Funny Girl: revival not coming to Broadway

Funny Girl, which was recently announced to open at Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012 following an engagement at Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, has been cancelled.

Speaking on behalf of the Funny Girl producing team, Bob Boyett said "We have made the extremely difficult decision today to postpone our production of Funny Girl. Given the current economic climate, many Broadway producing investors have found it impossible to maintain their standard level of financial commitment. Our desire to produce Funny Girl on the scale it deserves required a capitalization of $12 million making it one of the most expensive revivals in Broadway history."

Boyett continued, "I am deeply saddened by this decision, but I, along with the finest group of co-producers I have ever had the pleasure to work with, Sonia Friedman, Jean Doumanian, Stacey Mindich and Tim Levy, determined that this was not the right time to bring Funny Girl to the stage."

Funny Girl was to have been directed by Bartlett Sher, and star two-time Emmy Award nominee Lauren Ambrose as 'Fanny Brice' and two-time Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Bobby Cannavale as 'Nick Arnstein.'

The musical was scheduled to have a pre-Broadway engagement at the Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from 15 Jan - 26 Feb 2012 - which has also been cancelled.

If the production had gone ahead it would have been the first Broadway revival of Funny Girl since the original 1964 premiere.

Funny Girl, which features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart, will be directed by Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher.

The musical tells the road-to-stardom story of legendary entertainer 'Fanny Brice,' from her start in a Brooklyn music hall to her meteoric rise as a headliner in the Ziegfeld Follies. While her career soars, she falls in love with charming gambler 'Nick Arnstein,' just as his own lucky streak is running out.

Funny Girl originally opened on Broadway on 26 Mar 1964 at the Winter Garden Theatre and played for 1,348 performances. The show was directed by Garson Kanin, and starred Barbra Streisand as 'Fanny Brice' and Sydney Chaplin as 'Nick Arnstein.' The production was nominated for eight Tony Awards.

The musical was a hit on national tour and in London and was adapted to the screen for the popular 1968 movie version, but has not played Broadway since the original production closed in 1967.