Telling the highly fictionalized story of vaudeville queen Fanny Brice, the National Tour of recent Broadway revival musical Funny Girl opened the Nashville tour stop Tuesday night at Tennessee Performing Art Center’s Jackson Hall, not only kicking off the new year, but also the second half of TPAC’s 23/24 HCA/TriStar Broadway at TPAC season.
While there’s definitely a percentage of the audience who are no-doubt devotees of the original 1964 Broadway debut of Funny Girl, it’s subsequent 1968 film and Barbara Streisand, who starred in both, it’s been more than half a century since Streisand laid claim to Fanny Brice. There’s likely just as many who are experiencing this show for the very first time, thanks to 2022’s Broadway revival that features a reworking by Harvey Fierstein of Isobel Lennart’s original book of the musical. I count myself among the latter. At the risk of having certain ‘memberships’ revoked, I’m just gonna admit it from the get…I’ve never been the biggest Streisand fan. There. I said it. Heck, I wasn’t even 100% sure I’d ever seen the film adaptation of Funny Girl and I’d certainly never seen Funny Girl on stage. Being a fan of Brice’s era of vaudeville, in particular Ziegfeld and his follies—mostly because of my obsession with Lucille Ball and the comedic similarities between Ball and Brice—I have fallen down more than one internet rabbit hole searching out the few rare clips of Brice, so I was familiar with her story and I knew the songs from Funny Girl. I mean how can you be a theatre nerd and not know the music of Jule Styne and lyrics of Bob Merrill featured in one of the most beloved musicals of all time, right? Here’s the thing though. None of that mattered once the familiar notes of the Overture began to swell from the orchestra pit as conducted by Elaine Davidson. With each note, my anticipation grew and I somehow instinctively knew I was in for a grand night of musical theatre.
From the moment Katerina McCrimmon takes the stage, she IS Fanny Brice. She’s got the period-authentic New York dialect, the exaggerated facial expressions, but most of all, she’s got the voice. Ok, so the voice might be more what audiences expect thanks to the aforementioned Streisand portrayal, but I’m here to tell you McCrimmon makes the character her own while carefully maneuvering through, and well beyond what could easily be brushed off as an impression. Throughout the show, including more familiar territory of musical moments like I’m the Greatest Star, Don’t Rain on My Parade and People, and my personal favorite, His Love Makes Me Beautiful, McCrimmon vocal range, strength and ability prove time and time again she’s the perfect powerhouse to introduce Fanny Brice to a whole new generation of musical theatre fans.
It’s not just McCrimmon’s talents as a singer that reels you in, as she equally adept showcasing the funny and the girl. When scenes call for McCrimmon to honor Brice’s physicality as a comedic entertainer, her facial expressions and body language rival those of greats of the craft like Ball and Carol Burnett. When the plot goes deeper, McCrimmon steps it up and evokes emotion, not only in her performance, but in the audience reaction. Case in point, at the end of Act 1, when McCrimmon exquisitely belts out the show-stopping Don’t Rain on My Parade, I was frankly surprised the entire audience didn’t bound to their feet for a pre-intermission Standing O.
While I would be satisfied to sit in a theatre and just witness McCrimmon in a solo performance and be completely satisfied, of course she isn’t alone. Guess what? The entire company is quite brilliant. While the real Fanny Brice was thrice married (I told you I’ve been down my share of Fanny Brice rabbit holes) Funny Girl takes place after husband number one and focuses on Brice’s life and tumultuous relationship and ultimate marriage to husband number two, Nicky Arnstein, played handsomely by Stephen Mark Lukas. I say handsomely because…have you seen his social media? Thanks largely to the way Funny Girl is written, and the ‘character’ of Nicky, in particular, we are to believe that Arnstein was matinee-idol good-looking, giving dual meaning to the infamous line, “Hello, Gorgeous”. In reality, Arnstein was tall, lanky and not what you’d call traditionally handsome. But back to Lukas and his matinee looks. Like his leading lady, he’s also go talent to back it up. Under the show’s director, Michael Mayer’s watchful eye, I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of Lukas’ portrayal of Arnstein. Not only does he look like an Old Hollywood movie star, he even sounds like one. His vocal delivery, in speaking and in song, sound as though you’re hearing him through a megaphone, with a deep, pure and enchanting vibrato.
