — she was destined to play. And dammit, she’s right.

But better late than never for this “Funny Girl 2.0.” It’s a bit of a re-discovery of Michele as well.

Older since her “Glee” days — she’s 36 now — the actor brings a welcome maturity to the role of Fanny Brice, the part that launched Barbra Streisand into the stratosphere. Michele’s maturity especially helps in the show’s second half, when the actor is able to lend this Fanny an emotional depth that is lacking in the script.

Her well-seasoned acting chops (she’s been on Broadway stages since she was 9) allows her to calibrate Fanny’s mix of raw ambition, neediness, nerve and vulnerability. Some of Fanny’s insecurities, beneath her bravado, are rooted in her issues of class, education and looks. Michele is clearly a beauty that a period wig can’t hide, but we nevertheless sign on to the delusion.

But is this “Funny Girl” funny? While Michele doesn’t transcend the schtick and corn of the script, she makes the most of what she has been given with playfulness and without pandering.

What serves the show most is her singing, making a triumph of the first act musical trifecta of “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” with plenty of power notes left over to elevate the rest of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill score. Though hardly re-conceiving the songs, Michele is able to distance herself enough from Streisand’s phrasing to take ownership — or at least to become a savvy caretaker — of the material.

Lending solid support is another welcome addition, Tovah Feldshuh, who infuses the role of Fanny’s mother with authenticity, humor and kick. Ramin Karimloo as Fanny’s buff gambler husband Nicky Arnstein remains smooth, sexy and luminous as a satin bedsheet. There’s also musical chemistry with Michele, and their singing, especially in the poignant duet “Who Are You Now,” is sublime.

Jared Grimes still dazzles in the showcase tap numbers that earned him a Tony nomination. Martin Moran and Peter Francis James continue their solid turns as theater owner Tom Keeney and Ziegfeld, and Toni DiBuono and Debra Cardona as Mrs. Brice’s poker buddies are evergreen delights.

But even Michele, Karimloo and a heightened cast can’t save the deflated second act, which still creaks with silent-film melodrama. Harvey Fierstein’s light revision of the script doesn’t solve fundamental issues with the largely fictional bio of Brice, who starred in multiple entertainment mediums during the first half of the 20th century, but is now largely remembered through this musical.

The production still looks ill-conceived, with a dour set and outfits and merely-okay choreography. But a confetti canon? Proscenium lights meant to trigger audience responses? Really?

What transcends it all is the presence of a Fanny who can deliver the musical, emotional and comedic goods — and with a backstage story to boot. With Streisand, it was that of a star being born. With Michelle, it’s one being reborn.

August Wilson Theatre; 1,219 seats; $599 top. Reviewed Oct. 9, 2022. Running time: 2 HOURS, 50 MINS.

• Production: A presentation by Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis, David Babani,  Roy Furman, No Guarantees, Adam Blanshay Productions, Daryl Roth, Stephanie P. McClelland, Lang Entertainment Group, Playing Field, Gavin Kalin, Charles & Nicholas Talar, Fakston Productions, Sanford Robertson, Craig Balsam, Cue to Cue Productions, Leonofffedermanwolofsky Productions, Judith Ann Abrams/Peter May, Hunter Arnold, Creative Partners Productions, Elizabeth Armstrong, Jane Bergere, Jean Doumanian, Larry Magid, Rosalind Productions, Iris Smith, Kevin & Trudy Sullivan, Julie Boardman/Kate Cannova, Heni Koenigsberg/Michelle Riley, Mira Road Productions/Seaview, In Fine Company, Elie Landau, Brian Moreland, Henry R. Munoz III & Kyle Ferari Munoz, Maggioabrams/Brian & Dayna Lee of a musical in two acts written by Isobel Lennart, revised by Harvey Fierstein, music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill.
• Crew: Directed by Michael Meyer; choreography, Ellenore Scott; tap choreography, Ayodele Casel; sets, David Zinn; costumes, Susan Hilferty; lighting, Kevin Adams; sound, Brian Ronan; orchestrations, Chris Walker; music supervisor and director, Michael Rafter; production stage manager, Lisa Iacucci.
• Cast: Lea Michele, Ramin Karimloo, Jared Grimes, Tovah Feldshuh, Peter Francis James, Ephie Aardema, Debra Cardona, Martin Moran, Toni DiBuono, Miriam Ali, Amber Ardolino, Daniel Beeman, Colin Bradbury, Margery Cohen, Kurt Csolak, John Michael Fiumara, Leslie Donna Flesner, Tom Galantich, Afra Hines, Masumi Iwai, Aliah James, Danielle Kelsey, Stephen Mark Lukas, Alicia Lundgren, John Manzari, Connor McRory, Katie Mitchell, Justin Prescott, Mariah Reives, Timothy Shew, Barbara Tirrell, Leslie Blake Walker.

