REVIEW: Funny Girl (Kennedy Center)
Summer continues its onward march, giving us a slew of touring productions to enjoy as the local houses prep their upcoming seasons. The Kennedy Center’s newest offering is the national tour of the Funny Girl revival, running through July 14th.
Book/Music
Funny Girl is a loose adaptation of the life story of Fanny Brice, famed comedienne and actress. Starting just around the turn of the century, Brice is a homely, yet boisterous Jewish girl from Brooklyn who seeks to make it in showbiz and will stop at nothing to get there. Along the way, she gets involved with the antics of a compulsive gambler-turned-husband, while also maintaining the voices of reason from her community. Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s score is just as infectiously brassy as one could expect from a 1960’s-era musical like this. This means that while it may be a little average to some, it has several massive numbers to keep the attention, such as the infallible “Don’t Rain on My Parade” and “I’m The Greatest Star”. The book by Isobel Lennart is where I find the most to pick at. Beyond the casual sexism of the piece there is much to dissect in Harvey Fierstein’s “rewrites”. In this era of American history, to make a name independently of yourself as 1. a Jew, 2. a woman, and 3. someone portrayed as “ugly”, one would expect several points of conflict for our heroine to overcome. Instead, Fanny fails upwards almost immediately, and is considered a major vaudeville star barely halfway through the first act. Additionally, the book wastes several interesting characters with charismatic performances, none greater than Eddie Ryan (Izaiah Montaque Harris). The lack of sticking points for Fanny makes it hard to root for her — especially as the show is marketed as the “rise” of a star, when it’s mostly about the coasting of one after a very sharp and brief ascent. 4/10
Acting
Katerina McCrimmon is a sensational singer. Her Fanny is organically projected, her long notes reverbing through the Kennedy Center opera house effortlessly. Stephen Mark Lukas’ Nick Arnstein is a joy, loud and proud as his voice is. Yet, there was a comical reliance on the “New York” accent that didn’t feel believable to me company-wide, almost as if it were a caricature. Overall, there is great singing ability, but general acting performances suffer due to the poor book. 5/10
Production
For such an anticipated production, there was a noticeable lack of life in Michael Mayer’s direction. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still a nonstop barrage of classical Broadway energy, but sometimes it feels like it hasn’t loaded in yet. David Zinn's set design is uncharacteristically flat, with scenes that lack any perspective and rely too much on Kevin Adams’ energetic lighting. Yet, the costuming by Susan Hilferty are saturated and iconic, and the jungly orchestrations by Chris Walker are joyously interweaved. 6/10
Viz
The program art in which Fanny is smiling with bright red lipstick is eye-catching, as is the marquee lights on the border. But something irks me about the black background with blood-red text reading “FUNNY GIRL”. The vibes are like…sinister, almost? (I’m probably the only one who thinks this.) The scrim is nice, too, but echoes the lack of material care that went into the production design. (It’s just a projection of a normal curtain that fades as the show starts). 5/10
Verdict
Funny Girl is truly a tale of highs and lows; for a revival as long-awaited as this one, the tour is good, but it could be great. 20/40
