SSO to present Funny Girl – The Musical in Concert in 2018

SSO Funny GirlThe bright lights of Broadway will shine on the Sydney Opera House next July as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra presents the hit Broadway musical Funny Girl in Concert for three performances only.

With the film celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018, this special concert production will be directed by three-time Helpmann Award winner Mitchell Butel (director of the Sydney Theatre Award-winning Violet and SSO’s Porgy and Bess) and will feature nine of Australia’s favourite leading ladies, who each night, will share the role of Fanny Brice on stage.

The star-studded Fanny Brice line-up includes:

Michala Banas – McLeod’s DaughtersWinners & LosersUpper Middle Bogan and 2010 winner of the Helpmann Award for Best Lead Female in a Musical for Avenue Q

Casey Donovan – The Sapphires, We Will Rock You, Flowerchildren – The Mamas & the Papas Story

Virginia Gay – Calamity JaneVivid WhiteWinner and LosersAll Saints

Verity Hunt-Ballard – Winner of the 2011 Helpmann and Green Room Award for her role in Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins and 2014 Helpmann Award winner for Sweet Charity

Dami Im – ARIA #1 and platinum selling artist, 2013 winner of X Factor, Australian representative at the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.

Zahra Newman – Best New Talent 2017 AACTA Awards, The Drowsy Chaperone, As You Like It

Caroline O’Connor – Anastasia the Musical on Broadway, Anything Goes, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and Green Room Award winner for her role in The Production Company’s Funny Girl (2016)

Queenie van de Zandt – King Kong the MusicalSmoke & MirrorsThe Boy from Oz

Megan Washington – Two-time ARIA Award winner and multi-platinum album selling artist

The show will also star Trevor Ashley (Hairspray, Les Misérables), Nancye Hayes (Sweet Charity, My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music) as Mrs Brice, and Don Hany (Ali’s Wedding, Offspring, East West 101) as Nick Arnstein. Further cast details to be announced.

Funny Girl, which starred Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice in both the original stage and film versions, features the beloved songs including People, I’m the Greatest StarDon’t Rain on My Parade and The Music That Makes Me Dance.

A triumphant story of starry success and a bittersweet story of love, Jule Styne and Bob Merrill’s Funny Girl is a musical theatre classic celebrating the exuberant and elegant flavour of Broadway in the 1910s and 20s and the comic genius of Fanny Brice.

Director: Mitchell Butel Musical Director: Vanessa Scammell Choreography: Amy Campbell Lighting Design: Max Wilkie

Funny Girl – The Musical in Concert
Concert Hall – Sydney Opera House, Bennelong Point
Performances: 12 – 14 July 2018
Information and Bookings: www.sydneysymphony.com (tickets on sale 8 December)

Image: Funny Girl (supplied)