Milwaukee’s newest theater company, Bombshell Theater Co., makes an impressive debut with the 1960s musical Funny Girl. The polished production shows a lot of heart and looks amazing, with a seemingly limitless supply of costumes and wigs for its 17 cast members.
A bit of background: Funny Girl is the autobiographical tale of real-life vaudeville star Fanny Brice. It will always be known as the Broadway musical that made singer/director/producer Barbra Streisand a star. Streisand also won an Academy Award for her repeat performance in the 1968 film.
Like Fanny Brice, Streisand was an outsize talent but also an awkward young girl who didn’t fit into preconceived notions of what star power should look like. Neither beautiful nor graceful, Streisand identified strongly with Brice, a Jewish girl of average looks who never took “no” for an answer. Through sheer moxie, Brice climbed to the heights of vaudeville stardom, and eventually starred on Broadway and in early films.
Even folks who have never heard of Funny Girl may well be familiar with its two song standards: “People,” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” The other songs are tuneful enough, and all of them hold an audience’s attention – especially in Sunset Playhouse’s intimate theater. That’s thanks to the songwriting talents of Jule Styne (Gypsy, Peter Pan) and Bob Merrill (Carnival!, Breakfast at Tiffany’s).
On the national theater scene, Funny Girl is in rehearsals for a Broadway revival in mid-April. The show will star Beanie Feldstein, and noted performer Harvey Fierstein is making changes to the book.
So it’s all the more timely that Funny Girl makes its first Milwaukee appearance in about 40 years. It’s clear that Bombshell’s producing director and co-founder Tim Albrechtson and co-founder and director Eric Welsh know their way around musicals. This production is an eyeful to see and a pleasure to hear from beginning to end. The show’s pacing, choreography (by SaraLynn Evenson) and direction are well-suited to this traditional Broadway musical. The unending parade of costumes is also outstanding.
It should be noted that both aforementioned co-founders appear in the show as well: Albrechtson as Eddie Ryan, Fanny’s lifelong friend/dance teacher; and Welsh as Fanny’s love interest/husband Nick Arnstein.
Beginning theater companies with small budgets have to cut corners, of course. This production features a canned orchestral score, minimal sets (by Katie Meylink) and limited stage lighting (lighting and sound by Chris Meissner). Most of the locales are projections that appear against a large screen in the rear of the stage.
It’s also unfortunate that they didn’t put a microphone on lead performer Bryanna VanCaster. VanCaster moves brilliantly throughout the production, singing her heart out and showing her character’s comic appeal at every opportunity. However, this is an exceptionally demanding role – especially vocally – and miking her would have been helpful. VanCaster knows how to belt out a song, that’s for sure. But some of her lines and lyrics could have been heard more clearly with electronic assistance.
These quibbles aside, VanCaster is everything one would want in a Fanny Brice. When it’s time for her character to sing, “I’m the Greatest Star,” no one in the audience needs convincing. She is a fresh, young talent who (hopefully) will be showcased soon in other Milwaukee theater productions.
The show’s supporting cast is no slouch, either. As Fanny’s Jewish-Hungarian mother, Marcee Doherty-Elst is terrific, especially when she joins several other middle-age neighborhood ladies for poker games. The three women (including Jennifer Larsen and Antoinette Stikl) add authenticity and great deal of humor to the show. In particular, the women sparkle during ”If a Girl Isn’t Pretty” and the Act II opener, “Sadie, Sadie (Married Lady).”
Other memorable appearances include Corey Richards as Tom Keeney (the vaudeville presenter who gave Fanny her start), Glenn Villa as the legendary impresario Flo Ziegfeld (of the “Ziegfeld Follies”), and the company’s co-founders as Nick Arnstein and Eddie Ryan. Madison Nowak, Anne Mollerskov and Rae Pare also impress in several minor roles.
Bombshell Theater is off to an excellent start, and one hopes for equally fine work in its upcoming series of musicals later this year.
