Broadway’s “Funny Girl” revival in 2022 made headlines for its shake-ups. Beanie Feldstein anchored the show as 20th-century entertainer Fanny Brice but left after three months; her replacement, Lea Michele, subsequently earned raves, especially from fans who watched a “Glee” plot line come to life.
But absent of all the backstage intrigue, what’s left? Can the national tour of “Funny Girl” still resonate with its story of Brice, a wickedly talented performer whose turbulent romantic life and showbiz-conquering talents serve as the musical’s foundation?
The answer, like the famous tune Brice sings at the end of the show’s first act, is a jolt of affirmation: “One shot, one gun shot, and bam!”
The riveting “Funny Girl” that opened at West Herr Auditorium Theatre on April 8 and runs through April 13 has the same team behind it, namely director Michael Mayer and Harvey Fierstein, who penned a revised book. But with the dazzling Hannah Shankman in the lead role, the musical radiates both sweetness and humor — essential elements of Brice’s story that make the tale indelible in a modern context.
“Funny Girl” traces Brice’s rise to stardom in the early 1900s, from her humble beginnings on Henry Street in Brooklyn as the stage-savvy daughter of a saloon owner to her name in lights on marquees across the country. Unlike the title character in “Gypsy,” for which composer Jule Styne also penned the music, Brice is emotionally supported by her mother and her entire community. (“Funny Girl” premiered in 1964, five years after “Gypsy.”)
Brice has the goods — natural wit, troublemaking charm — which means the first act moves along at a quick clip as she rises the ranks in New York, eventually joining the storied “Ziegfeld Follies” theater revue. Shankman, too, is magnetic, able to pivot from self-deprecating to strong at the swish of a showgirl’s feather cap.
When the pace slows down, it’s to introduce Nicky Arnstein, the show’s resident ruffled shirt who eventually becomes Brice’s husband. In this role, Stephen Mark Lukas shines. A terrific vocalist and dancer, he captures Arnstein’s earnestness better than the character’s more oily impulses as a slick gambler, which are only slightly hard to buy. No matter. “Funny Girl” is built up both by Brice’s charisma and the dramatic turns in her and Arnstein’s relationship. In these pursuits, Lukas and Shankman deliver.
Shankman in particular deftly maneuvers between Brice’s comedienne nature (always going for the joke) and the more vulnerable moments of the show, which are largely expressed through show-stopping solo numbers. Her surging moment of power is not even the show’s most notable tune, “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (made famous by Barbra Streisand, who originated the role) but the finale, where Shankman channels Brice’s emotional journey throughout the entire show and ends on a note of sheer triumph — and a raised fist.
It’s a welcome moment in the show. Brice and Arnstein spend most of the second act in the throes of domestic drama, with a grand and luminous “Follies” routine to liven the mood. Indeed, one of the most genuinely fun parts of the show is witnessing the recreations of Florenz Ziegfeld’s iridescent early 20th-century theater productions, complete with riveting tap numbers and bewitching choreography.
But as another key number goes, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” Consider Shankman and Lukas lucky to have Melissa Manchester on stage with them in the role of Brice’s mother, Rose. A gifted singer-songwriter and actress, Manchester exudes warmth and sincerity; one of the show’s most tender moments involves the Brice women in Fanny’s dressing room backstage, each taking stock of the other.
Yet another finds Fanny singing in front of a purple moon, capturing what makes the musical eminently endearing more than 60 years after its debut. “Funny Girl,” in this presentation and as ever, hasn’t lost an ounce of whimsy.
Rochester Broadway Theatre League stages “Funny Girl” through April 13. Ticket and show information at rbtl.org.
Patrick Hosken is CITY’s arts reporter. He can be reached at patrick@rochester-citynews.com.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