More From Our Brands

Mia goth’s quest for fame runs into a serial killer, her past in new ‘maxxxine’ trailer, de bethune packs 8 complications into a new double-sided masterpiece, irs letter an ‘indictment’ of nil collectives’ exempt status, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, john mulaney to host live netflix comedy series everybody’s in l.a. — watch teaser, get premiere date, verify it's you, please log in.

Review: A dazzling Katerina McCrimmon makes for an authentic Fanny Brice in ‘Funny Girl’

• Show more sharing options
• Copy Link URL Copied!

There’s a new Fanny Brice in town, and the question on everyone’s mind is can she live up to the role immortalized by Barbra Streisand?

The best thing about Katerina McCrimmon’s dazzling performance is that she makes the character her own. What else could she do? This touring production of the 2022 Broadway revival, directed by Michael Mayer, has its own history to contend with.

A miscast Beanie Feldstein launched the Broadway return of “Funny Girl,” and even those of us predisposed to love her couldn’t help leaving the show shaking our heads in bafflement. Rescue eventually came in the nuclear package of Lea Michele , who seized the part of Fanny Brice as though it had been unfairly denied her ever since she had been singing songs from the show on “Glee.” It was a perfect confluence of talent, type and tenacity, and Michele delivered one of the most sensational Broadway performances of the 21st century — a replacement who more than atoned for the revival’s original sin of not casting her in the first place.

No one could expect lightning to strike in exactly the same way. This touring production, which opened at the Ahmanson Theatre on Wednesday, wisely opts to go in a completely different direction.

McCrimmon is a powerhouse singer, don’t get me wrong. She brings the house down in Fanny’s poleaxing first-act numbers, “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” from the golden age score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill. (Despite some ill-calibrated acoustics, the overture alone seemed to have a euphoric effect on Ahmanson patrons with long memories.)

But the distinguishing feature of McCrimmon’s performance is that it brings us closer to the real Fanny Brice, the vaudeville comedian who struck it big in the Ziegfeld Follies. Streisand and Michele were swathed in preternatural glamour. Fanny is made to feel like chopped liver in the looks department, but the star radiance of these performers couldn’t help poking through the character’s humble beginnings.

McCrimmon’s Fanny, by contrast, has the hectic air of a jobbing performer, a scrapper more than a sure thing, one who learned to talk as fast as humanly possible before the door slams in her face. What sets her apart is the authenticity of her humor. She knows how ludicrous she appears on stage in a lineup of leggy girls. But it’s her wisecracks — with their racy, self-deprecating wildness — that allow her to shine on her own terms.

The emphasis on “Funny Girl” tends to be on nailing the vintage New York Jewish milieu. Harvey Fierstein’s revision of Isobel Lennart’s book relocates Fanny’s origins to Brooklyn from the Lower East Side, but it’s all the same world. Melissa Manchester, a game trouper, brings her flamboyant Bronx pedigree to the role of Mrs. Brice. (It’s clear where Fanny has gotten her “oy vey” and “fakakta” exhalations from.) Projections of tenements give David Zinn’s fleet scenic design that old-timey Big Apple flavor.

But it’s the seamlessness between Fanny’s professional and personal life that McCrimmon captures to perfection. Consistency of character might not seem like such a spectacular theatrical virtue, but it’s what makes this Fanny not just unique but historically credible. McCrimmon’s portrayal resists the Broadway myth to find mortal radiance instead.

Feldstein, to her credit, was a more adept physical comedian. Fanny’s vaudeville turns lack the pop they had on Broadway. The vigor and vibrancy have faded on the road, but the backstage business is just right.

