Book/Lyrics: Howard Ashman Music: Alan Menkin Director: Stephen Mear Reviewer: John Roberts Credit must be given to Storyhouse for taking the bold creative risk of putting this revival of Little Shop of Horrors into their deep thrust staging format. Not only for how much intimacy the space gives to this comic cult classic, but also how financially they could easily sell ...
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Book: Isobel Lennart, Revised by Harvey Fierstein Music: Julie Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: James Garrington Success in show business is said to be as much about being in the right place at the right time as it is with talent. The film version of Funny Girl, following a successful stage run, did much to promote Barbra Streisand’s ...
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Book: Isobel Lennart, Revised by Harvey Fierstein Music: Julie Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: Laura Jayne Bateman Opening in Boston in 1963, Funny Girl was initially panned by critics and failed to win a single Tony Award after transferring to Broadway. However, after a run of over 1,000 performances, the musical was immortalised on film in 1968, starring ...
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Book: Isobel Lennart, revised by Harvey Fierstein Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys It needs a glittering and glorious central performance to elevate the thin story of early Broadway star Fanny Brice to something spectacular, and that is precisely what Natasha J Barnes delivers in Michael Mayer's stunning revival of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's classic Funny ...
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Music, Lyrics & Book: Julie Styne, Bob Merrill & Isobel Lennart Revised Book: Harvey Fierstein Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: David Jobson What a history this show has. It was only last year that Funny Girl, starring Sheridan Smith, transferred from the Menier Chocolate Factory to the Savoy. A run that was met with setbacks but received heaps of praise, and gave Smith’s ...
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Book: Isobel Lennart, Revised by Harvey Fierstein Music: Julie Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: Selwyn Knight Fanny Brice was a phenomenon of the American stage in the early 20th Century. A natural comedienne and talented singer, she used her ‘funny face’ and ungainly movements to great effect, appearing in the Ziegfeld follies throughout the 1920s. Her personal life, ...
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Music: Julie Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: Isobel Lennart Revised Book: Harvey Fierstein Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: John Roberts Sheridan Smith is a performer who, over the past few years, has had her own demons to quash and battled regularly with press intrusion, so it is no surprise that she brings real weight and gravitas to the role of Fanny ...
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Music: Jule Styne Lyrics: Bob Merrill Book: Isobel Lennart, revised by Harvey Fierstein Director: Michael Mayer Reviewer: Maggie Constable The hugely talented comedienne and actor, Sheridan Smith, takes on the lead role in Funny Girl at Milton Keynes this week. She has been much awaited after rave reviews in the West End. Very few have taken on this role since Barbra Streisand ...
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