Funny Girl at the Savoy

It was another West End trip for myself and Nanny Cora last weekend (18^th June 2016) to see Funny Girl at the Savoy Theatre on the Strand in London. Of course it was a fantastic trip with laughter and giggles and the show was amazing. A new underground was visited by Nanny Cora, High Barnet, as we would be on the Northern line. I was very impressed with the disabled access at High Barnet as there was no need to use stairs. However despite a quick energetic spurt my Nanny Cora we missed the train by seconds so we thought while there we can have a quick toilet break until the next train to Charing Cross arrived. The toilets were absolutely minging, I was nearly sick and I will definitely not be going to them public toilets again, funny though! London is full of wonderful people and me and Nanny Cora both like to people watch and comment on all the lovely people we meet. We also reminisced about when me, her and Grandad went to the London Eye, the weather being awful we went to some random pub which is on The Strand next to the Savoy and laughed about that. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to pop to Trafalgar Square to see a bit of West End Live but I am sure it was a fabulous day.    

Funny Girl is a semi-biographical musical about Fanny Brice, the American Broadway star and comedian. The story focuses on her career and relationship with Nick Arnstein. Funny Girl made its Broadway appearance in 1964, starring Barbara Streisand who went on to star in the 1968 film of the same name which was based on the musical. I have wanted to see Funny Girl for ages as there is one song everyone will know as it has featured in huge films and has become one of those songs people forget comes from a musical, I’ll let you guess, answer below. Streisand reprised her role for the West End production which came to the Prince of Wales theatre in 1966. Since its close in Broadway (in 1967) and the West End (I think also in 1967) there had been some minor national tours but no actual full scale revival until 2015 at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London. I tried to get tickets but couldn’t as it sold out within one day. The revival had a new revised book by Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein (original by Isobel Lennart who went on to write the film adaptation), known for his work on La Cage Aux Folles, Kinky Boots and starring in Hairspray. When it was announced this revival would be moving to the Savoy for a limited period I needed to get tickets. Funny Girl, despite its well-known score and huge fan base, has not won any significant awards. The London production was before the introduction of the Lawrence Olivier Award and the Broadway production was nominated for 8 1964 Tony Awards however not winning any, mainly due to that year being up against Hello Dolly.

Funny Girl was due to star Sheridan Smith as Fanny, and she received mostly rave reviews from her time at the Menier and then the transfer to the Savoy. However due to recent difficulties she has faced in her personal life she has been indisposed for about 6 weeks I think now. Since her indisposition her understudy, Natasha J Barnes, has taken on the role of Fanny Brice, who starred as Brice after Smith’s departure from the Menier production. Barnes’ performance is fantastic and she received an immediate standing ovation as she entered the stage for the final time at curtain call. She absolutely deserved this reaction and goes to show how much understudies are often undervalued. Barnes’ own reaction to this standing ovation goes to show how genuine she is and how much she appreciated every clap she heard. She was really really good. It must have been absolutely terrifying taking on this role for 8 performances a week. Barnes is naturally funny, and I think you would have to be, taking on the role of Fanny Brice. Parts of the show you could tell a joke had to be written in but it was her facial expressions and natural witty presence on stage that made her Brice unmissable. It was the Rat-tat-tat-tat scene that had me in stitches, first of all I wasn’t sure if this was part of the comedic writing, but it became apparent that her fake moustache was not supposed to keep falling off, but it did, and even Barnes’ had to laugh at some point. It is this part of theatre and watching musicals live that I absolutely love, each performance is different and this was certainly a funny part of the show. As well as funny and genuine Barnes had a wonderful voice and her version of ‘Don’t rain on my parade’ was fantastic, especially the reprise during the finale. I was originally gutted about not seeing Sheridan Smith, and I wish her all the best for getting better, but similar to my experience of Sunset Boulevard, I am very pleased to have experienced Natasha J Barnes as Fanny Brice.

