FIVE STARS
IT hasn't been staged
in London for almost 50 years but now the Menier Chocolate Factory
has revived musical Funny Girl and it's an absolute cracker.
Directed by Michael
Mayer and starring Sheridan Smith it tells the story of 1920s Jewish
girl Fanny Brice who while she may not have the model looks, she is
determined to be a success on the Broadway stage.
Through guts, hard
knocks and a not inconsiderable amount of chutzpah she rose from the
Lower East Side of New York to achieve her goal of becoming the star
of the Ziegfeld Follies and along the way catches the eye of conman
Nicky Arnstein.
They fall in love and
get married but in the end their love is doomed because of his
gambling and her trying to bail him out all the time.
Although the story is a
bit flimsy and lacks depth, it is one full of humour and poignancy
and this is a classy production.
It has a great set with
two almost constantly moving travelators, opulent costumes and packs
in what could be seen as a large cast onto the small Menier stage.
The score too, by Jule
Styne and Bob Merrill, features an aray of memorable numbers not
least People, Don't Rain On My Parade and You Are Woman, I Am Man.
The entire cast is
superb. Sheridan Smith is utterly fabulous as Fanny and really makes
the part her own. Indeed she brings her character alive with a
glorious combination of comic timing, vulnerability and a beautiful
singing voice - not to mention her "36 facial expressions".
Her renditions of
People and Don't Rain On My Parade were wonderfully done and the
whole piece was performed with incredible energy and enthusiasm.
She also lays to rest
the spectre of Barbara Streisand whose performance as Fanny Brice in
the 1960s propelled her to fame.
Smith is ably supported
by Darius Campbell as the flawed Nicky and Joel Montague as her
childhood friend Eddie Ryan.
Other highlights are
the three card-playing ladies - Gay Soper, Valda Aviks and Marilyn
Cutts as Fanny's mum - who are hilarious and full of joie de vivre.
Funny Girl is on at the
Menier Chocolate Factory, Southwark Street until March 5 and then at
teh Savoy Theatre from April 8. Visit www.menierchocolatefactory.com
or call the box office on 020 7378 1713 for full listings.
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