The production will conclude its Menier run March 5, 2016. It is then slated to transfer to the West End's Savoy Theatre, beginning performances April 9. It is directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer.
Funny Girl has music by Jule Styne, with lyrics by Bob Merrill. The book is by Isobel Lennart; it has been revised for this production by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, who wrote librettos for Kinky Boots, La Cage aux Folles, Newsies and other shows, and adapted the script for this week's U.S. TV special, The Wiz Live! The 1964 musical made a legend out of its original star, Barbra Streisand.
Joining Smith as Fanny Brice are Darius Campbell as Nick and Marilyn Cutts as Mrs Brice, with Valda Aviks (Mrs. O’Malley), Natasha J Barnes (Emma/Mrs Meeker), Maurice Lane (Mr. Keeney), Bruce Montague (Ziegfeld), Joel Montague (Eddie) and Gay Soper (Mrs. Strakosh).
Completing the ensemble are Emma Caffrey, Matthew Croke, Joelle Dyson, Rebecca Fennelly, Luke Fetherston, Leah Harris, Kelly Homewood, Sammy Kelly and Stuart Ramsay. Funny Girl has sets by Michael Pavelka, costumes by Matthew Wright, choreography by Lynne Page, lighting by Mark Henderson and sound by Richard Brooker. The musical supervisor is Alan Williams, with orchestrations by Chris Walker. This production is presented in association with Sonia Friedman Productions and Scott Landis.
The show tells the story of comedian Fanny Brice, who rose from the Lower East Side of New York to become one of Broadway's biggest stars under producer Florenz Ziegfeld. While she was cheered onstage as a great comic, offstage she faced a doomed relationship with the man she loved.
Smith previously appeared at the Menier in its 2006 revival of Little Shop of Horrors that subsequently transferred to the West End's Duke of York's. The production also subsequently toured (without Smith). She most recently appeared on stage in A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre. Other stage credits include Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), Flare Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Actress), Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre – Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), The People are Friendly (Royal Court) and Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse). TV credits include "Blackwork," "The C Word," "Cilla," "Mrs. Biggs" (BAFTA Best Actress), "Jonathan Creek," "Gavin & Stacey," "Larkrise to Candleford," "Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps" and "The Royale Family."
Darius Campbell, who plays Nick Arnstein, has appeared in the West End in Chicago, Guys and Dolls, Gone with the Wind and From Here to Eternity. As a recording artist, his first single "Colourblind" went to #1 in the UK singles chart.
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