I'm going to be in Funny Girl!

Wow, I'd forgotten about this post. BTW: I've changed my username since posting it; I am the same person, though.

Well...since I was a freshman at the time we did it, I enjoyed every minute of it. Two years later, I look back and squirm. Our "Fanny" was really good, but she was so nervous during our dress rehearsal that she kept flubbing up. Our director got so pissed that he had her understudy go on opening night. Sadly, her understudy did a much better job and received great rounds of applause, while our principal "Fanny" got polite applause. It was one of those instances where the audition was awesome, but the final result...not so much.

Our set, however, was flawless. We had a 22" platform put on the stage to hide a turntable we installed for scene changes and dance numbers. The turntable was a nod to Ziegfeld's use of turntables in his real productions. The settings were very minimalistic. A chair, table, and door against a lighted cyclorama were the norm for some interior scenes (though minimalistic in their use, the furniture pieces were very detailed and intricate). In the first scene, Fanny crossed to center, went through the door, and walked off right. As she exited, the turntable spun around, taking us inside her dressing room. The door was now the door to her room. She entere the room and sat at her table and mirror. The set then spun a little more (lighting allowed the door to be removed, unseen) and the back of the table and mirror now faced the audience. The mirror was rigged so that she could turn a small knob and it would drop down into the table, allowing the audience to see her face. Even though the performances were not the best my school has done (and we are known in our region as the school to beat) our set was definately a highlight.

My "major" (in relation to my other characters) characters were Heckie (a cabbie) and Mr. Renaldi (a theatrical agent). Heckie is outside Keeney's when Fanny leaves. He tells her he decided to wait for her since he figured she's be out of there pretty quickly. Heckie and two nearby workmen (who saw Fanny go in) sing:

HECKIE:
If a girl ain't perfection

WORKMAN #1:
Better take up a collection

HECKIE:
Every girl must be a dazzler and a beaut

HECKIE AND TWO WORKMEN:
You've got very nice deportment
But when you've got that assortment
From the gall'ry they'll be throwing fruit

Their part is not recorded on the Original Cast Recording, but they are the first to sing the multiple If a girl isn't pretty lines (after Eddie sings on the OBC). They can also be heard singing: She should get a job / Go get a job / Get any job.

Mr. Renaldi appears in act two. He is talking to Nick about becoming partners. Nick is suspicious because Renaldi doesn't want any money, nor does he want Fanny as a client. Fanny enters and, as far as we can tell, meets Mr. Renaldi for the first time. Nick soon figures out (with help from Fanny confessing) that Fanny has already paid Mr. Renaldi to give Nick this job. Nick makes Mr. Renaldi leave the house. This incident is what pushes Nick to start the illegal business that lands him in jail. So you see, my character is relatively important to the plot. While this character is not in the movie, there is a similar scene with another character.

Well, to make a long story short, it was fun, hard, and educating, but I will never suggest this for a high school to do again. The material bores most of the high schoolers in the audience (who are only there to cheer on their friends, anyway) and the score is anything but right for high school voices to tackle (both of the actreses who played Fanny sang it well enough for the audience to like it, but this is a high school theatre audience. They don't come in expecting much, anyway, regardless of a school's reputation). I do, however, applaud our director for taking on the challenge of doing a high school production of this show, especially since we were the first high school in our county (and, I believe, the whole state of Georgia) to do Funny Girl. I still think it's a marvelous show, and I firmly believe that it is long overdue for a major revival. I would love to do the show again (perhaps in that revival I'm dreaming of) and I do cherish the memory of it being my first high school show.


NOTE: Nobody even bother asking for a copy of the libretto. The librettos given to us contained only our character's lines and lyrics. Nobody I know except for the girl who played Fanny and our director has the full libbretto, and it's illegal to copy them anyway.

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S.D.G.
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