Created in 1964, at the tail end of the musical theater’s so-called golden age, it took the Fanny Brice biographical show Funny Girl almost 60 years to be revived on Broadway. In large part, that is because it has been under the shadow of its original star, Barbra Streisand. Simply put, she is the textbook hard act to follow.
But it was revived — and revised — three years ago, successfully enough that it spawned a subsequent national tour, which plays this week at the Kravis Center. While the production does not live up to whatever memories you may have of Babs’ performance — still much in evidence in her Oscar-winning movie debut — there is enough to like here, including a remarkable star turn by Hannah Shankman as Ziegfeld Follies headliner Brice, belting out her many vocals and clowning when required, which is often.
The show takes Brice from her humble Brooklyn roots, to her first break at Keaney’s saloon, where she meets smooth-talking lothario and gambler Nick Arnstein. Inexplicably, he falls in love with this self-described “bagel on a plate full of onion rolls.” She is willingly seduced by him and they marry, but his easily bruised male ego cannot stand the fame and wealth she earns from the Follies while he loses fortunes on gambling and bad investments.
The first act is mostly upbeat, while the second chronicles Arnstein’s downward spiral (and imprisonment for embezzling) which puts fatal stress on their relationship. The two halves of the show were always lopsided, so for this revival Harvey Fierstein (La Cage aux Folles, Kinky Boots) was brought in to bolster the original book by Isobel Lennart. He streamlined much of the second act, but his changes are rarely significant improvements.
A musical number for Arnstein cut from the show initially, “Temporary Arrangement,” has been added back in, but its impact proves temporary at best. And bowing to the popularity of the movie, the stage show imports the rueful title tune and inserts it late in the second act. The result is a downbeat ending, saved only by an incongruous reprise of the rousing “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
Despite the tinkering, the second act remains weak, though it does contain two of the Jule Styne-Bob Merrill score’s best numbers, Brice’s 11 o’clock torch song, “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” and the wistful “Who Are You Now?,” retrofitted as a duet for Fanny and Nick. Among her standout solos in the first act are Fanny’s opening anthem, “I’m The Greatest Star,” persuasively delivered by Shankman, and the show’s breakout hit, “People.” Add in a couple of Follies production numbers — “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” and “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat” — and you have a memorable score like they rarely write anymore. If only the script were up to the level of the songs.
Shankman does not stray far from Streisand’s line deliveries and vocal phrasing, without coming off as an imitation. Fanny is still the center of the show, but she no longer monopolizes the evening. As Nick, Stephen Mark Lukas elbows his way into a couple of Shankman’s numbers, which he delivers with a creamy baritone, though his acting is often on the stiff side. And as Fanny’s pal and booster Eddie Ryan, Izaiah Montaque Harris gets some standout time showing off his considerable tap skill. Perhaps the biggest name in the cast is Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Manchester, though she is largely wasted as Fanny’s mother.
While the original production of Funny Girl was quite lavish, the revival bows to today’s belt-tightened economics. The ensemble is noticeably smaller and the scenic design by David Zinn relies chiefly on two-dimensional backdrops. Nevertheless, Shankman is reason enough to see this Funny Girl, a flawed but entertaining musical with plenty of hummable songs.
FUNNY GIRL, Kravis Center, Dreyfoos Hall, 701 Okeechobee Blvd., West Palm Beach. Through Sun., Feb. 2. $55-$181. Call 561-832-7469 or visit kravis.org.