Funny Girl [Original Broadway Cast]

( 4 )

Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - William Pearl
By proving she could handle a marquee turn on Broadway, this 1964 hit catapulted recording star Barbra Streisand into superstardom. The original cast album catches the young diva at a very special point in her vocal artistry; rarely has she sounded as in-the-moment and affecting. Handed brilliant material, she ran with it all. Her takes on showstoppers like “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” “His Love Makes Me Dance,” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance” quickly became definitive, while “Rat-Tat-Tat” and “Sadie Sadie” demonstrated her natural flair for comedy. From here it was on to Hollywood, but this essential recoding captures all the ...
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Editorial Reviews

Barnes & Noble - William Pearl
By proving she could handle a marquee turn on Broadway, this 1964 hit catapulted recording star Barbra Streisand into superstardom. The original cast album catches the young diva at a very special point in her vocal artistry; rarely has she sounded as in-the-moment and affecting. Handed brilliant material, she ran with it all. Her takes on showstoppers like “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” “I’m the Greatest Star,” “His Love Makes Me Dance,” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance” quickly became definitive, while “Rat-Tat-Tat” and “Sadie Sadie” demonstrated her natural flair for comedy. From here it was on to Hollywood, but this essential recoding captures all the qualities that made “Babs” the best in the league.
All Music Guide - William Ruhlmann
As recounted in David Foil's liner notes to the 1992 reissue of this original Broadway cast recording of Funny Girl, the musical went through many changes before its successful opening in New York on March 26, 1964. The original idea was to do a movie about Fanny Brice, the comic Ziegfeld Follies star, but eventually the project was diverted to Broadway, and it evolved into a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand. The 21-year-old had only appeared in one previous show, but on opening night she had placed three LPs in the Top Ten within the previous 12 months, turning her into a major star. As such, she completely overshadowed Brice but, especially on this initial recording of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's score, she did convey a modicum of Brice's ethnic humor, albeit mixed with a big dose of her own personality and world-beating voice. