 Reviews
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A spirited effort and a sassy
Fanny carry 'Funny Girl'
By Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herlad-Tribune
Randazzo is ‘Funny Girl’
By Kim Cool, Venice Gondolier
Randazzo shines in Apple's 'Funny Girl'
By Eric Delp, Bradenton Herald
The Golden Apple’s Funny Girl gives actress Catherine Randazzo a star turn.
By Kay Kipling, Sarasota Magazine
A spirited effort and a sassy Fanny carry 'Funny Girl'
By Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herlad-Tribune
Catherine Randazzo may not be the greatest star, but she frequently makes a convincing argument to the contrary in a spirited production of "Funny Girl" at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre.
Randazzo brings a lot of sass and verve, and her own bright personality to the role of Fanny Brice, a woman who used humor and an oversized personality to become a multimedia star in the early 20th century after overcoming a lifetime of being told she was not pretty enough.
Though she is less convincing in the show's opening scenes, depicting Fanny on the cusp of womanhood, Randazzo quickly grows into the role. She appears fully connected by the time Fanny becomes a sensation in the Ziegfeld Follies by putting a comedic spin on the showgirl number "His Love Makes Me Beautiful" by making fun of her appearance.
Suddenly her voice and sense of humor combine to reveal the talent that made Brice a star.
And the connection only builds. Early in the second act at Thursday's opening, Fanny and her new husband, Nick Arnstein, are walking around their new palatial home when the lights awkwardly dimmed. Without missing a beat, Randazzo tossed in a suggestion that Nick be sure to pay the electric bill.
It may be tough to play a role so closely associated with Barbra Streisand, but Randazzo does not copy. She gives it her own style in the production staged by Robert Ennis Turoff.
Randazzo is nicely paired with Christopher Swan as Nick, the dashing gambler who makes her realize there is more to life than being on stage. Despite an awkward toupee, Swan cuts the right image and lends a touch of sophistication to his role, which only adds to the drama and humor.
Roberta MacDonald, as Mrs. Brice, gives you a good sense of where Fanny got her gumption, and Kyle Ennis Turoff wins lots of laughs as the neighborhood busybody Mrs. Strakosh.
Dewayne Barrett provides a calming influence (and some vibrant dance steps) as Fanny's longtime friend and dance teacher Eddie Ryan. He leads a couple of lively routines choreographed by Jim Hoskins, highlighted by the tap dance routine to the comical "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat." And it is nice to see Ian Sullivan back on stage as Ziegfeld.
Dee Richards' costumes provide lots of glitter for the showgirls and a sense of glamour for Fanny. Michael Newton-Brown's set works efficiently to a degree, with set pieces pushed out from behind a curtain for brief scenes and then quickly tucked away, but you can too easily see the effort in moving things into place.
Though his orchestra is small, musical director John Visser creates some bright sounds with Jule Styne's score and provides the right level of musical support for the brassy comical moments and tender numbers.
And Randazzo will keep you smiling and often laughing along with her take on "Funny Girl."
Randazzo is ‘Funny Girl’
By Kim Cool, Venice Gondolier
The Ziegfeld Follies era lives again at the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre in Sarasota where “Funny Girl,” will play through May 11.
Randazzo, as Fanny Brice, the role made famous by Barbra Streisand on Broadway and in film, is not Streisand. She’s Randazzo and she is 100 percent wonderful.
Randazzo’s voice, delivery and manner are hers alone and so good there is no need for comparison. Streisand made the role hers on Broadway and in the film. At the Apple Randazzo is Brice all the way.
Assembled an directed by Robert Ennis Turoff, the entire cast, with its depth of talent, is the perfect complement to Randazzo.
Apple regular Ian Sullivan plays Ziegfeld with all the personality and energy for which the famed producer was known. Chris Swan was am equally fine choice for the role of Brice’s husband, gambler Nick Arnstein.
Roberta MacDonald chalks up another fine performance, this time as Mrs. Brice — part Jewish mother, part stage mother but always a proud and loving mother. MacDonald’s real-life daughter, Kyle Ennis Turoff, a talented character actress in her own right, was a delight as nosy neighbor, Mrs. Strakosh.
The multi-talented cast members sometimes portrayed multiple roles but always kept the show’s energy level up on the penthouse level, resulting in spectacular show-stopping numbers such as the Cornet Man, His Love Makes Me Beautiful and Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat. The latter number even had a baton twirler par excellence, except the baton was a rifle. The wedding number featured Brice as the bride and the showgirls in stunning dresses and plumed headgear as fine as anything in the Follies. The feathered wonders were the work of Ray Pepper, owner of the Jon Carl Salon and Spa in Sarasota.
Choreographer Jim Hoskins, with singers and dancers Dewayne Barrett, Charles Mckenzie, Berry Ayers, Rose O’Hara, Samantha Barrett, Kari Constantine, Garie Jean Williams and Eric Berkel filled the stage with numbers as stunning as Ziegfeld would have produced.
Musical direction by John Visser and costumes by Dee Richards were the frosting on a very tasty cake.
The Apple’s “Funny Girl” is a winner, ranking right up there with “Chicago,” so good in an earlier season that “Chicago” will be back again, opening May 13.
The theater is at 25 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. For information about meals and showtimes, or to make reservations, call the box office at 941-366-5454.
