Hannah Shankman Will Star as Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL National Tour

Hannah Shankman will take over the role of Fanny Brice when the tour opens in Seattle on September 24th, 2024. She joins returning cast members Melissa Manchester as Mrs. Brice, Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein, Izaiah Montaque Harris as Eddie Ryan, Walter Coppage as Florenz Ziegfeld, Leah Platt as Emma/Mrs. Nadler, Christine Bunuan as Mrs. Meeker, and David Foley Jr. as Tom Keeney.  The tour will also welcome Cheryl Stern as Mrs. Strakosh.

Shankman's previous Broadway credits include Wicked, Les Miserables, Side Show, and Hair. She also appeared in Hair on the West End. In addition to Funny Girl, on tour she's appeared in The Band's Visit, Les Miserables, and Rent.

“Hannah is a marvelous Fanny Brice. She brings great intelligence, humor and authenticity to the role, and she’s a terrific singer. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing her rousing theatergoers to their feet for a year now, and I am delighted that new audiences across America will also revel in her performance as she takes on the role full time,” said director and Tony® Award winner Michael Mayer. 

Rounding out the company are Vinny Andaloro, Jack Bianchi, Courtney Brady, Kate E. Cook, Connor Coughlin, Joel Douglas, Annabelle Duffy, Mathew Fedorek, Alex Hartman, Kathy Liu, Missy Marion, Bryan Charles Moore, Sami Murphy, Emily Anne Nester, Myah Segura, Brendan Sheehan, Jordon Taylor, Sean Seamus Thompson, Travis Ward-Osborne, and Annaliese Wilbur. 

FUNNY GIRL is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Thoroughly Modern Millie) and features the classic score by Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award winner Jule Styne and lyrics by Tony Award nominee and Grammy Award winner Bob Merrill, (comprising additional songs from Styne & Merrill). The original book by Isobel Lennart, from an original story by Miss Lennart, is revised by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (Kinky Boots, Newsies).

FUNNY GIRL features choreography by Ellenore Scott (Falsettos); tap choreography by Ayodele Casel; scenic design by Tony Award winner David Zinn (SpongeBob SquarePants: The Musical); costume design by Tony Award winner Susan Hilferty (Wicked); lighting design by Tony Award winner Kevin Adams (Hedwig and the Angry Inch); sound design by Tony Award winner Brian Ronan (Beautiful: The Carole King Musical) and Cody Spencer; hair and wig design by Campbell Young Associates; music supervision by Emmy Award winner Michael Rafter; casting by Jim Carnahan, CSA, and Jason Thinger, CSA; orchestrations by Chris Walker; dance, vocal, and incidental music arrangements by Alan Williams, and additional arrangements by David Dabbon and Carmel Dean. The associate director is Johanna McKeon; the associate choreographer is Jeffrey Gugliotti; the assistant director is Torya Beard; the assistant tap choreographer is Dre Torres.

Tickets are on sale now and are available on-line at STGPresents.org, Ticketmaster.com, by calling 1-800-982-2787 or in person at The Paramount Theatre Box Office (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 10am to 6pm). Orders for groups of 10 or more may be placed by emailing Groups@BroadwayAtTheParamount.com.