Funny Girl

The Arizona Broadway Theatre opened its twelfth season with Funny Girl, and again they did a wonderful job. The sets were great, the costumes so numerous I can’t believe they were all made specifically for this show. The ladies had three or four dress changes apiece, and with six females in the ensemble plus Fanny, her mother, and three women from the neighborhood, that’s a minimum of thirty-three wardrobe switches, maybe even as many as forty. ABT has a new musical director and one or two musicians added to the pit band. Unlike any of the previous shows, they played an Overture and an Entr’Act. Hard to believe how rich the music is from only seven band members. Liz Fallon, who played Princess Fiona in the August ABT presentation of Shrek, was cast as Fanny Brice, and although she was no Barbra Streisand (Who Is?), she more than held her own, especially when she softened the tone on “People” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance.” Too often on some of the bigger numbers, she and the ensemble women got a bit screechy. The same was true in too much of the dialogue—too shrill and too fast. But the show-stopper, “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” stopped the show just as it did on Broadway. The choreography was also surprisingly good, with an extended tap piece to “Rat-a-Tat.” The dancers had to be pooped at the end of the number. All in all, Funny Girl was an excellent show in a long line of excellent shows put on at the Arizona Broadway Theatre, and each season seems to get better and better. Thank you, ABT, for giving us this nearby place to see Broadway musicals. And we don’t have to drive to the East Valley to Gammage Theatre. Nor fly to New York to see these shows. We’ve got Broadway right here in our backyard.