Smitten yet too sensitive to insist, Eddie Ryan (Izaiah Montaque Harris, tap dancing his way into our affections) takes Fanny under his wing, becoming her dance captain and lovelorn confidant. Florenz Ziegfeld (Walter Coppage) is accustomed to ruling his Follies with an iron fist but he comes to recognize that strong-willed Fanny is a jackpot worth indulging. The other dancers can’t help getting a kick out of the kook who’s boosting box office for everyone.

When McCrimmon’s Fanny is wooed by the elegant, smooth-talking, alluringly shady Nick Arnstein (Stephen Mark Lukas), she never loses Fanny Brice’s protective comic armor. No, the romance between this Fanny and Nick isn’t as sultry as it was when Michele’s Fanny and Ramin Karimloo’s Nick melted into each other at the August Wilson Theatre in New York. But what Lukas’ Nick sees in McCrimmon’s Fanny — a bright, lovable, hilariously original woman — redounds to his credit.

Lukas’ portrayal deepens as the marriage between Nick and Fanny disintegrates. He can’t stand the idea of living in her shadow — which is no surprise from the guy who puts the moves on her while singing “You Are Woman, I Am Man.” But this Nick is ultimately as sympathetic as the show’s heroine — and just as much of a casualty of a world in which success costs everything you cherish most outside of your own survival.

The ending of “Funny Girl” this time around brought to mind the final moments of Bertolt Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children,” when the protagonist picks up her wagon in the face of all her losses and heads back into battle to sell her wares. Fanny is a more endearing figure of indomitable endurance but no less determined.

Show business won’t stave off her loneliness — she can’t take the adoring audience home with her, as she wistfully muses — but it’s how she presses on. The spotlight is where she thrives. As Fanny acknowledges in “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” she’s “better on stage than at intermission.” And McCrimmon, whose voice grows more majestic and multi-hued as the musical’s emotion ramps up, delivers this aching anthem with heartrending virtuosity.

This revival of “Funny Girl” revives the glory of musicals past, when songs seemed to spring out of their characters’ souls. Understanding that “people who need people are the luckiest people of all,” Fanny generously gives herself and theatergoers what we both have been desperately longing for.

‘Funny Girl’

Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., L.A. When: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays. Ends April 28 Tickets: Start at $40 Contact: centertheatregroup.org or (213) 628-2772 Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes

More to Read

Bergamot Comedy Fest brings diversity, laughs and learning to ‘the industry’s backyard’

March 28, 2024

Hollywood made friendship another unrealistic ideal. A Broadway hit finally smacks it down

This is the no-nonsense fairy godmother behind the careers of your favorite stand-up comics

March 7, 2024

The biggest entertainment stories

Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.

You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.

Charles McNulty is the theater critic of the Los Angeles Times. He received his doctorate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism from the Yale School of Drama.

More From the Los Angeles Times

Entertainment & Arts

Review: Ed Ruscha show wowed in New York. Why it’s even better in L.A.

April 7, 2024

A new SoCal show hopes to tap the surprisingly big business of two-actor musicals

April 5, 2024

There’s no escaping Philip Glass and his piano etudes right now

April 4, 2024

Playwright Christopher Durang, a Tony winner for ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,’ dies at 75

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

Funny Girl takes its parade and an astounding new Fanny Brice on tour

Newcomer Katerina McCrimmon is poised to be the greatest star

Maureen Lee Lenker is a senior writer at Entertainment Weekly with over seven years of experience in the entertainment industry. An award-winning journalist, she's written for Turner Classic Movies, Ms. Magazine , The Hollywood Reporter , and more. She's worked at EW for six years covering film, TV, theater, music, and books. The author of EW's quarterly romance review column, "Hot Stuff," Maureen holds Master's degrees from both the University of Southern California and the University of Oxford. Her debut novel, It Happened One Fight , is now available. Follow her for all things related to classic Hollywood, musicals, the romance genre, and Bruce Springsteen.

Is there any Broadway show that carries as much baggage for its leading lady as Funny Girl?

