{"id":356382,"date":"2024-06-29T07:59:17","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T11:59:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/?p=356382"},"modified":"2024-06-29T07:59:17","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T11:59:17","slug":"stellar-cast-has-fixed-funny-girl-on-tour-at-kennedy-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dctheaterarts.org\/2024\/06\/29\/stellar-cast-has-fixed-funny-girl-on-tour-at-kennedy-center\/","title":{"rendered":"Stellar cast has fixed \u2018Funny Girl\u2019 on tour at Kennedy Center"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny Girl<\/em> is a weird one. It\u2019s a show with a handful of beloved songs and some leading stars who have made Broadway history in its 60-year legacy, Lea Michele included, but a plot that\u2019s a serious downer. And yet the show has a reputation for being a must-see classic. When you mention Funny Girl<\/em>, most people think of how great \u201cDon\u2019t Rain On My Parade\u201d is, not how it centers on how a gambler ruined a nice lady\u2019s life. It is a relief, then, that Funny Girl <\/em>on tour \u2014 stopping at the Kennedy Center\u2019s Opera House \u2014 is carried under Michael Mayer\u2019s direction through its tough book and plot by a spectacular starring cast, costumes, orchestra, and set.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, Katerina McCrimmon is a revelation as Fanny Brice, and I think she\u2019s fixed Funny Girl<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice and Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein in the National Tour of \u2018Funny Girl.\u2019 Photo by Matthew Murphy for MurphyMade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of the other Fanny Brices I\u2019ve seen and heard, McCrimmon\u2019s performance best encapsulates exactly what Funny Girl<\/em>\u2019s Fanny Brice should be \u2014 a whip-smart, deeply kind person devoid of insecurity who loves to love, even to her own detriment. Her Fanny captures the audience\u2019s attention, earning their laughter and their respect with her hilarity and spirit.<\/p>\n

This show has had a long, divided history among theater critics, not to mention feminists. Fanny Brice, leading Broadway star of the 1920s\u20131940s, spends most of the show insisting that her gambler-slash-failed-investor romantic partner, Nick Arnstein, played pitch-perfectly as a greasy but loving partner by Stephen Mark Lukas, is just peachy for her. Meanwhile he, albeit unmaliciously, gambles and fumbles away her fortune. Over the course of their marriage, Fanny continues to give him thousands upon thousands out of sheer, trusting love while he continues to fail, which injures his pride and infuriates him further. As Fanny tells Nick that he\u2019s \u201cdone so much\u201d for her, he, sort of admirably, asks her repeatedly, \u201cHow, though?\u201d Neither the book of the musical nor its lyrics ever quite illustrate an explanation of how Fanny could be this blind. As a result, it is very easy to find Funny Girl<\/em> frustrating. Many have.<\/p>\n

The show doesn\u2019t give us much reason to be optimistic for Fanny, who acts in Nick\u2019s interests until the very last song in the musical. The show takes two whole acts of our central character remaining static while Nick\u2019s crimes steadily grow in scope to show us its thesis, forcing the show to find a way to carry itself through \u2014 but McCrimmon and Lukas\u2019 complicated chemistry, their stellar character acting, and the production\u2019s visuals make it worth the wait.<\/p>\n

McCrimmon\u2019s execution of the final number, \u201cFinale,\u201d is a tour-de-force. After deciding to separate from her husband after he leaves prison \u2014 like I said, tough show \u2014 in this number, she sings a reprise of \u201cDon\u2019t Rain On My Parade,\u201d including the lines: \u201cI marched my band out\/I beat my drum\/I guess we didn\u2019t make it\/At least I didn\u2019t fake it.\u201d It is hard to bear to see this character lose the innocence that defined her, but this is why you come to the theater. McCrimmon\u2019s illustration of this character\u2019s grief, her confidence that she was doing her best with the information she had as the person she was all along, and her newfound humility and optimism in just those lines have astounding impact. McCrimmon\u2019s take gives us one of those musical theater performances that is utterly convincing as a depiction of the character\u2019s diegetic emotional path, instead of merely being marvelous to listen to.<\/p>\n

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Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice in the National Tour of \u2018Funny Girl.\u2019 Photo by Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are moments throughout the show when McCrimmon could potentially project with greater volume. Even when great acting calls for quieter vocals, sometimes we can\u2019t hear her over the orchestra, which does a wonderful job. With Chris Walker\u2019s orchestrations and Alan Williams\u2019 dance, vocal, and incidental music arrangements and under Elaine Davidson\u2019s conducting, it delivers the classic musical-comedy jazz that Barbara Streisand\u2019s cast recording of this show made famous, filling the Opera House with big-band bliss.<\/p>\n

Given this is a national tour direct from Broadway, the production has the set and costume design you\u2019d expect and more. Every thread is in the right place, every prop is pristine. Thanks to scenic design by David Zinn and costume design by Susan Hilferty, these grand dresses, curtains, and even hand-painted banners in Fanny\u2019s 1910s Manhattan tenement community sparkle with Broadway charm and polish. Each backdrop in the show is beautiful to look at, setting the literal stage for stunning costumes. The Kennedy Center\u2019s grand Opera House helps further their scope and spectacle. This production spends a lot of time in scenes in big expensive theaters, and its visuals maintain that suspension of disbelief without missing a beat.<\/p>\n

The show requires that elements beyond its actual story carry the night, and this cast and crew come through and then some. Go see it.<\/p>\n

Running Time: Two hours and 40 minutes, including one 15-minute intermission.<\/p>\n

Funny Girl<\/strong><\/em><\/a> on North American tour<\/a> plays through July 14, 2024, in the Opera House at the Kennedy Center, 2700 F St NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets ($49\u2013$189, with MyTix and Student Rush options on June 30\u2013July 5) at the box office, o<\/strong>nline,<\/strong><\/a> or by calling (202) 467-4600 or toll-free at (800) 444-1324.<\/p>\n

The Funny Girl <\/em>program is online here.<\/a><\/p>\n

COVID Safety:<\/strong>\u00a0Masks are optional in all Kennedy Center spaces for visitors and staff. If you prefer to wear a mask, you are welcome to do so. See Kennedy Center\u2019s complete COVID Safety Plan\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n