Randazzo shines in Apple's 'Funny Girl'
By Eric Delp, Bradenton Herald
As goes Catherine Randazzo, so goes "Funny Girl," the semi-biographical musical about Broadway legend Fanny Brice. The show is currently being produced by the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre under the direction of Robert Ennis Turoff, with Randazzo in the lead role. It features a classic Broadway score and some quirky humor, but the real story of the show is Brice, and Randazzo does a tremendous job.
The plot is simple enough. It's actually sort of formulaic, but it tosses so many formulas together that it succeeds in keeping you on your toes. First, there's the underdog-makes-good story, in which Fannie Brice overcomes her (supposedly) unemployable physical appearance to become a singing sensation. Then, there's the classic rise-to-power story, as Brice joins the Ziegfeld Follies and becomes a huge star. Meanwhile, there's the classic love story, as we see Brice and Nick Arnstein (Chris Swan) fall in love.
But just when you think you've got a handle on the show, it pulls the rug out from under you. Suddenly, you're watching a play about Nick Arnstein's inadequacies about being married to a powerful woman. By the end, you don't know what to think: is it going to be love-conquers-all or doomed romance, or is the show still about Fannie's career?
It's hard to tell, but that's not really the point. The point is Randazzo. She's the story far more than the plot is. See, "Funny Girl" is all about Fannie Brice. It's a celebration of a personality (though highly fictionalized), and thus it's mainly about letting Brice do her thing. The show is going to be exactly as entertaining as the actress you get to play the lead.
Fortunately, Randazzo is perfect. I'm not sure I would have been friends with Randazzo's Brice, but as a character in a play she's great - flippant, amusing in a clever-but-corny sort of way, slightly obnoxious, but also with an air about her of triumphant optimism. The classic song, "Don't Rain on My Parade," is a pretty good summation of Brice's personality: nothing's going to get in her way or bring her down. I guess if you throw in the incessant wit, that pretty much sums her up.
Randazzo is a joy to watch. There are times when the plot seems a bit boring or contrived, but Randazzo is always on the scene with a song or a joke to lighten things up. A significant portion of the show involves Fanny either being less serious than everyone around her or singing a song. Randazzo plays the casually-clever bit really well; she's funny and a top-notch entertainer. Her voice is great, and she knocks it out of the park on every song she does. Along with "Cornet Man," "Sadie, Sadie," and "People," the aforementioned "Parade" is a winner (the latter two songs were huge hits for Barbra Streisand, who originally created the role of Brice).
This is not to say that the supporting cast isn't good. They're fine, but they're overwhelmed by Randazzo. That's not a bad thing; it's just the nature of the show. But Swan as Arnstein is very good. He's actually my favorite character, I think, and bizarre as it is, I really liked the digression in the second act where the show focuses on his feelings of inadequacy about Fannie's success. Some of the stuff in there (Arnstein getting desperate enough to do something illegal or Brice feeling like she has to change somehow in order to be a better wife) didn't feel fully earned, emotionally, but I still liked the idea of taking a moment out from Fannie's success to focus on what that success means for the people who are close to her.
Roberta MacDonald is great as Fannie's mother, and the cast is rounded out by a strong ensemble of supporting characters. The sets by Michael Newton-Brown and costumes by Dee Richards were nice. There are a couple numbers that are presented as performances by the Follies, where Brice stars in a Ziegfeld production, and as nice as the sets and costumes and dancing are, it kind of makes you wonder how mind-blowingly extravagant an actually Ziegfeld production might be.
But in the end, the show really rises and falls with the performance of Randazzo, and fortunately there are a lot more hills than valleys. She does a great job with the role, and she makes The Golden Apple's "Funny Girl" a treat to watch.
If you go
What: "Funny Girl"
Where: The Golden Apple Dinner Theatre, 25 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota
When: Various times through May 11
Tickets: $33-$45
Box office: 366-5454
The Golden Apple’s Funny Girl gives actress Catherine Randazzo a star turn.
By Kay Kipling, Sarasota Magazine
When it comes to musical bios, Funny Girl, both on Broadway and on the silver screen, may have been a bigger hit than it deserved to be. That’s not just because this retelling of entertainer Fanny Brice’s life often played fast and loose with the facts (such show biz stories often do) but because the structure of Isobel Lennart’s book doesn’t really give any of the characters besides Fanny much development or all that much to do; they all just revolve in her orbit.
Needless to say, that didn’t seem such a problem when Barbra Streisand played Fanny, and, to her credit, it’s not a fatal flaw when Catherine Randazzo is playing her, as she does in the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre’s current production. Randazzo has lots of verve, and both a singing and acting style that are good for Fanny without being too similar to Streisand’s. Her voice may not dominate a song like I’m the Greatest Star as much as a Streisand performance, but she still has impact, and we root for her.
It’s also fun to watch Fanny’s poker-playing mom and her buddies back in Brooklyn, especially Kyle Ennis Turoff, playing older as Mrs. Strakosh. Randazzo and Chris Swan (as her gambler husband, Nick Arnstein) have a nice rapport together, although Swan’s toupee is a distraction at first. And when it comes to 1920s-style production numbers, Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat is a lively and well-executed one.
There are times when we miss having a bigger orchestra to back the performers, and this Funny Girl doesn’t offer any especially thrilling moments. But it’s pleasant enough, thanks in large part to Randazzo.
Funny Girl continues at the Golden Apple through May 11; for tickets call 366-5454 or go to thegoldenapple.com.
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