Funny Girl (musical)
Funny Girl is a musical with a book by Isobel Lennart, music by Jule Styne, and lyrics by Bob Merrill.
The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of Broadway and film star and comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein. Its original title was My Man.
After seventeen previews, the Broadway production, directed by Garson Kanin and choreographed by Carol Haney under the supervision of Jerome Robbins, opened on March 26 1964 at the Winter Garden Theatre, subsequently transferring to the Majestic Theatre and the Broadway Theatre to complete its total run of 1348 performances. The original cast included Barbra Streisand, Sydney Chaplin, Kay Medford, Danny Meehan, Jean Stapleton, and Lainie Kazan, who also served as Streisand's understudy. Later in the run, Streisand and Chaplin were replaced by Mimi Hines and Johnny Desmond, and Hines' husband and comedy partner Phil Ford also joined the cast.
The musical was produced by Ray Stark, who was Brice's son-in-law via his marriage to her daughter Frances.
The show was nominated for eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Composer and Lyricist, Best Actor in a Musical (Chaplin), Best Actress in a Musical (Streisand), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Meehan), Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Medford), Best Choreography, and Best Producer of a Musical (Ray Stark). Facing tough competition from Hello, Dolly!, it failed to win in any categories.
The 1966 West End production at the Prince of Wales Theatre, starring Streisand, was directed by Lawrence Kasha.
Synopsis
The musical is set in and around New York City just prior to and following World War I. Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, awaiting the return of husband Nick Arnstein from prison, reflects on their life together, and their story is told as a flashback.
Fanny is shown as a stage-struck teen who gets her first job in vaudeville. Her success as both a comedienne and a singer leads her to meeting the sophisticated Nick Arnstein. They soon become romantically involved and marry. As Fanny becomes a major star with Ziegfield, Nick's business ventures fail and he is arrested for embezzlement.
The musical ends where it started: Nick arrives and he and Fanny decide to separate.
Song list
Act I
- "If a Girl Isn't Pretty" -- Mrs. Strakosh, Mrs. Brice, Eddie Ryan and People
- "I'm the Greatest Star" -- Fanny Brice
- "Cornet Man" -- Fanny Brice, Snub Taylor and Keeney Chorus
- "Who Taught Her Everything?" -- Mrs. Brice and Eddie Ryan
- "His Love Makes Me Beautiful" -- Ziegfeld Tenor, Ziegfeld Girls and Fanny Brice
- "I Want to Be Seen With You Tonight" -- Nick Arnstein and Fanny Brice
- "Henry Street" -- Henry Street Neighbors
- "People" -- Fanny Brice
- "You Are Woman, I Am Man" -- Nick Arnstein and Fanny Brice
- "Don't Rain on My Parade" -- Fanny Brice
Act II
- "Sadie, Sadie" -- Fanny Brice and Friends
- "Find Yourself a Man" -- Mrs. Strakosh, Mrs. Brice and Eddie Ryan
- "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat" -- Ziegfeld Company and Fanny Brice
- "Who Are You Now?" -- Fanny Brice
- "The Music That Makes Me Dance" -- Fanny Brice
- "Don't Rain on My Parade" (Reprise) -- Fanny Brice
Film version
| Funny Girl | |
|---|---|
| File:FunnyGirl2.jpg | |
| Directed by | William Wyler |
| Written by | Isobel Lennart |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Starring | Barbra Streisand Omar Sharif Walter Pidgeon |
| Cinematography | Harry Stradling Sr. |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date | 1968 |
Running time | 151 min. |
The 1968 screen adaptation, directed by William Wyler, paired Streisand with Omar Sharif in the role of Arnstein. Medford repeated her stage role, and Walter Pidgeon was cast as Flo Ziegfeld, with Anne Francis in the added role of showgirl Georgia James, although most of her performance was left on the cutting room floor. The role played by Stapleton on stage went to Mae Questel. Fans of the original Broadway score were dismayed to discover most of its songs were eliminated. The most notable addition was "My Man," a Fanny Brice tune used as the film's finale.
Streisand won the Academy Award for Best Actress, an honor she shared with Katharine Hepburn for The Lion in Winter. The film was nominated in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Kay Medford), Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation), Best Original Song ("Funny Girl"), and Best Sound.
Streisand received a Golden Globe as Best Actress; nominations also went to the film, the title song, and Wyler. Lennart's screenplay won her recognition from the Writers Guild of America.
The film was a huge hit in theaters, and became the top grossing film of 1968.
In 2006 this film ranked #16 on the American Film Institute's list of best musicals.
A 1975 sequel, entitled Funny Lady, with James Caan in the role of Brice's second husband, impresario Billy Rose, was considered inferior by most critics, but was still a commercial success.
A previous Hollywood biopic allegedly based on Brice's life, released in 1939, was entitled Rose of Washington Square and starred Alice Faye, Tyrone Power, and Al Jolson. It was as historically inaccurate as its successors.