Beanie Feldstein shares FIRST LOOK of herself as Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl revival

Beanie Feldstein took to her Instagram this week to share the very first photo of herself in costume for her cover of Funny Girl.

Funny Girl, which opened on Broadway in 1964, was a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand who won an Oscar for film adaptation.

The show is now enjoying its first Broadway revival with Beanie as the title role of legendary singer and actress Fanny Brice.

Funny Girl was a passionate project for its producer Ray Star who was married to Frances Arnstein, daughter of the late Fanny Brice.

The show featured a fictional tale of Fanny’s rise to fame in the 1910s and her marriage to Frances’ father, con artist Nicky Arnstein.

For her first Broadway show as a frontman, Barbra worked with composer Jule Styne, lyricist Bob Merrill, writer Isobel Lennart and director Garson Kanin.

She had previously been a star in the Broadway show I Can Get It For You Wholesale and had recorded a few albums, but it was Funny Girl that made her a superstar.

The score produced one of his longest lasting hits – People – which became the title track on his album that knocked the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night out of number one.

When the show debuted on Broadway, it became a smash hit and received an enthusiastic reception for its performance which she also took to London.

Barbra starred alongside Charlie Chaplin’s son Sydney – with whom she had an affair midway through her marriage to her first husband Elliott Gould.

Her castmates at the Winter Garden Theater for the original Broadway run also included Kay Medford who played Fanny’s mother.

The New York Times said the show “was sometimes overflowing with a thick dose of tacky sentimentality,” but praised the principal lady: “Since Fanny herself cannot be brought back, the best thing to do is blackmail Barbra Streisand and strut and go through comedic routines à la Brice.

Barbra and Kay reprized their roles for the film, which brought together old Hollywood stalwarts like director William Wyler and cinematographer Harry Stradling.

Her main man in the film was Omar Sharif, with whom she also had an affair – and with whom she sparked a scandal when a photo of one of their kisses staged for the film was made public in 1967. , the year of the Six Days. War between Egypt and Israel.

The film was the grossest of 1968, with Roger Ebert writing, “The problem with Funny Girl is almost everything but Barbra Streisand. She is magnificent.

Barbra won the Oscar for Best Actress, viewing her trophy on stage in a memorable way and repeating her iconic opening line from the film: “Hello, Gorgeous.”

Although the film led to a critical and savage sequel called Funny Lady in 1975, the show has never been relaunched on the Great White Way before.

A Broadway revival was attempted in 2011 with Lauren Ambrose as Fanny, but was ultimately dropped due to fundraising issues.

However, in 2015 and 2016 a London production with Sheridan Smith in the title role managed to become a runaway success.

The show went from a limited engagement at the Menier Chocolate Factory to a longer duration at the Savoy Theater which was later extended by popular demand.

Beanie’s new revival will see her playing alongside Ramin Karimloo who starred in the ill-fated sequel to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s phantom opera Love Never Dies.

Ramin, who has also starred in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera himself in the West End, will play Nicky.

Meanwhile, Jane Lynch, who gained national notoriety on the musical TV show Glee, will feature in the cast as Fanny’s mother.

The show will debut next April at the August Wilson Theater under the direction of Michael Mayer who won a Tony for the original Spring Awakening series.

Beanie already has Broadway experience under her belt, having played Minnie Faye in the movie Hello, Dolly! rebirth with Bette Midler.

Incidentally, it was Carol Channing in the original production of Hello, Dolly! who beat Barbra to a Tony for Funny Girl – only for Barbra to get revenge half a decade later by landing the role of Dolly in the film adaptation.