It took over 50 years for a revival to get to New York, in part because the role of Fanny Brice is so synonymous with the woman it was written for and built around — the singular Barbra Streisand . In 2022, it finally returned to Broadway and stuttered with Beanie Feldstein as its leading lady until a messy turn of events led to Lea Michele swooping in to save box office returns.

But I’m happy to report that the touring revival of that production is an opportunity to leave all that offstage drama squarely in the past, and say “hello, gorgeous” to a riveting musical with a showstopping leading lady.

Matthew Murphy

Funny Girl tells the story of Fanny Brice (Katerina McCrimmon), the legendary performer and comic who rose to fame at the turn-of-the-century as a star in the Ziegfeld Follies. It follows Fanny from her early days, dreaming of her big break, to her stardom, but it is constructed around her romance with gambler Nick Arnstein (Stephen Mark Lukas).

The show lives and dies by the actress at its center, and filling the shoes of Barbra Streisand is no small order. Lucky for us, Katerina McCrimmon might just be the next greatest star. Fanny requires her own brand of triple threat — a singer who can belt like nobody’s business, but who is equally adept as a comic and dramatic actress. McCrimmon not only fits the bill, she exceeds it. Her Fanny is a brash dreamer when we first meet her, mugging for her audiences and using her sense of humor to cover her own insecurities.

We watch her mature in real time, as she meets and falls in love with Nick, a guy who dazzles with his ruffled shirt but has heartbreak written all over him. McCrimmon plays her love scenes with a dizzying blend of horny chutzpah and genuine romantic feeling. She brings the audience in on Fanny’s wonderment at Nick’s attentions, then turns our laughs to a swoon. Her ability to ping between those two extremes is executed as nimbly as one of Fanny’s pals, Eddie Ryan’s (Izaiah Montaque Harris) tap routines.

On stage, Fanny is a powerhouse, but in her personal life, she’s a hothouse flower who blooms under Nick’s attention — and McCrimmon blends these two aspects of Fanny’s public and private life with grace. She’s equally adept at making us laugh and cry.

But her true power is in her once-in-a-generation voice. The vocal potency of McCrimmon’s belt whips the audience into a downright frenzy. When she opens her broad mouth on classics like “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade," a tidal wave of sound emerges to drown the audience with its aural richness and force. But the real magic of her voice isn’t merely that it’s arresting or dynamic, it’s the ways in which she threads the emotion of the material through her astounding instrument to pack a wallop that will leave a mark for days.

It must be said that Funny Girl is still not a perfect show by any stretch of the imagination. Despite being a charming rogue, Nick Arnstein is a dull character, and it's a role that requires the sheer magnetism of someone like the film’s Omar Sharif to make Nick’s appeal evident. Lukas makes an admirable effort, and he’s easy on the eyes, but there’s just not much there to work with. At least he has an easy chemistry with McCrimmon. But if you cut both of Nick’s songs from Act II, it would not matter.

Indeed, the musical’s Achilles heel is its second act. Harvey Fierstein has given revising Isobel Lennart’s book the old college try, but there’s only so much to salvage in the muddled back-half of the show. Thankfully, the finale still lands thanks to McCrimmon's one-two punch of closing musical numbers, but most of the rest of it is forgettable — and it’s a problem that has plagued Funny Girl since it first opened. It plays better on screen where it can zip by in a cinematic third act, rather than having to sustain the weight of the second half of a stage musical.

The show in its totality is a love letter to the big, old-fashioned Broadway musical. David Zinn’s set design, all framed with a flashy vaudeville-esque proscenium arch, is a grand playing field, even if the staging does push the action into strangely tight spaces and leaves too much empty space. Susan Hilferty’s costumes are that of Broadway dreams, as glitzy and eye-catching as the Follies were at the height of their glory.

Melissa Manchester is a stand-out as Mrs. Brice, Fanny’s mother, and she wisely avoids the pitfall of making a caricature of the “Jewish mother” while still finding plenty of opportunities for wise-cracking. The ensemble provides a dazzling backdrop to the action.

But much of that is tertiary when the show so fully belongs to its titular heroine — and what a gift it is to have an actress of McCrimmon’s talents in the role. It’s easy to forget and forgive the musical’s faults when McCrimmon commands the stage so completely. In her hands, its story of one woman’s resilience and heartbreak is devastating and inspiring all at once. 

