Review: FUNNY GIRL at ASU Gammage

Guest contributor David Appleford’s thoughtful and balanced review of the national touring production of FUNNY GIRL at ASU Gammage in Tempe, AZ.

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The funny thing about the Jule Styne/Bob Merrill musical FUNNY GIRL is trying to pinpoint a definitive production since it was first performed in the early sixties. Because of the script rewrites, the continual cast changes, and the backstage shenanigans that seemed to last for an eternity before it eventually opened, setting a precise date for the official beginning of the musical is not easy. The Broadway opening was '64, but because of out-of-town tryouts, lengthy postponements, plus the cutting of songs that were later re-instated, or re-shaped then cut again, some theatre historians list the show's start date as 1963. 

Performing now until October 20 at ASU Gammage in Tempe is the new, national touring production of FUNNY GIRL which itself has had its fair share of changes since the 2015 revival in London. Harvey Fierstein was hired to rewrite Isobel Lennart’s book for the UK production that would later find its way back to Broadway. In addition to dialog changes and a substantial re-working of the second half, he also dropped two songs from the original show, re-positioned another two songs, and added a new number rescued from the catalog of earlier works by composer Jule Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill.  And it’s that production you’ll now see at Gammage.

Very loosely based on the vaudeville singer/comedian and later Broadway star Fanny Brice and her tempestuous relationship with professional gambler Nick Arnstein, it's the sixties show that catapulted Barbra Streisand to national fame. When she belted I'm The Greatest Star, it may have begun Fanny's story, but it was developed to showcase Streisand, and with good reason; for more than six decades, she has remained the greatest.

It may seem unfair to mention Streisand when reviewing a new Broadway production of the musical, but as with Robert Preston in The Music Man, Yul Brynner in The King and I, and even Topol in Fiddler on the Roof, there are certain roles in certain shows where a performer is so closely associated with the character that it's difficult not to have those originals spring to mind.

Maybe it’s Streisand’s considerable shadow that makes reviving FUNNY GIRL and casting the right performer as Fanny Brice such a challenge. When Hannah Shankman as Fanny first enters and utters those immortal opening words “Hello, Gorgeous” to herself with her sound and that inflection, it’s still Streisand you hear, even if the talent tries to alter the delivery. But once that’s done and out of the way, what follows is no imitation. Shankman crafts her Fanny Brice her way. She’s an unstoppable spitfire, a powerhouse of comedic energy with a show-stopping voice that all but guarantees thunderous applause after each of the show's top three songs of the first half, I’m The Greatest Star, People, and Don’t Rain On My Parade.

But despite Shankman’s obvious talent – that triple threat of an actor, dancer, and knockout singer, -  there’s something else that works against her, particularly in the eyes of a purist. When a running theme throughout the show is about the disadvantage of being an entertainer trying to succeed but doing it with less-than-ordinary looks, it's odd to see it played by someone so theatrically attractive.  When lyrics sing "When a girl isn’t pretty…” or “The groom was prettier than the bride...” it doesn’t always make sense if the performer herself doesn’t quite fit the insensitive remarks.

Neither does the sequence where Florenz Ziegfeld (an authoritative Walter Coppage who doesn’t sing but has a wonderfully haunting speaking voice) insists that Fanny perform the Follies production number His Love Makes Me Beautiful the way he wants it performed.  Fanny changes the whole thing into burlesque schtick. She enters as a pregnant bride to distract audiences from her face to her comically bulging stomach. But as with trying to nail a precise date of the show's '63/'64 origin, perhaps in the end it doesn't matter. Shankman captures both Fanny's humor and her insecurities beneath the driving ambition so well, that it's easy to buy the deceit. You suspend your belief, though those new to FUNNY GIRL may wonder what all those other characters are referring to all the time.

Well cast throughout, notably, Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein is an actor whose speaking voice matches the depth and strength of his singing (by Lukas's sheer presence alone you're reminded of just how much Omar Shariff was wrong for the film). Plus, unrecognizable in both sound and sight is Melissa Manchester who adds levity but with a healthy dose of authenticity as Fanny's mother. 

Also, local Phoenix area audiences may recognize a familiar face in the dazzling, foot-tapping ensemble. Kate E. Cook’s previous local works include productions at Hale Centre Theatre in Gilbert, and in Phoenix, most notably as Roxie in a 2015 production of Chicago with The Phoenix Theatre Company.  FUNNY GIRL is Cook’s national tour debut. Like her 2015 performance on The Phoenix Theatre Company mainstage, she fully embraces the chance she’s been given to shine, which once again, she does.

However, despite the rewrites and Fierstein’s book revision of Lennart’s original work, while the first half of the show remains a musically comic whirlwind with the big open-armed musical finish before intermission, the second half still suffers from uneven rhythms and shifts in tone, like a series of false starts and stops. The dramatic conflicts between Fanny and Nick are notched up considerably. But as Fanny’s relationship with her gambler husband is clearly in danger of falling apart, so, too, is the show.

But once again, by sheer force of energy, Shankman eventually propels the production out of its more melodramatic moments towards an audience-pleasing big finish. Plus, it’s good to hear Fanny and Nick’s duet I Want To Be Seen With You Tonight again after it was cut from the film.

The complaint often heard from audiences who regularly attend local Phoenix area theatre is that each year, season schedules always seem to be promoting a handful of well-known musicals that continue to regularly circulate among valley's theatres. The last time FUNNY GIRL played regionally was at the Arizona Broadway Theatre almost nine years ago. Despite the flaws of the book’s second half, this national touring production of FUNNY GIRL, with its sensational leading lady, could not be more welcomed. 

ASU Gammage ~ https://www.asugammage.com/ ~ 1200 S Forest Ave, Tempe, AZ ~ 480-965-3434

Graphic credit to ASU Gammage

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