{"id":163504,"date":"2022-12-20T19:53:03","date_gmt":"2022-12-20T19:53:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/funny-girl-with-lea-michele-breaks-a-broadway-box-office-record\/"},"modified":"2022-12-20T19:53:03","modified_gmt":"2022-12-20T19:53:03","slug":"funny-girl-with-lea-michele-breaks-a-broadway-box-office-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/funny-girl-with-lea-michele-breaks-a-broadway-box-office-record\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Funny Girl’ With Lea Michele Breaks a Broadway Box Office Record"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tLea Michele is officially the greatest star. \u201cFunny Girl,\u201d the once-struggling musical revival, has been selling strong and broke the all-time box office record at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre.<\/p>\n

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\tThe revival collected $2.005 million over eight performances during the week ending on Dec. 18, setting a benchmark for the highest gross at the August Wilson Theater and for the production. Prior to \u201cFunny Girl,\u201d the stage version of \u201cMean Girls\u201d held the house record with $1.994 million in 2018.<\/p>\n

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\tThe box office success of \u201cFunny Girl\u201d is also notable because it’s been a tough time for Broadway as tourism remains down from pre-pandemic levels. Several musicals and plays, including \u201cAlmost Famous,\u201d \u201cKPOP\u201d and \u201cA Strange Loop,\u201d have closed alarmingly soon due to low ticket sales.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cFunny Girl\u201d almost a similar fate when the show opened in April with Beanie Feldstein playing the lead role of Fanny Brice. But she and Jane Lynch, who was replaced by Tovah Feldshuh as Fanny’s mother, departed the production in August after the production was plagued with poor reviews and lackluster turnout.<\/p>\n

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\tSince Michele’s casting in September, the box office fortunes for \u201cFunny Girl\u201d have been on the upswing. The August Wilson Theater has been well-stocked at nearly 98% to 99% capacity each night. It’s a vast improvement from summer, when the venue was filled to roughly 74% capacity. That was problematic because a costly show like \u201cFunny Girl\u201d needs to have a full house to turn a weekly profit. The show hasn’t entirely climbed out of the red and recovered financially from its early days, but the musical is expected to remain a big draw over the busy holiday season.<\/p>\n

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\t\u201cFunny Girl\u201d follows Brice on her improbable rise to fame and her stormy relationship with gambler Nicky Arnstein. Along with Michele and Feldshuh, the current company includes Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein and Jared Grimes as Eddie Ryan. In a unique arrangement, Julie Benko performs the role of Fanny Brice every Thursday.<\/p>\n

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\tThe musical debuted on Broadway in 1964, starring Barbra Streisand as Brice, and received several Tony nominations. The revival marks the first time \u201cFunny Girl\u201d has returned to the Great White Way in 58 years.<\/p>\n

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\tMichele certainly had tough shoes to fill, but critics have favorably compared her performance to Streisand’s. Of Variety’s<\/em> review, Frank Rizzo wrote, \u201cWhat serves the show most is her singing, making a triumph of the first act musical trifecta of \u201cI’m the Greatest Star,\u201d \u201cPeople\u201d and \u201cDon’t Rain on My Parade.\u201d He continued, \u201cMichele is able to distance herself enough from Streisand’s phrasing to take ownership \u2014 or at least to become a savvy caretaker \u2014 of the material.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n