Review: FUNNY GIRL Presented by CenterStage at The Jewish Community Center
By: Taylor Clemons Feb. 03, 2017
Photo Courtesy of CenterStage.
Funny Girl
By Jule Styne, Bob Merrill, and Isabel Lennart
Directed by John Leffert
Review by Taylor Clemons
Entire contents copyright © 2017 Taylor Clemons. All rights reserved.
Once again this classic (yes, I would say classic) musical fable has once again made it's way to Louisville, in a fine new production mounted by CenterStage with director John Leffert at the helm.
For anyone who might not know this now iconic story, the musical focuses on the career of entertainer, Fanny Brice. The show takes us from her humble beginnings, all the way through her rise to stardom, with many laughs and drama all along the way.
The cast is uniformly strong, lead by powerhouse Jennifer Poliskie as Fanny. She sings the score with ease, and handles the scripted and physical comedy expertly. Poliskie's rendition of the 11 o'clock number "My Man", was simply chilling in the best possible way. Other standouts for me personally included Frank Goodloe as Eddie, Fanny's long time friend. He's funny, charming, and very charismatic. I also must mention Glenna Godsey as Fanny's mother Mrs. Brice. She radiated charm and enthusiasm as the stereotypical "proud mama". One of my favorite moments of the night was the cute and spunky secondary character duet Goodloe and Godsey share, "Who Taught Her Everything?"
While I definitely enjoyed the show, somehow I felt the energy was somewhat lacking. As an actor myself, you could chalk this up to many things, but I will say the Thursday evening crowd was somewhat timid. As every actor knows, if the audience is good, the cast will turn in a better performance. While I'm by no means saying the cast wasn't good, I think most group numbers and book scenes would've benefited from an espresso shot.
John Leffert's direction is fair here. No big or exciting risks were taken, but he ultimately delivered a faithful production of a well loved musical. The set design by Micahel Hottois is very strong, making set changes to multiple locations flow seamlessly. My only quibble tech wise is the sound design. Many times throughout the night I was finding it hard to hear, trying to listen intently to pick up on as much dialogue as I could.
No doubt if you go to see this production, you will have a wonderful time. Poliskie's performance is worth the price of admission on its own. The actual written material for the show felt, to me, extremely out dated. Certain aspects of the show did not age well since the show first premiered. However, if you're like me, I would turn off that part of your mind and accept the show for what it is: a great star vehicle and an old chestnut.
Funny Girl Now - February 12
3600 Dutchmans Lane
Louisville, KY 40205
502-459-0660
https://jewishlouisville.org/the-j/centerstage/
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