The hunk of the show, Nick Arnstein, is played by Darius Campbell, known better by his single first name for Pop Idol and Popstars. Since this he has gone on to be a platinum selling recording artist, actor and film producer. I didn’t know this was Darius until after the show where I took a much closer look at the programme; couldn’t properly due to the horrible seats of the Savoy. Darius plays Arnstein well; his suave handsomely rugged appearance is lovely to watch and his singing is obviously good, albeit the role of Nick Arnstein is not the biggest singing part in the musical. I also can’t believe how bloody tall he is, especially as Fanny is typically played by a short actress. There were two other members of the company who I really enjoyed watching, Marilyn Cutts playing Fanny’s Mother Mrs Brice and Joel Montague playing Eddie Ryan, the guy who is secretly in love with Fanny (I believe) and who helps her be the star she becomes. The song these two sing together, ‘Who taught her everything she knows?’ was also one of my favourite of the show and shows the distance Fanny is creating between her previous self to her new found fame. Both these stage actors are a real credit to this production of Funny Girl.

Talking about the score, with music composed by Jule Styne (Gypsy) and lyrics by Bob Merrill, it has become one of musical theatre’s much loved soundtracks, with the most poignant and well known having to be ‘Don’t rain on my parade’ which has featured in many TV shows and films since its creation; this lead me to want to see Funny Girl in the first place. With a gorgeous Overture and Entr’acte by Styne, other songs that grace the audience every night include, ‘People’, ‘You are woman, I am man’, ‘Henry Street’, ‘Sadie, Sadie’ and ‘The music that makes me dance’. I have to admit the score hasn’t left a particular song in my head as many musicals do and I am not rushing to download the Funny Girl soundtrack but it did have some great tunes; I would say Gypsy, Styne’s other massive hit, has a better composition of songs than Funny Girl does.

Michael Mayer directs this new production of Funny Girl with Michael Pavelka designing the set. The staging I felt was fairly minimal with usually only a few props, table and chair on stage at any one time. The thing I absolutely loved about the staging, which reminded me of when I saw Mrs Henderson Presents, was how Pavelka portrays a theatre stage when on a theatre stage. This was for me the best part of the staging and it worked really well. With direction from Mayer transition from front of stage to backstage was seamless. The lighting for me was fantastic in this show and when I found out Mark Henderson (winner of this year’s Olivier Best Lighting award for Gypsy) was behind this I wasn’t surprised. Henderson has produced some fantastic lighting for productions and Funny Girl is not exempt from this. During the Overture the graceful, slow appearance of a lilacly stage on a stage was beautiful and throughout the show it was theatrical when it needed to be and emotional when it was necessary. The scenes for when Fanny is on stage as a performer the choreography is good but not overwhelming. Costume design again was great for Fanny Brice (I loved the theatrical war scene costume for Barnes) and everyone was dressed appropriately for that era and the needs of the scene.

It is strange that it has taken around 50 years for a full Funny Girl revival, since some of the songs are well known musical theatre songs. Funny Girl is at the end of the day a musical comedy and it did genuinely make me laugh, albeit sometimes not intentionally. Saying that, Funny Girl is an emotional production depicting the life of Fanny Brice and how fame is not all it is cracked up to be, possibly reflecting aspects of current life for some. The last few scenes really do have an impact on the audience and Barnes performance brought her to tears, she was fully deserving of her standing ovation and I wish her all the luck for the rest of her time as Fanny Brice and everything for the future. Funny Girl is playing at the Savoy until October 2016, where Dreamgirls will take over residency at the Savoy (I still need to get my tickets, I will do this Beez!). I hope it is not another 50 years until Funny Girl graces the stage of the West End or the wider UK theatres on tour. Please get in touch on Twitter AaronBurgess89

All or Nothing, The Mod Musical - Norwich Theatre Royal

I met with Mother in Norwich and had a lovely Portuguese meal (you can guess which chicken restaurant we went to) last night (9^th June 2016). Was a lovely change as I don’t often take Mother to the theatre as she has a habit of using the darkened auditorium, despite the noise and lights from the stage, to catch up on sleep (you did well last night Mother only one mishap in the second Act but I blame the Pinot Grigio). We went to see All or Nothing, The Mod Musical at Norwich Theatre Royal, as she used to be a Mod. After seeing the show we realised that Mother was a second wave of Mods in the 1970’s/80’s not in the 1950’s (haha sorry Mother aged you by twenty years). However we still had a fab night, were able to dance and sing along and have a laugh imagining Nanny Cora as a late 1950’s mod with her strange vacuum like hairdryer.  

