Big Shoes to Fill

June 9, 2010
The New York Times reports that a Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" is in the works for the 2012 season. Whoever plays the part of Fanny Brice will have some big shoes to fill. Barbra Streisand is indelibly associated with the role she created on Broadway and won an Oscar for in the film. It was the part of a lifetime, as Barbra once told then journalist (and current producer of "Glee") Ryan Murphy. Barbra's portrayal of Fanny Brice continues to define her career nearly five decades after she first stepped foot upon the Winter Garden stage back in '64.

Mention "Funny Girl" and you immediately think Streisand.

So, can a revival of "Funny Girl" really succeed without Barbra Streisand? Should it even be attempted? The closest "Funny Girl" ever came to a Broadway revival was a much ballyhooed 1996 production that starred Debbie Gibson. The show's publicists heralded Gibson as the next coming of Streisand, the only actress who could do justice in a new version of "Funny Girl." Gibson's "Funny Girl" was to be money in the bank. A guaranteed Broadway blockbuster.

Debbie Gibson's "Funny Girl" never made it past Green Bay, Wisconsin. It closed after just one month of disappointing out-of-town tryouts.

I remember seeing Pia Zadora in "Funny Girl" at the Long Beach Civic Light Opera in 1991. The show, as I recall, was quite good, but just not compelling. Something was missing. The same thing happened in 2001 when I saw Leslie Kritzer perform as Fanny Brice at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. The production was professional enough and Kritzer handled the score brilliantly. But once again, there was a void.

It wasn't until I attended the 2002 benefit performance of "Funny Girl"  at The New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway that the all-too obvious answer finally hit me. The key to a successful "Funny Girl" is not just great acting and singing, but personality. Quite frankly, the book on which "Funny Girl" is based is rather weak. When you add a mainstream performer who can adequately sing the score and play out all the scenes as written, the result is a delightful night in the theatre. Nothing more. 

What Barbra Streisand brought to the "Funny Girl" equation was a personality that was bigger than the story itself. Streisand's "Funny Girl" was not as much about Fanny Brice's life as it was about Barbra's presentation of that story. Barbra Streisand was the production, simple as that, which explains the inability of others to match her success in the role.

So, what about that proposed revival for 2012? Should they give "Funny Girl" another go? I say, why not. After all, theatre is, by definition, experimental. Let's have a new take on the story with a solid rewrite and a dynamic performer in the lead role. And, by all means, incorporate those same Fanny Brice's original numbers like they did in the film. Can a modern day staging of "Funny Girl" really be complete without including renditions of "My Man" and "Second Hand Rose?" Audiences will expect them, and for the first time ever (with apologies to composers Styne and Merrill), the new stage show will have a legitimate connection to the actual music Fanny Brice sang during her career.

I see two possible candidates for the role of Fanny Brice in 2012. One obvious choice is Lea Michele who created quite a stir with her performance of "Don't Rain On My Parade" this past season on "Glee" (left).  She's popular and current and would be boffo box-office. She's comically talented and definitely has the vocal chops to handle the score. Her "it factor" radiates, at least on television. If she can act as well as she can sing, she could surely pull it off.

But my ideal choice is Tony winner Idina Menzel, who also appears from time to time on "Glee." I've seen Idina on stage in "Rent," "Wicked" and in that "Funny Girl" benefit back in '02. She's a powerhouse performer and a marvelous vocalist. She has so much stage presence that her portrayal of Fanny Brice could well redefine the role, easily succeeding outside the shadow of the Barbra Streisand version.

I was immediately sold on Idina Menzel as Fanny Brice when I witnessed her show-stopping performance of "Cornet Man" (right).  After all, it's all about personality, and that's something Idina Menzel has a satchel full of.