Spectacular ‘Funny Girl’ Raises the Bar at Marcus Center

×

Expand

Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade

Funny Girl

‘Funny Girl‘

The unofficial award for most heartwarming entertainment on a cold January night goes to the national tour of Funny Girl, which opened on Tuesday at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (during a winter storm warning). But even a few inches of snow couldn’t put a chill on this stupendous production. The Tony-nominated musical revival continues through January 14.

This production is based on the recent Broadway show, which opened last spring and closed last fall. This current version is directed by Michael Mayer (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and features the classic score by Jule Style and Bob Merrill. The original book is by Isobel Lennart, who turned her original story into a Broadway show. A revised book for the new version is by Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots, Newsies). 

The musical loosely follows the real-life story of Fanny Brice, a Jewish teen from the Lower East Side of New York who yearns to be in vaudeville (the show takes place in the years just before and after World War I). Her lower-class background doesn’t allow her to take voice and dance lessons, and her face and figure don’t turn heads on the street. 

Still, Brice has spunk, spirit and a talent for making people laugh. These admirable qualities eventually lead her to join the chorus of the Ziegfeld Follies, the most venerable producer in the vaudeville circuit. Soon, Brice rises through the ranks and becomes an international star.

In the show’s two hours, 50 minutes running time, Fanny breaks into show business, falls in love and marries an absolute dreamboat of a man. As a new wife, she soon becomes pregnant and they have a daughter. However, her husband, a professional gambler, suddenly sees his dreams disappear when a Florida hurricane wipes out one of his real estate projects. Marriage trouble results when his wife (still a Ziegfield star) tries to soothe him by writing a check to cover his losses. This is an insult to his pride. Instead of making things better, it merely puts the couple at odds. Eventually, things take a dramatic turn for the worse. The couple is separated for several years. Like Fanny herself, their daughter will grow up without a father in her life. 

Original Production Makes Streisand a Star

The revival basically follows the same plot elements as the 1964 original, which made a young singer-songwriter-producer Barbra Streisand into a star. However, the book has undergone a magical transformation with the help of Harvey Fierstein. With the assistance of director Michael Mayer, he injects more energy, more songs and more tap-dancing numbers into this war horse of a musical. The effect is a polished and lavishly presented musical that has it all, including some of the greatest songs in musical history (such as “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “I’m the Greatest Star”). The pit orchestra certainly does its part in enhancing the production, too.

Many seasoned theatergoers are familiar with the 1968 film Funny Girl, in which Streisand reprises her roll as Fanny Brice. Her love interest (and eventual husband), Nick Arnstein, was deftly played by then-heartthrob Omar Sharif. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and it was among the highest-grossing films of that year.

The current national tour doesn’t feature anyone who can out-sing Barbra Streisand (who could?), but there is much to admire in every aspect of Katherina McCrimmon’s performance as Fanny. Not only does she sing with power and emotion, she can also mug to the audience, earning all the laughter so necessary for this character. McCrimmon can hold the stage effortlessly with one of Fanny’s (frequent) dramatic gestures. 

And when McCrimmon opens up her mouth to sing one of the show’s famous songs, the set and lighting designers trim away anything that might be a distraction. As McCrimmon starts to sing, she’s often alone on a bare stage. That’s the hallmark of a true Broadway legend-in-the-making.

That’s in stark contrast to the rest of the show, which is brimming with beautifully depicted scenes of vintage New York (by set designer David Zinn) and populated with a large chorus of ensemble members, dressed in exquisite period costumes (by Susan Hilferty). The ensemble sings and dances like a dream (choreography by Ellenore Scott). Their tap dance number is particularly impressive (by tap choreographer Ayodele Casel). 

One of the show’s major characters, a sweet Irish boy named Eddie (Izaiah Montaque Harris), is an early believer in Fanny’s talent. No slouch in the dance department, Eddie astounds the audience with some fantastic solo tap numbers. (If you’re going to do an older musical, you might as well play to its strengths, right?).  

It should be no surprise that such a top-quality show contains cast members from the Broadway production. The actors currently portraying Fanny, Fanny’s mother (a fabulous Barbara Tirrell) and Nick Arnstein (the dashing Stephen Mark Lucas) all have ties to the Broadway show. 

Technical Elements Consistent with the Show’s Turn-of-the-Century Era

It should also be noted that the cast serves as the backstage crew, moving props on and offstage as they did in the “old days” of vaudeville. There isn’t an automated lift in sight. Nor are there any newfangled bells and whistles that one might see in contemporary productions.

If the show needs a scene change, for instance, a curtain drops down behind a couple of the characters so they can perform an in-front-of-the-curtain segment. Then the curtain flies up and, voila! there’s a completely new backdrop in place. This historical nod will seem very satisfying to those who notice it.

Like the real-life Fanny Brice, the heroine in Funny Girl endures the heartbreak of a broken marriage and the consequences that come after. Staring at her dressing-room mirror, she realizes that “the show must go on.” This final scene opens the show, casting what follows as a flash-back. Then it returns to where it left off, with Fanny musing about her life in her dressing room. As Nick fades into the darkness, Fanny’s dresser urges her to get into her costume and the house manager announces, “places.” Fanny has to shake off her own emotions in order to meet the audience’s expectations. Even if Fanny would rather sit and cry, her fans only want her to make them laugh. 

This reinvention of Funny Girl has all the polish and glitter one could wish for in Broadway show. Milwaukee audiences who want an uplifting experience should definitely plan to see Funny Girl while it’s still in town.

The national tour of Funny Girl runs through Jan. 14 at the Marcus Performing Arts Center, 929 N. Water St. For tickets, visit marcuscenter.org, or call the box office at 414-273-7206.