All or Nothing started its tour last week after a run at The Vaults theatre in London until May 21^st. The musical is based on the band, Small Faces, possibly not as well-known as their competitors of the same time however some of their music are well known loved hits. Some people were saying as we left that they had seen the Small Faces in and around Norwich during this time and they were awful live; these people also said how much they had enjoyed those on stage during the performance so that was good. I was expecting lots of music I had not heard before as it was a Small Faces musical, which is fine I love listening to new music, however songs by Sonny and Cher and Dusty Springfield are also part of the song list which was a great sound. I loved the tribute to Oliver, with the ‘Consider Yourself’ number which is not part of the song list, even though they sang a few verses.  I am also not sure of the accurate storyline about Steve Marriott (lead singer of the Small Faces) choosing rhythm and blues over Olivier’s stage who knows, but it is a great musical addition to a new brand of musical.

Small Faces have songs including ‘Watcha Gonna do About it’, ‘Sha La La La Lee’, ‘I’m Only Dreaming’, ‘All or Nothing’, ‘Itchcoo Park’, ‘Tin Soldier’ and my favourite and probably one of their best known to wider groups ‘Lazy Sunday’ (afternoon). The audience absolutely loved the songs; even if me and Mother did not know them all we still enjoyed the show. All or Nothing is not my favourite musical about a band, I think that charm still lies with Sunny Afternoon (The Kinks) however All or Nothing is still perfect if you lived in that era and the production is funny, emotional and gets you in the Mod mode I guess.

I enjoyed how the story was put together. The lead of the Small Faces, Steve Marriott, is obviously the protagonist of the show. His older, dead self, narrates the whole production, reflecting on his life after he’s lived it. This perspective of the musical I absolutely loved and it reminded me of Act Two of Carousel. This showed a different light to Steve Marriott too, I guess, and you see the deterioration of him, despite the fact he is a ghost in some words, he deteriorates as his younger alive self does too. This is where the emotionality of the musical comes from; when Marriott speaks to his mother, what seems to be heaven or some other place the dead congregate, it really gets you. I also think Marriott’s mother is crying for real as the lady who plays her was connected and close to the band. 

The cast are great and creator of All or Nothing, Carol Harrison, who is no stranger to British TV screens and best known for her role in EastEnders, plays the mother of Steve Marriott and she is funny and heart-warming in this production. She also has a mini party at curtain call which made me get into the mood too. Marriott is played by two actors, his older and passed-self played by Chris Simmons, known best for his role as DC Mickey Webb in The Bill; Simmons definitely suits a shorter hair style yet he plays the role of Steve Marriott so well. His portrayal reminds me off Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit as everyone on stage ignores him as he is telling the story from the grave so to speak, going back in time. Younger Steve is played by Mark Newnham. Other band members are Ronnie, played by Joshua Dowen, Mac played by Joshua Maddison and Kenny played by Drew-Levi Huntsman; all up and coming actors and musicians. I loved Daniel Beales who plays various characters within the musical, however he is really funny and, although scripted, comes across so naturally funny; really enjoyed watching Beales on stage. The rest of the cast play various characters and portrayls of famous producers and musicians in this era. Sophia Behn plays a lovely Dusty even if it is just for one scene (I did think Carol Harrison was playing Dusty so I apologise for saying that in the interval).

All or Nothing (The Mod Musical) is at Norwich Theatre Royal until tomorrow for a matinee and evening performances, with tickets still available. This is a very new musical and yet I think the publicity has been poor on it. It is worth seeing, no doubt, especially if you are a mod, love the music of the Small Faces and lived your teens and early twenties in the late 1950’s, well then this is the musical for you. The musical, when it leaves Norwich goes on tour until November 5^th 2016 visiting Chesterfield, Bournemouth, Guilford, Portsmouth, Ipswich, Shrewsbury, Cardiff and others. Please get in touch on Twitter +Aaron Burgess