Yahoo Movies Funny Girl review: With Lea Michele, Broadway revival gets its greatest star
There's a moment in "Don't Rain on My Parade" — the barn-burner of a number that closes the first act of Funny Girl — where Lea Michele's Fanny Brice literally has to hold for applause.
The actress has just called out "Hey, Mr. Arnstein"... and then, at least when I saw it, she pauses as the audience roars. She takes it in, and the actress and character both declare what everyone is in attendance for: "Here. I. Am."
Here she is, indeed. After a lead-up that seemed both endless and inevitable, Michele is now Fanny Brice in the revival of Funny Girl playing at the August Wilson Theatre.
Matthew Murphy
The timeline of events probably doesn't need to be repeated at this point, but for anyone who might be unaware: This production of Funny Girl (its first Broadway revival ever) opened last spring, with Beanie Feldstein in a charming performance that many reviews said did not hold up to the (arguably impossible) standard set by its original star, Barbra Streisand. (As EW's Leah Greenblatt wrote when the musical opened in April, "[Feldstein's] Fanny Brice lands at a lower altitude, though: both funny and girlish but never really big.")
Michele, meanwhile, has been publicly auditioning for the role of Fanny for years, performing Funny Girl songs on Glee, at the Tony Awards, and making no secret of her desire to someday play the part. Feldstein departed the show early, and Michele took over the role on Sept. 6 (with standby Julie Benko, whose performance has been well-received, still playing the role on Thursdays).
Watching Michele as Fanny, then, allows you to acknowledge a few things simultaneously. You can believe the fallout around Feldstein's reviews and her subsequent departure wasn't fair to someone compared to both Streisand and Michele before she ever stepped on stage. You can also believe, as some have argued, that she was miscast from the start.
Matthew Murphy
There's also the meta feeling, especially for anyone who watched Glee, of seeing the Lea Michele-as-Rachel Berry dream made whole. And then there's the thrill of seeing Michele inhabit the role she's wanted for so long — because, to put it plainly, she is simply spectacular.
Those who come to the August Wilson expecting Michele to blow the roof off the place won't be disappointed. The surrounding buildings on 52nd Street should brace for impact, too. Michele uses her voice like a stealth missile, belting easily through marquee songs like "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" and earning all the enthusiastic applause she gets for them.
She also has an easy chemistry with Ramin Karimloo's Nick Arnstein, the charming gambler Fanny falls for as she rises from young ambitions to prime placement in Ziegfeld's Follies. (Her rapport also sparkles with fellow show newcomer Tovah Feldshuh, who plays a deliciously spiky and deadpan Mrs. Brice.)
Matthew Murphy
Michele's performance makes clear how badly Fanny wants the fame she believes she's destined for — she declares herself "The Greatest Star" long before she is one — even as her take on the character's comedic sensibilities feels more reserved. Feldstein, who made her name in films like Booksmart and the 2017 revival of Hello, Dolly!, leaned much harder into those comic aspects.
There are moments where Fanny goes bigger and broader, numbers where she wants to be in on the joke (like when she reveals herself as a pregnant bride in "His Love Makes Me Beautiful"). Michele plays these smaller, not going for the rafters as much as skimming the orchestra.
But the main draw of Funny Girl isn't comic timing, even if "Funny" is right there in the name. Frankly, it's not even the story itself, which draws from the real Brice's life and career. The book, from Isobel Lennart with revisions from Harvey Fierstein, packs its charms into the first act, when Fanny is a star on the rise, and descends into a slog in Act 2, when her marriage to Nick falls apart.
Matthew Murphy
The magic has always been in Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's music, and the book mostly works to put Fanny into position to sing one hit after another. With Michele in the starring role, the songs really get their chance to sparkle.
The rest of the production remains mostly the same as it did this past spring, with its highs (Tony nominee Jared Grimes' incredible tap work as Eddie) and lows (the sets, confusingly bland for a backstage musical). But it's all buoyed by the burst of energy Michele brings to the long-awaited revival and the electricity from the audiences coming to see her. With her at the center, it feels impossible to rain on the parade. Grade: A-
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