Funny Girl

Funny Girl opened on Broadway in 1964 and has music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill taken from a book by Isobel Lennart. The story is set in New York before and after the first World War and is loosely based on the life and career of talented comedic Ziegfeld Follies and Broadway star Fanny Brice, and centers on her relationship with her first husband, entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein. At the beginning of the show we find Fanny arriving at her theatre dressing room where she sits waiting with some apprehension for Nick, who has just been released from prison, as she waits she looks back on  their life together, and transforms from a heartbroken star thinking about the breakdown of her marriage into a girl from Brooklyn who had lots of spirit but was considered a plain girl  and without talent but had an ambition to be a star. She worked hard and practiced her dance steps with the help of her friend Eddie and becomes a rather inept chorus girl until her natural talent for physical comedy is noticed. As her career takes off she becomes captivated by the attention of  good-looking Nick Arnstein and gradually a romance blossoms and they marry and have a child. After a number of failed ventures Nick gets involved in a shady bond deal, resulting in his arrest for embezzlement and is sent to Prison, but all this takes a toll on the marriage, which brings us back full circle to the theatre where Fanny is waiting for her husband, however you are not exactly sure if at heart Nick is good or a bit of a scoundrel.
The experienced Production Team of Director and Choreographer Rob MacGregor, Musical Director Chris Rimmer and Choreographer Toni Spofforth, along with the support of excellent backstage and technical crews, must have put allot of hard work into planning every detail of this slick outstanding production which had at its core brilliant singing, acting and dancing, the show also included lots of different emotions such as being full of life, funny and uplifting, yet also very touching and poignant.
There was a  wonderful talented cast which included Janine Burrows who was outstanding in the role of Fanny Brice, originally played by Barbra Streisand.  Janine proved to be more than a match for Streisand and produced some very good comedy, singing and acting brilliantly and showing us different emotions while performing such songs as the poignant “People”, and “Don’t Rain on my Parade”. Dom Tolley who also acted and sang excellently was the quintessential Nick Arnstein looking the part and complementing Janine very well thus making a very strong leading couple. Nicky Williams produced an enjoyable characterization as Fanny’s warm hearted proud Mother Mrs Brice with very good comic timing and a polished New York accent, while Harry Gascoinge showed off his all round talent  and future potential as Fanny’s  mentor and friend, Choreographer  Eddie. There were a number of supporting and cameo roles which included Stephen Hughes-Ally as Ziegfeld, Marie Orr as Mrs Strakosh, Peter Forshaw as Keeney, Denise Masters as Mrs O’Malley, with John Delahunty and Natasha Proffitt playing a number of the other small roles between them. It is very important for the success of any show that the actors performing in these supporting and cameo roles, perform well and suit their roles which they more than did on this occasion.  Accents on the whole were very good and maintained throughout the show, however just a constructive comment, on a few occasions, maybe due to trying to get the accent right, dialogue was a little unclear, but this did not affect my enjoyment of the show.The chorus of singers and dancers performed with confidence supporting the principle cast very well and choreography was nicely thought out and just right for the setting, one of the highlights of the show was a brilliant tap dancing routine which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. The Orchestra performed expertly making a very enjoyable and entertaining sound supporting the cast and playing at just the right level.
The set was minimalistic but very well designed and built by Alan Gosling for maximum use of the stage area and AV projection designed by Paul Shacksmyth was used to change scene locations which all worked excellently keeping the pace of the show just right and along with costumes which were colourful and were a good example of the era added to the feel, authenticity and success of this production.
Congratulations to all involved in bringing this outstanding comedic yet very poignant production to the stage, we had a lovely enjoyable evening of entertainment thank you.

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