FUNNY GIRL is a Broadway musical written in the early 1960s by the same composer as GYPSY, Julie Styne.Against the odds, quirky looking, hilarious Fanny became the main attraction and a big star. Unfortunately she married a charismatic crook who resented living in her shadow as his business ventures failed.
The show is best known for turning Broadway leading lady, Barbra Streisand, into a super star and she went on to triumph in it in the West End and in a Hollywood film playing opposite Omar Sharif.
It has two hit songs that are pure gold “PEOPLE” and “DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE”
The problem with reviving it has been how do you find someone who can eclipse the memory of Streisand? Until now.
At the Menier, an established Off-West End hit factory, they’ve hit upon the idea of casting Sheridan Smith in the title role, who’s well known to TV audiences from sit-com and recently playing Cilla Black in an acclaimed drama about her life. Theatregoers know her from a string of successful and critically acclaimed performances in musical theatre and straight plays, including starring in the first London production of LEGALLY BLONDE. In FUNNY GIRL, she doesn't disappoint; proving an utter delight in the romantic and comedy moments and tugging at the heart strings in the big ballades.
It’s the most exquisitely staged chamber musical I’ve ever seen
It’s the most exquisitely staged chamber musical I’ve ever seen. The production had already been scheduled to transfer to the West End before it had even opened and since the reviews have come out demand for tickets is such that the run at the Savoy Theatre has been extended; however for the moment it has to work on the little stage of its current fringe theatre home.
Michael Mayer's direction, Michael Pavelka's design and Lynne Page’s choreography make an asset of the intimate setting with a witty and simple staging that seems to float on the beautiful set which appears, thanks to clever use of perspective, to open out on to the fore-stage of a huge Broadway theatre, its auditorium stretching away into the distance behind the actors. This open stage, augmented by a few gorgeous pieces of furniture adapted from the travel trunks with which actors used to tour, is the perfect place to watch snap shots of Fanny’s life. She mentions several times that the stage is her real home. There are two conveyor belts built into the floor which whisk settings and actors in and out of sight like slivers of memory.
Nothing much happens in the story, it lacks the emotional depth and journey of GYPSY and some of the lesser known songs are decidedly average but this is a must see for the impeccable staging and Smith’s star turn. Even encumbered by a wooden leading man, the spectacularly handsome Darius Campbell, she still triumphs and this will be a musical revival people talk about for a long time.
Having enjoyed Mentalist, Derren Brown’s TV shows for years I was, I must admit, quite excited to have the opportunity to finally see him live on stage. It is therefore a pleasure to report that his new show, MIRACLE, at the Palace Theatre for the next ten weeks, is chock full of the kind of jaw dropping tricks audiences have come to expect from Brown. Over and over throughout this slickly written and directed show you just keep thinking, “I know it’s a trick, but HOW DOES HE DO IT?”