Funny Girl has always charmed me, but it has never deeply moved me. Until now. McCrimmon made me weep to the point that I was still furiously swiping away tears for several minutes after the curtain call. People who get to see McCrimmon’s star-making performance, now, they are the luckiest people in the world. Grade: A-

Related content:

• The Who's Tommy  review: Pete Townshend's rock opera is a Broadway sensation
• Water for Elephants  review: Dazzling circus performers steal Grant Gustin's spotlight in his Broadway debut
• Lana Parrilla leads  One of the Good Ones , a sitcom on steroids from  One Day at a Time  reboot creator Gloria Calderon Kellett

Related Articles

New York City

• Broadway Discount Tickets
• Off-Broadway
• Off-Off-Broadway
• All New York City

Other Cities

• Long Island
• Los Angeles
• Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• Washington, DC

Complimentary And Deeply Discounted Shows

Enjoy live events at insider prices. Club members can see a different show every night of the week!

Discount Ticket Alerts

Stay abreast of discount offers for great theater, on Broadway or in select cities.

By signing up you are confirming you are 16 or over. View our Privacy Policy.

Final performance: April 28, 2024

Review: Funny Girl Makes a Star of Its Lead Katerina McCrimmon

The tour of the Broadway revival makes a stop in Los Angeles through April 28.

I won’t rain on your parade. In the new Funny Girl tour, Katerina McCrimmon is very funny, with a brassy voice to boot. She carries the show on her capable shoulders at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and stops for applause throughout.

Based on the life of Ziegfeld star Fanny Brice, Funny Girl takes audiences back to Fanny’s youth in New York around 1910, when chorus girls were regal and sexy. With a distinctive nose, a Jewish accent, and a bawdy sense of humor, Fanny can’t catch a break in show business. She’s “a bagel on a plate of onion rolls.” But undeniably talented, she proves quickly that she is — to quote the first big number — “The Greatest Star.” Playing the burlesque circuit, she meets a suave gentleman, Nicky Arnstein (Stephen Mark Lukas), a gambling bon vivant who instantly recognizes her star potential. Several years later, the famed producer Flo Ziegfeld comes calling, and Fanny becomes a massive success. At that moment, Arnstein returns to her life as dashing as ever.

The role of Fanny can be a burden because it has become synonymous with original star Barbra Streisand — for whom three songs have long since become her signatures. Though the original was a hit in 1964 and ran for over 1,300 performances, the 2022 revival marked its first return to Broadway. To her credit, Katerina McCrimmon would seem completely unaware of her predecessor. She breathes fresh life into Fanny, never leaning into familiar mannerisms or tics. I even sensed that she had gone back to early sound movies and the many radio programs Brice had made in order to create a fresh performance. Her voice is triumphant, and her comedy, charming, with a touch of sadness. McCrimmon shines through it all.

As Mrs. Brice, Melissa Manchester settles into a vaudevillian parody of a Jewish mama with a piercing nasal voice and gesticulating hands, but the characterization works because she’s warm and cutting, comforting and truthful. Lukas has a lovely baritone voice and sings the songs well, but he rests on pretty, so his performance lacks charge or chemistry with his leading lady, and his delivery comes off as grandiose. Izaiah Montaque Harris is an excellent hoofer as the confidant Eddie, but his acting falls short of his fancy footwork.

Funny Girl’s book by Isobel Lennart has always been gossamer thin. It wasn’t groundbreaking even in 1964. There are too many In-Ones (scenes in front of traveler curtains giving time to move the sets) and unnecessary reprises. Even with revisions by Harvey Fierstein, Fanny is not allowed enough character arcs or growth, and Act 2 becomes maudlin.

But the splendid 17-piece orchestra sounds almost double its size, particularly when playing the majestic Jule Styne overture. The ensemble has great range in the numbers and works coherently with the conductor, so neither the singers nor musicians drown out one another.

Choreographer Ellenore Scott and tap choreographer Ayodele Casel create buoyant routines for “Cornet Man”, “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat,” and the end of “Sadie Sadie.” David Zinn’s sets evoke an early 20 th century glamour. Susan Hilferty’s costumes dazzle with glittering tuxedo pants and sparkling Ziegfeld girl costumes.

