Funny Girl, Menier Chocolate Factory

Sometimes good things do not come to those who wait, even if the good thing is in the form of the diminutive and brilliant Sheridan Smith. Funny Girl? Yes, she is, but is that enough on a set made of cardboard and string,  with everything happening at the front of the stage like a school production, a cast that supports the central star without having its own opportunity to shine, and only two show-stopping tunes both reliant on a very long last note for credibility?

Maybe Barbra Streisand ruined Funny Girl for those of a certain age - is there anyone who can top her Oscar winning film performance? - but there were grey haired folk cheering Miss Smith this evening for her singular portrayal of Fanny Brice, the famous Zeigfield Follies star. Brice fell in love with the handsome gambler,  Nicky Arnstein. When Arnstein hit a losing streak, Fanny's love for him was so overpowering she started buying him out of trouble. Emasculated by his controlling wife, Arnstein tried to gamble back the money she'd spent and was imprisoned for embezzlement. For the purposes of the musical, that's where the love story ends.

The problem with Michael Mayer's production of Funny  Girl is that budget appears to have been swallowed by the star and the band. The production feels spare to the point of anorexia. The set is two moving walkways and a backdrop of a theatre. That's it. The  dancers rarely dance, and never with joy, and their costumes don't fit properly. Smith is deliberately dressed in outfits that make her look like a walking box. The leading man's trousers either shrank during the interval or were made for someone six inches shorter. The singing's good, but it ain't great. When there's no wow factor, one notices the small details.

In conclusion: This show has had such superlative reviews, my companion and I queued for returns.  Mistake. All around me were Americans who either slept through the show or commented on its lack of energy. That said, others did love it. Smith is a wonderfully expressive actor and she's the best thing in Funny Girl, but for us curmudgeons it wasn't enough.


References
Funny Girl, Tickets via Menier Chocolate Factory website

Currently at the Menier Chocolate Factory, with a transfer to The Savoy Theatre in April 2016