What the is title of the 1964 musical biography of Vaudeville legend fanny brice?”
In 1964, Ray Stark had a problem. He wanted to produce a musical biography of Fanny Brice, but was married to Brice’s daughter. Frances Stark was so protective of her mother’s image that he had had to buy up the entire printing of an authorised, heavily censored biography because it stated, correctly, that Brice had shoplifted as a child. Brice’s adult life contained much more unsavoury material, and her criminal husband, Nick Arnstein, was still alive. With such potential for lawsuits and domestic strife, Stark contrived a simple but effective solution: he lied. Funny Girl, which will be revived next month at the Chichester Festival Theatre, was a smash on the stage as well as on screen, and, of course, made a star out of a kooky nightclub singer called Barbra Streisand. But, along with suppressing many of the facts of Brice’s life, Isobel Lennart’s book misrepresented her personality and style. The real Brice was an earthy, gutsy woman with a more anarchic spirit than the cool, self-
By popular demand, “Funny Girl,” the 1964 musical biography of Vaudeville legend Fanny Brice, will return to Music Circus for the first time in 18 years August 10-15. The celebrated musical comedy includes extravagant Ziegfeld-style production numbers as well as intimate songs like “People” as it follows Brice’s career from ugly duckling to headliner. Artistic Director Glenn Casale, who directed the 1992 Music Circus production starring Laurie Beechman, will direct the 2010 production. “Funny Girl” will star Vicki Lewis, best known for the sitcom NewsRadio, as Fanny Brice. It will also feature Brad Little as Nicky Arnstein, along with Alix Korey (Mrs. Brice), Helen Geller (Mrs. Strakosh), Michael Paternostro (Eddie Ryan), Ron Wisniski (Florenz Ziegfeld, Junior), and Jennie Scott (Mrs. Meeker).
