All tagged Barbra Streisand
It is no secret that Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper have stormed the cinema box offices with the remake of the oft-filmed story A Star Is Born. This is the fourth time that the story of a fading performer and his relationship with an up-and-coming talent has been depicted on the big screen. With all the hoopla around its latest incarnation, I thought it would be interesting to look back on the three prior versions of the film.
The announcement that Bette Midler will star in a Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly! acts on me like a much-needed tonic where musical theatre is concerned. After a recent blog entry bemoaning the loss of honest to goodness old-fashioned musical comedy, what better way to usher back in the feel-good melody infused musical comedy than with a production of this Jerry Herman classic with the Divine Miss M's name over the title?
Whether we want to admit it or not, the holidays are here. Since tickets to Hamilton seem like an unlikely present this Christmas or Hanukkah (unless you bought them six months ago or don’t mind waiting until 2020 to see it), the Broadway musical enthusiast will have to look elsewhere for gift ideas to put on their wish list. Fortunately, there are a great many wonderful and unique options guaranteed to make every musical theatre fan a happy camper this holiday season.
Funny Girl is a musical that has yet to be revived on Broadway despite having a superior score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill and a fairly faithful film version that has an enormous following. The trick to reviving Funny Girl is finding the right actress to play Fanny Brice, the titular character who has to be over the top funny, quietly sentimental, somewhat gawky, and possessing of a powerful, but nuanced voice. Barbra Streisand was a "Rose of sheer perfection" in both the stage and in the film version. So amazing, in fact, that the specter of her indelible characterization looms over any proposed revival, becoming the “freckle on the complexion” of the piece.