Izaiah Montague Harris plays the always in-step and dependable Eddie Ryan, a dancer/choreographer friend of Fanny’s who’s always there to help her with her career and pick up the pieces when Nicky is out of step. When I say Harris’ Eddie is in-step, I mean it. One of the best non-Fanny-centric moments of the show features Harris in a tap-tactic dance sequence. Which reminds me, kudos to the show’s costume designer, Susan Hilferty. Yes, all of Fanny’s period-perfect costumes are fabulous, but it was during Harris’ tap number that I notice a wonderfully clever costuming detail. Hiferty has sewn the occasional rhinestone throughout the pant legs of Harris costume, which catch the light of his fancy footwork and draw the eye throughout the dancer’s entire body, allowing those of us who picked up on this seemingly random detail the joy of watching the full mechanics, precision and skill of the dance.
While the entire ensemble is simply marvelous, other stand-out performances come courtesy a trio playing slightly older characters: Mrs. Brice, Mrs. Strakosh and Mrs. Meeker, played respectively by Barbara Tirrell, Eileen T’Kaye and Christine Bunuan. Tirrell, (who’s stepped into the role of Mrs. Brice while original tour cast member Melissa Manchester recuperates from recent surgery) is the perfect mensch of a mom to McCrimmon’s Fanny. She gets her comedic time to shine in scenes with T’Kaye’s Mrs. Strakosh and Bunuan’s Mrs. Meeker as three old-neighborhood friends who spend their time playing cards, gossiping and bragging about their children’s accomplishments. In their memorable stage-time, T’Kaye and Bunuan charm the audience with their relatable portrayals of ladies everyone grew up knowing. The trio get their own musical moment early on with the mother-knows-best, albeit antiquated tune, If A Girl Isn’t Pretty.
Walter Coopage as Florenz Ziegfeld and David Foley, Jr. as Tom Keeney, two men instrumental in Fanny’s stage success each show different sides of men in power, Foley’s Kenney presented as a bit hard-nosed and doubting Fanny’s appeal, while Coopage’s Ziegfeld is seen as the nurturing father figure Fanny seemed to be missing. More potentially useless/useful rabbit hole info…Fanny’s father was a good provider, they didn’t live on seemingly downtrodden Henry Street as one tune suggests, but he was a bit of a drunk and her mother ran the family saloon businesses. What’s more…the notoriously hilarious Follies scene in which Fanny’s bride apparently got the marriage and family order confused…never happened. As I previously admitted being a Lucille Ball fan, something tells me that sequence was created more for laughs a la the I Love Lucy ‘showgirl’ sequence, than based in reality, but I digress.
In addition to the showgirl bridal number, the ensemble proves their mettle as they tap their way to thunderous applause, with another comedic turn by McCrimmon in yet another tap number, the all-in Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat midway through Act 2. Who are You Now and You’re a Funny Girl see Lukas’s Nicky in a more mature light than the devil-may-care flamboyant gambler he’s playing earlier on, and his voice is up to the challenge.
McCrimmon also gets the chance to show her character’s maturity in the show’s closing number, The Music That Makes Me Dance, during which we get another chance to witness McCrimmon’s vocal goddessness. That lasting final note! Wow…just wow!
Sorry to end my review with a bit of a Spoiler Alert, but during the curtain call, the whole company breaks out into one last chorus of People, and as they gesture towards themselves and then the audience during the lyrics “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world”, they reveal an all new meaning to those words…as performers, they need the audience, and therefore feel lucky to have us there. Guess what, Funny Girl? We, the audience are the lucky ones.
The National Tour of Funny Girl at TPAC’s Jackson Hall continues with shows through Sunday, January 7. CLICK HERE for tickets or more information. You can also follow Funny Girl on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook or visit The Official Funny Girl site for more info on the show or future tour stop details.
Following Funny Girl’s January 2-7 Nashville tour stop, next up for Broadway at TPAC is a limited two-night engagement of the National Tour of The Cher Show with performances January 19 and 20. CLICK HERE for tickets or more info. Be sure to check out TPAC online and on socials by clicking any of the following: TPAC.org, TPAC on Instagram, TPAC on Facebook, TPAC on Twitter and TPAC on YouTube.
As always, if you wanna follow JHPEntertainment to find out who I’m chatting with for my next Rapid Fire Q&A, or for my take on the latest local and national theatre, music and movie offerings, find us at JHPEntertainment on Facebook, JHPEntertainment on Instagram and JHPEntertainment on Twitter.
Got an event or show we should know about, drop us a line at the Contact tab. Till then, #GoSeeTheShow!
