FUNNY GIRL revival aiming to debut on Broadway Spring 2022

The creative team will consist of the following….

Tony Award winner Michael Mayer (Broadway’s original Spring Awakening, Thoroughly Modern Millie, HEDWIG, Head Over Heels, and the current Off Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors) will direct,

Ellenore Scott (the current Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors) will choreograph,

Emmy Award winner Michael Rafter (TV film version of Gypsy, Broadway’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, Swing, the 1996 revival of The King and I) will be the show’s musical director,

and more,

The lead roles of “Fanny Brice” and “Nicky Arnstein” has been casted but not yet announced. Stay tuned. However with auditions, they will be looking for understudies.

This production is rumored to be a remounting of a 2015 West End revival directed by Mayer and also an updated book by Harvey Fierstein.

Now in case anyone may not be familiar with FUNNY GIRL, it’s set in New York City around the year of 1910 prior before World War 1. the story centers on the rise and fame of acclaimed versatile entertainer Fanny Brice. It also follows her stormy relationship with entrepreneur, gambler, and womanizer Nick Arnstein. It features an iconic score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart. It also is best known for being the breakout and signature musical that took off the career of one of the greatest entertainers of all time…. Barbra Streisand. Notable songs include I’M THE GREATEST STAR, PEOPLE, YOU ARE WOMAN, MY MAN, and of course the ultimate powerhouse anthem…. DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE.

The musical was first conceived by Ray Stark, (the son-in-law to Fanny Brice via his marriage to her daughter Frances). He originally wrote an official authorized biography of Fanny Brice’s life based on taped recollections she had dictated. However, he was unhappy with the result. It cot him $50,000 to stop publication of the book entitled THE FABULOUS FANNY.

He then turned Hollywood screenplay writer Ben Hecht on creating a film about Fanny’s life. However, Hecht nor the ten writers who succeeded him were able to produce a version that pleased Stark. Finally, Isobel Lennart submitted the perfect script for the film pleasing both Stark and Columbia Pictures executives, who offered Stark $400,000 plus a percentage of the gross for the property. The original film was initially called MY MAN (named after a real life song by Maurice Yvain, Jacques-Charles, Albert Willemetz, and Channing Pollock which later would later be part of the iconic 1968 film version of FUNNY GIRL). The screenplay got the attention of acclaimed performer Mary Martin, who contacted Ray Stark, and proposed to him an idea that it should be a stage musical instead. Immediately, Stark contacted Broadway producer David Merrick who suggested that Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim would do the score. However, Sondheim was not pleased of the idea of having Fanny being played by Mary Martin since she was NOT Jewish. Martin herself heard Sondheim’s response which caused her to loose interest in the project and dropped out. Sondheim dropped out from co-composing and was replaced by Dorothy Fields and then eventually ended up with Bob Merrill. In addition, the original director of the musical was the acclaimed Broadway director and choreographer Jerome Robbins.

For the lead role of Fanny Brice, several actresses were initially on board for the project including….

Anne Bancroft (however, she dropped due to being disappointed with the score not suiting her voice),

Eydie Gormé (however, she dropped due to the creative team being disappointed with NOT casting her husband Steve Lawrence as Nick Arnstein),

and

even Carol Burnett.

Burnett was interested in the project but really suggested that if the team could find an amazing talent that can play the role, look for a performer who was Jewish. With a list of suggestions running out, a lightbulb lit up for Jule Styne. He recalled attending a performance of I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE and there was a standout performer in that cast…. a 19 year old Barbra Streisand. At the time, Streisand was performing at the Bon Soir in Greenwich Village. He was impressed with her performance but was not impressed with her looks. After a brief argument with his wife, Styne hired Barbra Streisand on the spot.

In addition, there was even was more behind the scenes drama including a full argument between Jerome Robbins vs. Isobel Lennart about the screenplay not being a viable book for a stage musical. Ray Stark refused of all this which caused BOTH Robbins to quit the project and the musical was put back on the shelves temporarily.

A few years later, work on FUNNY GIRL continued. David Merrick hired another set of directors to the production including Bob Fosse and then eventually went to Garson Kanin. From there, Merrick he bowed out and Stark became sole Broadway Producer.

Meanwhile, Barbra Streisand was NOT happy about Garson Kanin’s new direction and was used to working with Jerome Robbins. During rehearsals, Kanin initially insisted on cutting PEOPLE from the musical because it didn’t fit the character. However, the song was already recorded as a single. Luckily, Kanin agreed to let it remain based on audience reaction to it.

The musical had its world premiere Pre-Broadway tryout engagements in both Boston and Philadelphia. Both engagements dealt with tons of negative reviews on the score and book…. including that the show was way too long. However, critics praised the performers (especially Streisand). The creative team kept working on the score and book delaying the New York run…. 5 times. However, the hard work paid off.

FUNNY GIRL officially opened in 1964 at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre (later transferred to the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre) where it ran for 17 previews and 1,348 performances. It was an instant smash. Under the direction of Garson Kanin and choreographed by Carol Haney (under the supervision of Jerome Robbins), the cast was led by…

Barbra Streisand (later Mimi Hines) as “Fanny Brice”,

Sydney Chaplin (later George Reeder, and Johnny Desmond) as “Nick Arnstein”,

Kay Medford (later Fritzi Burr) as “Mrs. Brice”.

