Funny Girl, theatre review: Triumphant reinvention is full of heart

Sheridan Smith proves once more that she’s a very special performer as Broadway revue star Fanny Brice
Misfiring union: Fanny Brice
Johan Persson
Fiona Mountford21 April 2016

It is probably best to get the Barbra Streisand reference out of the way at the start. Yes, Streisand immortalised the part of Broadway revue star Fanny Brice, first on stage and then in her Oscar-winning film performance, and her rendition will always cast a long shadow over any revival. But the good news for this West End transfer of the instant sell-out Menier Chocolate Factory production is that Sheridan Smith triumphantly reinvents Brice for a new generation of musical theatre lovers, conveying with skill and heart this entertainer’s emotive blend of professional success and personal vulnerability.

Funny Girl (1964), with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill, isn’t in the top tier of classic Broadway musicals; it’s good but not transcendent, even though it has its fair share of fine songs, including People and Don’t Rain On My Parade. I’ve always found it a pity that the main thrust of this look at Brice, a hugely talented and successful woman in an era where such specimens weren’t exactly thick on the ground, is her lovelorn love life. Still, it was a bit of a mess. Although she was thrice married, the show focuses on only one misfiring union, to Nick Arnstein (Darius Campbell, impressive), a handsome charmer with a dubious line in career choices.

Smith convinces us, with pathos to spare, that Fanny can’t quite believe the suave Nick could possibly fall for a Brooklyn Jewish girl like her. It’s Brice’s gnawing but immensely credible need to keep Nick too close that does for the relationship and Smith soars her way through the sad songs and makes us laugh, a lot, through the comedy numbers of the Ziegfeld Follies. She proves once more that she’s a very special performer.

Michael Mayer’s sassy production is reinforced by Michael Pavelka’s elegant, wistful design of a theatre, with rows of burnished mirrors running into the wings. Fanny is endlessly reflected back, but never quite in the image she’d like to see.

Until October 8, Savoy Theatre (0844 871 7687)

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