Director Michael Mayer got rid of some of the muck that mires down Funny Girl . The lead performance and the score will lure audiences, but the weak story structure could have been altered without disappointing fans. Thankfully, the wonderful score is intact, and Katerina McCrimmon is unquestionably a star.

Featured In This Story

Tagged in this story, latest articles.

LAexcites.com

Review: ‘funny girl’ revival exceeds immense hype at the ahmanson.

The national tour of the highly acclaimed and commercially successful Funny Girl 2022 Broadway revival has intrepidly tap danced into Los Angeles’ Ahmanson Theatre, and, with a protagonist who epitomizes the quintessential underdog arc, has categorically won over the hearts of a charmed audience. To say that the towering expectations for this tour have been exceeded would be an understatement, in large part due to relative newcomer Katerina McCrimmon who gives an all-time performance as Fanny Brice.

The company in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Matthew Murphy of MurphyMade

In a musical-theatre world where revivals are plentiful, Funny Girl is seeing its very first Broadway retuning (by Harvey Fierstein) since debuting in 1964 when idol Barbra Streisand was the sharp-witted and affable Fanny, a real-life comic and belter of the mainstage, which the musical is partly based on. Of course, Fanny’s nattily dressed beau and gambling businessman, Nick Arnstein, is also spotlighted semi-autobiographically. Notions of love, career, sacrifice, family, and marriage troubles are weaved together in a story (conveyed as an extended flashback) that ingratiates with candor, comedy, and a commitment to Brice’s indefatigable spirit. The cast expertly realizes the vision of director Michael Mayer whose deft touches are matched by the enthusiastic choreography of Ellenore Scott — including tap routines by Ayodele Casel — which accentuate Funny Girl ’s strongest features.

(L-R) Jackson Grove, Katerina McCrimmon, and Rodney Thompson in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Before retracing the protagonist’s journey as a leading star and girlfriend/wife to Nick — and the drama associated with their relationship — the show begins momentarily in the present when Katerina McCrimmon’s Fanny, now the headliner of the famed Ziegfeld Follies, pensively wonders backstage if her estranged husband Nick, depicted by Stephen Mark Lukas, will arrive.

Embodying the era of WWI and the 1920s as seamlessly as she does, McCrimmon is so undeniably personable as a metaphorical “bagel on a plate full of onion rolls” that the Ahmanson crowd can’t help but root for her Fanny, of a humbly Jewish New York origin, who is initially overlooked for not being conventional. Through McCrimmon’s otherworldly actualization, there is more than just a mere acknowledgement of what is seen; there is a full surrender and admission that she is as equally hysterical (e.g., the gut-busting “His Love Makes Me Beautiful”) and earnest (e.g., the softly sung “Who Are You Now?”) as the existent vaudeville luminary was.

(L-R) Melissa Manchester and Izaiah Montaque Harris in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

There is, moreover, the realization that McCrimmon is as vocally skilled as Streisand’s Fanny — as potentially blasphemous as it is to say. The Cuban-American, Miami native does it uniquely, too, as she meets the incredible demands of the title character while simultaneously making the portrayal her own. That is, whereas Streisand’s voice is more forward and sharp, McCrimmon adds more mass to her vocals while never compromising her clarity; in fact, as powerful as the mid-20-year-old sensation sounds, it’s almost like her voice paradoxically flutters through the air like a feather. “I’m the Greatest Star” is the first indication of McCrimmon’s mind-blowing exploits, and, when it’s time for “People,” and the Act I-ender “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” attendees are moved by a superstar-making turn that surely won’t be topped this year.

(L-R) Katerina McCrimmon and Stephen Mark Lukas in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

The eloquent and risk-taking Nick Arnstein could be played banally, but Stephen Mark Lukas gives his character the layered subtleties it deserves. For example, Arnstein means well as someone who wants to invest in ventures like casinos, but the consequences of his insecurity to prove his worth vis-à-vis his big-star significant other puts a strain on maintaining traditional marriage dynamics as was the norm in the early 20th century. Lukas’ scenes with McCrimmon are particularly engaging and sometimes a laugh-out-loud hoot like during Nick and Fanny’s date in Baltimore. Lukas more than holds up his end of the bargain in rendering his inscrutable and arguably manipulative Arnstein, inviting observers on a ride of heartrending curiosity.