Danny Meehan (later Phil Ford) as “Eddie Ryan”,

Jean Stapleton (later Beulah Garrick and Elizabeth Moore) as “Mrs. Strakosh”,

and

Roger De Koven (later Alan Manson and William Larsen) as “Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.”

The musical was nominated for 8 Tony Awards in 1964 including BEST MUSICAL, BEST LEADING ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL (for Barbra Streisand, and BEST LEADING ACTOR IN A MUSICAL (for Sydney Chaplin). However, it lost all the categories.

The musical’s original Broadway cast recording also went on to top the charts. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 and achieved gold record status.

FUNNY GIRL would later go on to become a smash hit in London’s West End (featuring Streisand briefly playing the role of “Fanny Brice” till she got pregnant), Australia, several National Tours, and productions all around the world.

When this new upcoming revival does happen, it will mark as the first ever official revival of FUNNY GIRL on Broadway. However, FUNNY GIRL was done on a New York stage as a one night only concert production to raise money for The Actors Fund in 2002 at Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre (where the story of FUNNY GIRL takes place). Under the direction of Peter Flynn and conducted by Seth Rudetsky, it was known for having a different actress play the role of “Fanny Brice” in a different scene. Several of the “Fanny’s” included….

Whoopi Goldberg, Ana Gasteyer, Kristin Chenoweth, Idina Menzel, LaChanze, Julia Murney, Ricki Lake, Sutton Foster, Carolee Carmello, Bebe Neuwirth, Judy Kuhn, Lillias White, and more.

It also included Peter Gallagher as “Nick Arnstein”.

Plans and rumors of a Broadway revival of FUNNY GIRL have been speculating the Theater community since the 2010 era.

Initially a Broadway revival was supposed to come in 2012 at the Imperial Theatre. Under the direction for Tony Award winner Bartlett Sheer, the production was supposed to star Lauren Ambrose as “Fanny Brice”. However, the production was postponed due to economic finances being low.

In 2014, Ryan Murphy initially was eyeing interest in producing a full scale revival of FUNNY GIRL based on what was seen on his acclaimed Award winning smash hit musical TV series Glee. As many of us know, GLEE did majority of all the great songs from the musical (including DON’T RAIN ON MY PARADE, I’M THE GREATEST STAR, and FUNNY GIRL). On the series, it was the fictional Broadway debut of the main character of “Rachel Berry”. For the actual Ryan Murphy produced revival, he was planning on casting Lea Michele (who plays “Rachel Berry” on GLEE) in a Broadway comeback….as “Fanny Brice”. However, nothing ever came of the production.

In 2018, talks were made that Rosie O’Donnell has come on board to the new revival playing the role of “Mrs. Brice” (the mother of “Fanny). For the lead role, it was rumored that Grammy and Oscar winning recording artist Lady Gaga would star as “Fanny Brice” following to the success of her performance in the movie musical remake of A Star is Born,

and

early of last year in 2020, another rumor came about that this revival would be led by Tony winner Idina Menzel as the titular role. However, still nothing has been confirmed.

With FUNNY GIRL being a smash hit on stage, it was also an iconic movie musical that is still loved by Musical Theater fans everywhere. The original film was released in 1968 from Columbia Pictures.

When it was time to make the film, studio executives were really strict and thought Barbra Streisand wasn’t at that level yet to lead a major motion picture. They wanted to cast a bigger and more established Hollywood actress in the role of “Fanny Brice”. Initially, it was given to Shirley MacClaine. However, Ray Stark (who also produced the film) insisted on Barbra Streisand. From there, they got her and Barbra’s career rose even higher…..

Under the direction of William Wyler, the original film version of FUNNY GIRL starred….

Barbra Streisand reprising her performance as “Fanny Brice”,

Omar Shariff as “Nick Arnstein”,

Kay Medford reprising her performance as “Mrs. Brice”.

Lee Allen as “Eddie Ryan”,

Mae Questel as “Mrs. Strakosh”,

and

Walter Pidgeon as “Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.”

The film went on to be nominated for 8 Academy Awards in 1969 including BEST PICTURE. However, it took home only 1 for BEST ACTRESS for Barbra Streisand….. historically tying with Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter.

Later on there would be a movie musical sequel to FUNNY GIRL entitled FUNNY LADY with Barbra Streisand reprising her role of “Fanny Brice” which was released in 1975. In that sequel, it follows Fanny’s life following her divorce from Nick Arnstein to her marriage to songwriter and impresario Billy Rose. It went on to get several Oscar nominations but lost that year.

Most recently, the acclaimed 2015 West End revival of FUNNY GIRL was filmed in 2018 during its UK tour run at the Manchester Opera House from Trafaglar. Under the direction of Michael Mayer, it was led by….

Sheridan Smith as “Fanny Brice”,

Darius Campbell as “Nick Arnstein”,

Rachel Izen as “Mrs. Brice”,

Joshua Lay as “Eddie Ryan”,

Nigel Barber as “Florenz Ziegfeld”,

and more.

We are anxiously awaiting this FUNNY GIRL revival to come soon!!!

Who is ready to say once again HELLO, GORGEOUS when FUNNY GIRL officially returns to Broadway?!!!