Funny Girl

On the Town with Chip Deffaa: On Fanny Brice and “Funny Girl”

June 6, 2022

I’ve often told friends what an impact "Funny Girl" had on me. That was the show that made me fall completely, utterly, and permanently in love with Broadway. I was a teenager when I saw it—not quite 15. I started taking odd jobs to make some extra money; I stopped buying comic books; I began skipping school lunches, too—I was trying to save every possible penny so I could buy Broadway theater tickets. Theater became my top priority. And as often as possible, I would go to see another Broadway show. (Broadway was far more affordable then than it is now, and I was eager to check out everything—musicals, comedies, dramas. I could often get tickets to shows—up in the balcony--that didn’t cost much more than tickets to movies.) "Funny Girl"—more than "My Fair Lady" or any other show I appreciated—was what got me really hooked on theater. And I’m still grateful for that. [more]

Funny Girl

April 29, 2022

Beanie Feldstein’s clunky rendition of “I'm the Greatest Star” crystalizes the absurdist dimension of this off-kilter first Broadway revival of the 1964 musical, "Funny Girl." With her nasal, often muffled singing, oddly emphatic line readings and smug mugging, in no way does she suggest a great star, yet this nearly three-hour show is centered around her. It instantly deflates with her wan introductory “Hello, gorgeous.” She does exhibit idiosyncratic pluck and stamina throughout. [more]

Bullets Over Broadway thoughts from Chip Deffaa’s July 17, 2014 column

July 17, 2014

Some of these great old songs will be unknown to the average theater-goer of today; they are so old they might as well be new. And they are a joy to hear. What a treat it is, for example, to hear Jelly Roll Morton's "Good Old New York." This is a superior melody by a major jazz composer. It will be new to most audience-members. It's done with respect and flair. And it's a just a pleasure to hear. That number is over all too soon. [more]

A Chat with Bob Avian

July 12, 2007

The creative forces with whom he has worked are a who’s who of the Broadway musical. They include Steve Sondheim, Kander and Ebb, Cy Coleman, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claude-Michel Schoenberg, Neil Simon, Hal Prince, Tommy Tune and Cameron Mackintosh. And performers such as Mary Martin, Betty Grable, Barbara Streisand, Katherine Hepburn, Elaine Stritch, Jennifer Holliday, Diana Rigg, Eartha Kitt, Patti Lupone, Glenn Close, Julie Andrews and Carol Burnett, just to name a few. [more]