October 18, 2015
The SuburbanBy Mike Cohen
October 18, 2015
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When the Segal Centre announced that it would kick off its 2015-2016 season with its own rendition of the classic Broadway hit Funny Girl, high hopes were attached to this effort. After attending the premiere before an enthusiastic packed house I can safely say they have an absolute masterpiece on their hands. The run has already been extended a week, to November 8.
While there is a lot of credit to go around, lead actress Gabi Epstein is nothing less than spectacular in the role of Fanny Brice. The McGill grad represents the complete package. She can sing, dance and act. This is not an easy role to play and she is on stage for every number. As I left the performance, everyone agreed that she made this show shine along with a pretty impressive supporting cast.
The storyline of Funny Girl revolves around Brice, a young Jew from turn-of-the-century New York who despite her unglamorous appearance dreams of becoming a Broadway star. When she loses her chorus line job at Keeney's Oriental Palace, she lies to enter a roller skating number. Slipping and sliding, she becomes a comedy hit and winds up a star for the famous Ziegfeld Follies and eventually lands in Hollywood. Funny Girl was first a stage production in 1964, followed by a 1968 film which propelled Barbra Streisand to instant stardom.
The show opens with Brice sitting in her dressing room backstage at the New Amsterdam Theatre contemplating the bumpy road that led her to her Follies fame. It is all cleverly done, making excellent use of the Segal Centre stage. We then go into flashback mode.
Epstein channels her inner-Streisand throughout the show. She nails the funny scenes, belts out some fantastic songs and shows that she was indeed born to play this role. As she told me in an interview a few weeks back, she has been a fan of Fanny Brice for some time and got to play her during a tour of senior homes in Montreal and at a one-night only tribute to Jewish vaudevillians in her native Toronto. She auditioned for the Segal Centre production almost 18 months ago and was confirmed for her part a year ago. That left plenty of time to prepare and she clearly did everything right.
In a Segal Centre blog, Director Peter Hinton was asked about possibly disappointing people who have the movie in mind? “No,” he said. "I’m confident in our own vision of it. What I hope is that people go, ‘Oh, I never saw that story that way.’ Because it just appears on the surface like a very high-strung romantic melodrama, and on one level it is that. But it’s one with really strong psychological underpinnings. We identify with Fanny because she’s not beautiful, because she’s not perfect, because she doesn’t get everything. She humanizes a heroic position. And you can project yourself onto her very easily.”
Featuring production numbers such as “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” the 18-member cast is composed of Corrine Koslo, John Ullyatt, Lorne Kennedy, Kyle Golemba. Eric Abel, Jenni Burke, Michael Challenger, Nicko Giannakos, Alexia Gourd, Will Lamond, Danette MacKay, Adele MacKenzie, George Masswohl, Kathleen McAuliffe, Felicia Shulman, Amanda Struthman and the multi-talented Chris Barillaro. During intermission I spoke with Jesse Prupas, the senior vice-president of event sponsor Muse Entertainment. “So many of these performers have been in Muse productions,” he said.
Perhaps Epstein will one day find her way into a movie produced by Muse?
There were a number of cast members besides Epstein who stood out. As Florenz Ziegfeld, veteran Canadian stage actor Kennedy shows us why he has appeared in more than 100 shows over the last 40 years. This is actually his Montreal debut, yet when you hear his golden speaking voice you’ll swear you heard it somewhere before.
Ullyatt, a native Montrealer who now resides in Edmonton, plays Brice’s bad boy husband Nicky Arnstein and is involved in some pretty pivotal scenes. Corinne Koslo, another stage vet, delights us as Fanny’s mom. For me, it is always great to see the uber-talented Barillaro on stage and he stands out, even in the ensemble. Ditto for Michael Challenger, whom I interviewed last summer but never saw perform before. Shulman is probably best recognized these days for a Lotto commercial in which she plays a waitress getting married to a customer who promised to walk her down the aisle if he won. She is a staple on the local stage scene.
The backdrop on the stage is a life size photo of the real Brice. There are some excellent costumes, particularly in the Rat-tat-tat-tat scenes.
We should be grateful to the Segal Centre for continuing to bring us classy musicals. Last year’s lineup included Les Belles Soeurs the Musical, Forever Plaid and Duddy Kravitz. We do not have a lot of options for these kind of shows, so take advantage of it.
Tickets for Funny Girl, sponsored by Delmar International, range in price from $32 to $64, with performances through Nov 8 at the Segal Centre (5170 Cote St. Catherine Road). There are matinees Oct. 18, 21, 24, 28 and Nov.1. For more information log on to www.segalcentre.org or call 514-739-7944.