‘Funny Girl’ brings the talent but can’t hide story’s flaws
Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? “Don’t Rain on My Parade” sounded great. I’m talking, of course, about the touring production of “Funny Girl,” which opened in the Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday.
Katerina McCrimmon is in the title role as irrepressible Fanny Brice, and no rain’s falling on her as she sings the heck out of “Parade.” McCrimmon also reminds us that “People” — as in people who need people — doesn’t have to be as drippy as one remembers, staying true to the song’s squishy sentiment while giving it a boost of oomph to fill a big theater.
Full of pep and pizazz, McCrimmon is the spark that keeps this creaky show running. And she does it in fine style, her mouth running a mile a minute, flashing a smile as her eyes glint.
She’s delightful, and so are her cast mates. Stephen Mark Lukas is Nick, the charming scoundrel who captures Fanny’s heart; his best moment comes when he somehow pops himself up onto a sofa in a perfect seduction pose. (The physicality is strong throughout the show, both for comic and tragic effect.)
Barbara Tirrell provides solid support as Fanny’s well-meaning and plainspoken mother. Her card-playing friends (Eileen T’kaye and Christine
Bunuan) add to the laughs. On opening night, understudy Lamont Brown brought fleet feet and a sympathetic air to the role of Eddie, the “good-guy” suitor of Fanny who settles for friendship.
Together, they tell the story, loosely based on Brice’s real life, of how she rose to stardom through the great Ziegfield Follies of the 1920s — her subsequent incredible radio career and most famous creation, Baby Snooks, barely get a mention — even as her personal life was mired in melodrama.
The “Funny Girl” sets are handsome enough; the costumes are particularly eye-catching and the orchestra sounds great.
So why, then, did I leave with a shrug? It’s nothing against the production; it’s the show itself.
There’s something jarring about having the characters constantly berate Fanny’s appearance when McCrimmon is simply lovely. (And the script belabors this point mercilessly.)
Even more jarring is the way the first act calls to mind the TV sitcom “The Nanny” — Fanny in the broadly accented Fran Drescher role, trying to fit in to a different world than her own, just substitute “Mr. Ziegfeld” for “Mr. Sheffield.” But the second act forgets funny is in the title and turns to tragedy for a long hour of watching a marriage disintegrate.
And what exactly is this show, with Isobel Lennart’s 1964 book updated by Harvey Fierstein, trying to tell us?
It can feel like a warning to marry sensibly while at the same time urging viewers
to follow their hearts. It seems to say be careful not to put work ahead of relationships, yet it also exhorts the audience to pursue their passion no matter the odds.
At times, frankly, it sounds like an outdated warning to women to let their husbands take the lead on all things.
But maybe the key to the show’s success can be summed up by an exchange I overheard between theatergoers on the way out.
“She was great,” said a woman, heaping praise on McCrimmon. “A real star,” agreed her companion with genuine admiration in his voice.
And maybe that’s enough to sell this show: The idea that anyone from anywhere, even a lowerclass, uneducated “funny girl” from turn-of-the-century Brooklyn, can become a star — and on her own terms. I can’t argue with that.
‘FUNNY GIRL’
Length: 2:40, including intermission
Where: Walt Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, 445 S. Magnolia Ave. in Orlando When: Through Dec. 10 Cost: $45 and up
Info: drphillipscenter.org