Chicago Alive

by Kathleen Tobin

Ambitious ‘Funny Girl’ takes stage

The Fanny Brice of my youth is indelibly etched in my mind as “Baby Snooks,” a grown-up, rather awkward, plain-faced comedienne dressed in oversized baby clothes with a huge bow on her head.

She came to radio from the Ziegfield Follies in the heyday of such comedy shows as “Fibber McGee and Molly” and “Amos ’n’ Andy.” By 1944 she had become a national radio institution with her “The Baby Snooks Show.”

Most people know about Brice from the 1968 movie version of “Funny Girl,” the 1964 Broadway show with music by Jule Styne that was supposedly based on the life of Brice but is rarely performed today.

But now, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace is presenting “Funny Girl,” through March 7, a new, ambitious, but somewhat lackluster production, except for the dynamic Sara Sheperd belting her heart out in the role of Fanny.

The first time I saw the musical, I was a bit confused about the depiction of Brice’s life, even though I knew it concentrated on her early connections with the Ziegfield Follies where she got her start in show business.

There was good reason for my confusion, for this biographical adaptation has almost nothing to do with the facts of Brice’s life, though the characters are real and the Jule Styne songs are terrific—so who cares?

Barbra Streisand was the darling of the hour in the ’60s, and the show was conceived as a vehicle to showcase her considerable acting and vocal talents, as well as cashing in on her popularity.

Nicky Arnstein, Brice’s second husband (Paul Anthony Stewart), provides the dramatic and emotional love interest as the obsessive love of her life. A con man and racketeer, he was sentenced to Ft. Leavenworth for three years and upon release disappeared and was never heard from again.

The emotional center of the musical comes in the song “His Love Makes Me Beautiful” when Brice shows her personal vulnerability to Arnstein’s insistence that she is beautiful to him. This brassy comedienne with the loud voice and wacky facial contortions was just a little girl at heart who wanted to be loved unconditionally.

The show opens and closes with Brice in her Follies dressing room as she waits for Arnstein’s release from prison. She thinks back on her start in show business under the tutelage of Flo Ziegfield and her relationship with Arnstein.

For tickets, call (630) 530- 0111 or visit the Web site at ticketmaster.com.

South Side opera

Believe it or not, not one, but two new opera companies, the Greater Chicago Opera Guild (GCOG) and the South Shore Opera Company of Chicago (SSOC), are poised to bring professional, but homegrown and outreach organized classical and theater music to the South Side.

Both groups have grown out of the successful musical programs that have been a part of the outreach mission of Morgan Park Presbyterian Church, 110th Street and Longwood Drive, and are spearheaded by Fabienne Christian, of the GCOG, and Marvin Lynn, of the SSOC, professional soloists connected with the church’s Chancel Choir.

Among the special musical programs sponsored by the Chancel Choir are the annual Advent “Messiah,” going on its 10th year, an annual daylong jazz fest, and a spring sacred cantata such as Rutter’s “Requiem” that was repeated last year at St. Barnabas Roman Catholic Church.

The first important date to remember is Friday, Feb. 12, when the GCOG will present “Love Concert,” a Valentine fundraiser to be held at Niko’s Restaurant, 7600 S. Harlem Ave.

The entertainment will feature performances by some of the talented professionals involved in the new opera company, with a sitdown dinner and DJ to fill out the evening. Tickets are $35-$60 per couple at (708) 499-8005 or at fcchristian@ hotmail.com.

The proceeds will help underwrite the first GCOG fully staged opera program coming up in May in a local venue, featuring a double bill of “Pagliacci” and George Gershwin’s “Blue Monday.”

“Pagliacci,” Leoncavello’s heart-wrenching musical masterpiece of envious rage, is paired with an archival resurrection of “Blue Monday,” a 30-minute Gershwin opera that preceded and became overshadowed by “Porgy and Bess” and has never been performed in the Chicago area.

On Feb. 27, at 5:30 p.m., the SSOC, anchored by the Chicago Park District, will present its annual free “Salute to Black History Month” in the South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore Drive.

On Feb. 6, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., auditions will be held for the company’s upcoming June 26 concert at the South Shore Cultural Center featuring fully-staged scenes from “La Boheme,” “Le Nozza de Figaro” and “Susanna.” For information call (773) 341-6147 or e-mail marvinlynn@southshoreopera. org.

Both Christian and Lynn had visions of providing more opportunities for people of color and diverse ethnic heritage to perform the classical repertoire of opera and musical theater, but they differed on some fundamental mission issues and went their separate ways.

Perhaps music lovers will be the richer for the diversity.

This is part of the February 3, 2010 online edition of The Beverly Review.

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