Review: Shaw Festival's FUNNY GIRL Navigates Legacy of Barbra Streisand

When FUNNY GIRL opened on Broadway it was a smash hit in 1964 and would jettison the career of Barbra Streisand. It became a staple on repertory companies, regional and community theatres and summer stock. But the looming memory of Streisand's iconic performance  on stage and then on screen seemed to have destined the show to be unproduceable without a genuine triple threat actress who could sing, act, AND be a comedian par excellence. It took almost 60 years for a Broadway revival to occur, and poor Beanie Feldstein was not up to the leading lady task, being replaced with the much more appropriate star Lea Michele. Once again, the tale of  Fanny Brice had resurfaced and the often comedic, often dark musical comedy has been re-introduced to audiences who can look at the piece without Streisand's interpretation burned into our memory.

_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/toronto/article/Review-FUNNY-GIRL-at-Shaw-Festival-20260601)._