Katerina McCrimmon in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade

As Fanny’s supportive mother Mrs. Rose Brice, the Grammy Award-winning Melissa Manchester gives a winning and humanistic performance as someone who lives vicariously through her onstage daughter’s rise and romantic frustrations, reacting with good intentions even if the message might be misplaced. Mrs. Brice’s card-playing companions, Mrs. Strakosh and Meeker, are similarly imbued with loveably comedic energy by Eileen T’Kaye and Cindy Chang, respectively.

Izaiah Montaque Harris is the altruistic Eddie Ryan, a dance director and close advocate of Fanny’s who takes a chance on her when David Foley, Jr.’s enjoyably idiosyncratic Tom Keeney, an Irish theatre owner, is quick to write her off. Harris is especially riveting when he continually ups the ante with a fiery tap demonstration that garners alacritous applause in the first act. Adding a little tap flair of their own are Lamont Brown and Ryan Lambert as the sterling silver-clad “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” men who spryly hoof with silver-sheened rifles in tow. The last of the standout cast members is Walter Coppage whose booming, announcer-like intonation gives his esteemed Florenz Ziegfeld much gravitas.

The company, as exemplary as they are, owe much of their presentation to the crew. Just as director Mayer and the choreographers infuse much zest into the production, David Zinn’s depth-perceptive set — inclusive of lights bordering the proscenium — transports viewers back to a more buoyant and elegant past with various backdrops and curtains. Similarly, Susan Hilferty’s costumes are stunning, featuring sparkling attire, as well as flowery and bouquet-shaped headdresses for the Ziegfeld chorus girls. Kevin Adams’ lighting warmly envelops the based-on-a-true-story developments from start to finish, and Michael Rafter’s music supervision (along with orchestrations by Chris Walker and sound design by Brian Ronan and Cody Spencer) ensure that Jule Styne’s tunes are as magnificent and aurally vivid as ever — starting with the lushly melodic overture.

(L-R) Stephen Mark Lukas, Izaiah Montaque Harris, and Katerina McCrimmon in the national tour of Funny Girl . Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Overall, this slightly updated rendition of Funny Girl pays a compelling tribute to the original concept while offering a refreshed look at a legendary musical. With minor tweaks to the numbers, comic moments, and dramatic beats, what’s old is new again for an audience who can experience what Broadway patrons were raving about in the 1960s. Not to mention, the national tour has a special something — or rather, someone — that the Broadway revival didn’t have: Katerina McCrimmon. Just as one can affirmatively posit that there’s nothing more inspiring than seeing a character (in this case based on an actual woman in Fanny Brice) triumphantly assert her caliber, McCrimmon, the performer herself, does the same with a walloping achievement that produces instantaneous chills.

Funny Girl runs through Sunday, April 28th at the Ahmanson Theatre. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit centertheatregroup.org . Funny Girl will also play at Costa Mesa’s Segerstrom Center from Tuesday, May 28th through Sunday, June 9th. For additional details and tickets, visit scfta.org .

Recommended for you

Most Popular

Review: ‘wild party’ is a lively romp in celebration of jaxx theatricals’ re-opening.

Review: Pasadena Playhouse’s ‘One of the Good Ones’ Is a Culturally Relevant Comedy

Review: ‘Superman’ in Concert Evokes Potent Feelings at the Walt Disney Concert Hall

Review: the candlelight pavilion rejoicefully returns with ‘beauty and the beast’.

