The first revival of 'Funny Girl' in nearly 60 years is disappointing

 

     I had really been looking forward to the Broadway revival of Funny Girl, the first revival since the show opened in 1964 with Barbra Streisand in the lead.  Its second coming has been predicted for years but for one reason or another the show never materialized.  

    Now it’s here, at the August Wilson Theatre under the helm of Michael Mayer, and is a huge disappointment, largely because of Mayer’s direction.  The biggest problem for me is the lead, Beanie Feldstein (left in photo).  I didn’t see the original but I saw Streisand in the movie and loved her as Fanny Brice, the early to mid-century 20th century Jewish comedienne, singer and star of stage, radio and film.  Streisand was great in the role but another actor could be as well.  I don’t support the notion that any actor owns a role.  With a different director Feldstein could be a worthy Fanny.  She’s got the voice for it and is right at home on the stage but she’s playing Fanny as way too young and cheery.  She has no edginess.  She needs to put some pain in that performance.  When people put Fanny down for her appearance it’s as if Feldstein doesn’t hear it.  I’d like to see some hurt, followed by a steely resolve to overcome it.  All we get, though, is happy, always happy throughout the first act, which drags because of this.  All I could think of was Tracy Turnblad, the perky teenager in Hairspray whose world revolves around her boyfriend and dancing.  We should see Fanny as a woman who struggles.  

     Next, I had trouble with Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein, the slick gambler Fanny falls in love with and marries.  There was no chemistry between them.  I was surprised to read in his bio that he was a Tony and Olivier Award nominee.  He came off as a pretty boy soap actor, and I mean no disrespect to soap stars because there has been a lot of good acting on daytime.  

     The most perplexing casting, though, is that of Jane Lynch as Fanny’s mother.  She’s got great comic timing and a good voice but not one molecule of Jewish sensibility.  She looks like someone who had wandered through the wrong stage door and into the wrong show.  At more than six-feet tall she towers over practically everyone onstage.  She’s railing thin and blond, completely unconvincing as the mother of a fat young woman who is probably about 5 foot 2 and dark haired.  And obviously Jewish.  In a show where being Jewish is part of the story.  My guess is that for a show taking a risk at hiring a lead who isn’t well known the producers wanted someone with name recognition, which Lynch has from her years playing the nasty cheerleaders’ coach on the popular TV show “Glee.”  The moment she appeared the audience started clapping, so possibly she is a draw.

     Visually the show scores.  David Zinn’s sets of Brooklyn, theatres and Fanny and Nick’s estate on Long Island are good and Susan Hilferty’s costumes are sublime, especially in the Act Two opener, “Sadie, Sadie,” where the dresses of the guests at the estate are gorgeous. 

     My favorite part of Ellenore Scott’s choreography was the tap dancing choreographed by Ayodele Casel.  Fanny’s friend and failed suitor, Eddie Ryan (Jared Grimes, right in photo), is fantastic.

     Overall, though, I wasn’t drawn into the show, even when those fabulous songs by Jules Style and Bob Merrill were sung.  “People,” which became a breakout radio hit for Streisand, falls flat.  Feldstein sings it to Nick but rather than look at him she gazes off into the distance as if she were daydreaming.  My favorite song, “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” is the Act One closer, sung with enthusiasm by Feldstein but by then I was just happy the act was finally ending. 

     Act Two brings Nick’s business failures and Fanny’s cheerful efforts to support him emotionally and financially.  Feldstein goes a bit deeper but not enough, not even when Nick is sent to prison for embezzlement.  Funny Girl is a musical comedy but it has the richness of a dark side that needs much more exploration than it is given in this production.  Fifty-eight years is a long time to wait for the revival of a show that was a major hit, playing for 1,348 performances and earning eight Tony nominations.   Maybe the next revival, whenever that will be, will get it right.