Nicole Parker Starring in Funny Girl at 3-D Theatricals

[TheatreFreak05]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 9:33pm

I can't believe I will not be in town to see this. She is absolutely perfect for this role. I hope anyone in L.A. area gets a chance to check it out.

Cast Announcement

[somethingwicked]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 10:27pm

Parker got down to the very end for Fanny in the Bartlett Sher FUNNY GIRL revival that never happened. I'd kill to see what she'd do with the role. I can't imagine she'll be anything less than stellar.

Updated On: 8/24/13 at 10:27 PM

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 10:59pm

Going on September 19th. For those living in SoCal Goldstar has this at 1/2 price w/fees and I've yet to have a bad seat there using Goldstar. Now the sound system at Plummer Auditorium is another thing with the orchestra usually drowning out the singers making it very hard to understand. Hopefully that won't happen when Nicole sings.

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 11:28pm

WickedFanatic, if you've been to the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center, is that any better than Plummer Auditorium?

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 8/23/13 at 11:40pm

No I haven't, but I know people that have seen plays there and they have a much better sound system so it's not a problem. Even with the weak sound system at Plummer they really do good musical productions. The last one I saw there "Parade" was much better than what I saw at the Mark Taper Forum. I'm looking forward to seeing all 4 of their 2014 productions which are all classic musicals http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhV0jZVbVFo

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 3:21am

The Redondo Beach PAC has a better sound system, but both theaters are great!

[chrisampm2]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 3:56am

Thanks for the input. Redondo Beach seems a bit closer to West Hollywood as well, so I'll get tickets for that engagement.

[TheatreFreak05]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 3:02pm

I was in 3-D's production of Parade and I heard many comments about the sound system at the Plummer. The echo can be overwhelming in some parts of the theatre, in other sections it's not a problem.

[OperaBwayLover]

Posted: 8/24/13 at 4:59pm

This sounds exciting. Hopefully someone here will get to go and share a review with us.

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 11:34pm

1st review by Don Grigware is a rave for Nicole.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Reviews-Smashing-FUNNY-GIRL-in-Fullerton-from-3D-Theatricals-20130909

Photos of opening night
https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/Photo-Coverage-3-D-Theatricals-FUNNY-GIRL-Opens-at-Plummer-Auditorium-20130909

Very excited to see it on September 19th!

[BewareTheUndertoad]

Posted: 9/10/13 at 3:32pm

I saw it this past weekend. Parker is GREAT! The old ladies are also great. Nicky Arnstein is gorgeous and charming. The ensemble isn't the strongest, the staging isn't the strongest and the majority of the costumes look CHEAP. The set is beautiful and the orchestra is great. Even if the sound design makes it all sound like a CD.

I've seen lots of shows at the Plummer and it's not the sound system that's the problem. It's the sound design that 3Dt uses. It makes everything sound prerecorded, with everything at the same level and coming from the same spot. It takes away the magic of live theatre.

But Parker alone is worth the ticket price!

[Wicked Fanatic]

Posted: 9/14/13 at 6:55pm

LA Times Review is a Critic's Choice...
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-funny-girl-3d-theatricals-20130910,0,4625158.story

Trailer here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4A75s9gTHo&feature=player_embedded

[Popular]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 9:50am

I'm seeing this today. Very excited! Will be my first time seeing the stage show :)

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 12:56pm

I'll be seeing the matinee today.

Looking forward to it.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 1:08pm

Venny!

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 6:07pm

I was able to catch this last weekend and Enjoyed it thoroughly- it's probably about as good a regional mounting as you will ever find with this musical-- with solid production values, smart direction, and wonderful performances from its central leads. I am thrilled that 3D Theatricals took the adventure of producing this in grand style and in the same breath think the producers of the planned Broadway revival were wise not to move forward on a ten million dollar staging of it. I mean they can't really have been planning on using that script, were they?

[N2N Nate.]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 6:12pm

How was Nicole?

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 6:18pm

There's the essential crux of the Funny Girl conundrum. The initial show was cut all to hell to be all Barbra, all the time, because the writers and producers immediately realized she had a phenomenal talent and huge audience appeal, and that she was better than the songs, the story or the book. As such, the show was tailored to show HER off, not to support the show.

When we think of Funny Girl today, it's not the story of Fanny Brice, or the three-dimensional characters. It's Barbra singing what are now essentially BarbraSongs, pardon the Brecht pun. You can't DO the original Funny Girl well anymore, for three reasons.

One, it's a terribly weak show, book wise.

Two, whether or not you revise it to be better structurally and book wise, because of its titanic reputation, you need a New Barbra of phenomenal talent to helm it.

Three, and most lethally, the world does not have, nor want, nor need, a new Barbra anymore.

Barbra, Bette and Bernadette (the three Queen B's, as my professor called them), were the cream of the crop in the dying breed of Professional Entertainers- talented media figures who were not precisely actors, or singers, or comedians, or anything else tangible, but who did it all to a certain extent, and who allowed themselves as interpreters of other people's work, not as singular and individualized talents. They also had a way with standards and the back end of the Great American Songbook, and thus inherited the torch (and the torch songs), not to mention the gay-culture appeal, of Judy Garland.

What place does an Entertainer have today? Songs are written by or for individual performers now, not as standards. Show music and standards music has little or nothing to do with popular culture. Variety shows where such Entertainers could strut their stuff are no longer common, if they exist at all. The cultural context that would allow a Barbra is gone, and with it, much of the need for shows like Funny Girl that exist as lightly-plotted star vehicles.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 6:39pm

Nicole was wonderful- she was touching and of course very funny. But as good a singer as she is- and she is a really solid belter- I can't say that she has the unique one of a kind vocal instrument that you would probably really need from an actress to justify doing this on Broadway again.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/28/13 at 9:23pm

If you have a unique one of a kind vocal instrument, you need someone to either write a new show for you or retool the book. Anyone who does Funny Girl as written has to not only play Fanny Brice but play Barbra in a Barbra concert.

[Popular]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 11:56am

I thought it was a very decent production! I give Nicole credit for taking on the role - she had a lot of very wonderful moments, especially with the comedic songs/situations. Are they planning to do anything more with the show or does it end today?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 9/29/13 at 2:10pm

It ends today.

Such a shame, because it really was a solid production. This is only the first production I've ever seen since the one I did back in college.

But I couldn't help but think the set they designed and built was also good for Gypsy, or Follies, or 42nd Street...

I mean, those panels on the restaurant scene were Asian inspired and not French at all. I was waiting for Fanny to scoop all over the silverware into her bag.

I really wish the productions numbers had more color. Everything was so bland and 'earth toned'. Great for the book scenes, but the show is a flash back and you really need the punch of color in the production numbers. More could have been done with the RAT A TAT TAT number.

And if I see that finale dress in one more 19020s show, I'm going to scream. I have seen the same dress in every color of the rainbow in countless productions.

Fanny's costumes looked cheap. Her Act I finale costume looked like she was going to tear it away and reveal something underneath. Her hem line was all I could stare at. Or the beaded fringe missing from half of her robe...

I'm not even going to talk about her dress for SADIE. The one in the liquid metallic fabric that is better suited to a disco...