Burger King Docks Onto Santa Monica Pier for a Zesty ‘Million Dollar Whopper World’ Pop-Up

Review: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Continues Classy Valentine’s Day Tradition

Review: Musical Theatre West’s ’42nd Street’ Scintillates With Toe-Tapping Flair

Review: Matthew Bourne’s Uniquely Reimagined ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Is Ravishing

Review: ‘The Manor’ Certifies Why It’s a Murderous Mainstay in Beverly Hills

Review: ‘MJ’ Avidly Revisits the King of Pop’s Thrilling & Tumultuous Heyday

Review: Theatre 40’s ‘A Very Die Hard Christmas’ Will Have You Die Laughing

Review: The Troubies Merge ‘White Christmas’ & the Beatles In a Hilarious Mash-Up

Review: AEW ‘Full Gear’ Is a Story-Driven Success at the Kia Forum

Queen + Adam Lambert Awe BMO Stadium With Euphoric Mix of Nostalgia + New

Review: The Dinner Detective Delights in Thousand Oaks, CA

Party Like It’s ‘1989’: See Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’ film at the Paramount Drive-In

Review: 5-Star Theatricals’ ‘Oliver!’ Triumphs on the Merits of Its Outstanding Cast

Review: Taylor Swift Arrives in ‘Style’ With ‘august’ Debut at SoFi Stadium

Review: 5-Star Theatricals’ ‘Cinderella’ Glitteringly Highlights the Power of Agency

Review: ‘Beetlejuice’ Is a Spine-Tinglingly Funny Riot of a Musical

Review: Musical Theatre West’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Bedazzles With Nostalgic Magic

Preview: Katy Geraghty & Cast of ‘Into the Woods’ at the Ahmanson Theatre

Review: L.A. Premiere of ‘Tina’ Devotedly Honors the Late ‘Queen of Rock & Roll’

Review: ‘Joseph’ Puts a Brilliant Bow on La Mirada Theatre’s 2022-23 Season

Pasadena Playhouse’s ‘Sunday in the Park with George’ Is a Rhapsodic Tip of the Hat to Sondheim’s Masterwork

Review: ‘The Lion King’ Roars with Remarkable Results at the Pantages

Review: ‘Grease’ Jubilantly Jives at La Mirada Theatre

Review: ‘Mean Girls,’ the Musical, Is Just as Indelible as Its Film Counterpart

Review: ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Falls Under Spell of Pat Benatar & Neil Giraldo’s Music in ‘Invincible’ at the Wallis

Review: The Blackpink Phenomenon Intensifies at Banc of CA Stadium

Review: ‘2:22 — A Ghost Story’ Makes Extraordinarily Thrilling U.S. Premiere at the Ahmanson Theatre

Review: ‘Tootsie’ Proves Its Worth as a Musical

Review: La Mirada Theatre’s ‘The Sound of Music’ Resonates 63 years Later

Ashley x Pandora Present Crowd-Pleasing Installation & John Legend Set

Film & TV Star, Gedde Watanabe, Talks Being in Sondheim’s ‘Assassins’ & More

Review: 5-Star Theatricals’ ‘Something Rotten!’ is Fresh & Exciting

3rd Annual Malibu Guitar Festival Recognizes Good Causes & Remembers Chris Cornell

Modernized ‘Jungle Book’ Production Comes to Pasadena Playhouse on July 17th

Yanni Returning to SoCal, Plus Exclusive Interview

Concert Review: Yanni Is Even Better Now Than He Was 25 Years Ago at the Acropolis

Broadway’s Susan Egan Resplendently Reprises Belle in “Beauty and the Beast”

“Michael Jackson ONE” at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas is a Cirque du Soleil Masterpiece

Grand Canyon Destinations’ West Rim Trip is Divine

“The Last Breakfast Club” Gives Classic Film Lots of New Shine

5-Star Theatricals’ “Shrek The Musical” Is Fairytale Magic

“A View from the Bridge” Rivets the Senses

• Cast & crew

Back to Black

The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time. The life and music of Amy Winehouse, through the journey of adolescence to adulthood and the creation of one of the best-selling albums of our time.

• Sam Taylor-Johnson
• Matt Greenhalgh
• Marisa Abela
• Eddie Marsan
• Jack O'Connell
• 2 Critic reviews

• Amy Winehouse

• Mitch Winehouse

• Blake Fielder-Civil

• Cynthia Winehouse

• Janis Winehouse

• Raye Cosbert

• Nick Shymansky

• A & R Manager

• Aunt Melody

• Perfume Paul

• Island Records Senior Executive

• CID Officer

• Uncle Harold

• Chris Taylor
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 2 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• See more gaps
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed