Funny Girl Musical At PPAC

The first location of Funny Girl’s tour was at Providence Performing Arts Center, located right next to the Downcity Campus of Johnson and Wales Providence location. The show ran from September 9-16, 2023, and will next go to Grand Rapids, MI, at DeVos Hall from September 19-24, 2023. Currently, the tour's last scheduled location is Houston, TX, at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, with the last day being August 25, 2024.

The touring cast features Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice, Melissa Manchester as Mrs. Brice, and Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein. Some previous casts have included noteworthy and recognizable names, such as Barbra Streisand, the first to play Fanny Brice at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1964. The most recent big name to play Fanny Brice was Lea Michele, who is most known for playing Rachel Berry in Glee. Another name that most people might know is Jane Lynch, who played Mrs. Brice (Fanny Brice’s Mother) in the 2022 Broadway Revival of Funny Girl. 

The show is about a girl named Fanny Brice from the Lower East Side who started her career on stage at a young age. Everyone tells her she will never make it, but something funny happens: she makes it big. As someone who saw the musical while it was here in Providence, I can say it was well-casted and a great show overall.