By André Hereford on June 29, 2024 @here4andre
Fanny Brice really was the greatest star, at least at the Ziegfeld Follies. The famously expressive singer-comedian headlined the premier Broadway theatrical revue for years in the 1910s, ’20s, and ’30s, then segued to radio stardom, motion pictures, and a hit-making recording career highlighted by signature songs “Second-Hand Rose” and “My Man.”
But Fanny appeared in only a few films of note, and folks don’t much listen to her music anymore. Her legacy as a performer has largely been supplanted by the popularity of Funny Girl, the musical that’s loosely based on her life and that the whole world associates with a different funny girl from New York City.
As someone who appreciates Fanny, especially her songs, I look to a new Funny Girl — like the touring production of Michael Mayer’s well-received, if rocky, recent Broadway run — to give me more than Barbra. I want to see a portrayal that also evokes Fanny’s talents and singular appeal, in service to Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s so singable score, and Isobel Lennart’s solid rags-to-riches love story.
Leading the tour, currently in its opening engagement at the Kennedy Center Opera House, Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice gave me what I wanted. Funny, quick, and blessed with powerhouse pipes, McCrimmon is a delight, capturing the verve and oddball confidence that were Brice’s bread and butter, while still creating her own unique Funny Girl.
In her “I’m the Greatest Star,” McCrimmon makes her voice heard, with impressive energy and sustained notes capping Fanny’s debut at Keeney’s vaudeville house. The performer also, on occasion, hits notes that sound like Streisand in a way that’s not displeasing.
Interestingly, to the ears of this former Glee watcher, McCrimmon’s voice never once reminded me of Lea Michele, who established herself as Fanny, replacing Beanie Feldstein in the show’s 2022-23 Broadway run that spawned this tour.
Based on the wigs and make-up, the casting department must have been glad to find someone who could look this much like Lea Michele, but McCrimmon’s Fanny feels like hers. She sings her own “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” And she flows beautifully singing “People,” though that’s the song where her performance, with seeming inevitability, most echoes Streisand’s classic version.
McCrimmon also creates a compelling romantic pair with dashing Stephen Mark Lukas as high roller Nicky Arnstein, Fanny’s lover-turned-husband. They have great timing with their dinner-night repartée — the revised script is by Harvey Fierstein — leading into “You Are Woman, I Am Man.”
Even in Nicky’s low moments, Lukas warmly embodies the charm of this debonair gambler in his top hat and tails, with manicured nails. Fanny can’t resist, and we can see why.
It’s not because he’s the greatest dancer, as Lukas demonstrates in the show’s somewhat discordant take on Nicky’s jazzy “Temporary Arrangement.” Although, the dancing in general is top-notch, with Ellenore Scott’s fun choreography crisply executed by an ensemble that makes all the dancing a pleasure.
Some numbers are saved by the dancing, like the strongly-tapped “Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat.” Izaiah Montaque Harris, playing Fanny’s longtime friend and collaborator Eddie, serves up several exciting solos of Ayodele Casel’s tap choreography.
The tapping registers more clearly than the lyrics at times, with some performers’ vocals muffled in the sound mix. The issue is most noticeable with the esteemed ladies portraying Fanny’s folks from her neighborhood — Mrs. Strakosh (Eileen T’Kaye, who’s fabulous), Mrs. Meeker (Cindy Chang), and Fanny’s saloon matron mother Mrs. Brice (Grammy winner Melissa Manchester).
That wisecracking trio contributes more to summoning the show’s early 20th-century atmosphere than David Zinn’s set, which summons more of a “Really, that’s it?” The array of digitally printed flats and backdrops picturing locations of 1900s New York, from theaters to train stations, suggest there might eventually be a big scenic reveal. No such luck.
The production’s fortune lies instead in its beloved music, Fanny and Nicky’s troubled love story, which feels heartbreakingly genuine in this telling, and, of course, in the show’s great star, McCrimmon, who, with more than a little courage, takes on a second-hand role with first-rate finesse.
Funny Girl (★★★☆☆) runs through July 14 at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Tickets are $49 to $189. Call 202-467-4600, or visit www.kennedy-center.org.
By Will O'Bryan on June 10, 2024
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Sometimes, art simply happens. Whistling a novel tune, doodling a flower, or jotting a cute haiku, for example. Portraits, a new production from the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington debuting at the Kennedy Center on June 16, is not that. It is so absolutely not that.
Portraits is a grand creation years in the making. How many? By one count, four, going back to 2020 when longtime GMCW singing member Bill Lipsett brought an idea, along with funding, to the chorus. By another count, Portraits has been slowly jelling for closer to 14 years.
By Randy Shulman on May 18, 2024 @RandyShulman
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"When Tupperware first started, it was a means to get women back into the workforce, after the war, where they had all been 'Rosie the Riveters,'" says Kris Andersson. "They were relegated back into the kitchen and told, 'You are not necessary anymore, you've outlived your usefulness.'"
Andersson, who has a unique bond with the airtight, plastic storage receptacles, says "Tupperware gave women an opportunity to get back out into the workforce, be bigger members of their family, bigger members of the community, and really grow and do things. That's why it caught on so fast and why it became so widespread. It was a real siren song for ladies. 'Look, you have more power than you think! Now, go do something amazing!'
By André Hereford on June 17, 2024 @here4andre
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A thunderous rumble of drums beckons us back in time to the beginning of the beat. Played with crisp precision by an ensemble outfitted in minimal tribal costumes, the drums are the heartbeat, the first notes of music and language framing the epic story of The Migration: Reflections on Jacob Lawrence.
Joined by an additional cast of singers and musicians, the performers of Step Afrika! beat their drums and, of course, leap, tap, pirouette, stomp their feet fabulously, and, in some cases, split-jump up to the ceiling. World-class ambassadors of stepping, the company -- celebrating its 30th anniversary -- employs an array of percussive dance styles to perform works based on artist Jacob Lawrence's landmark The Migration.
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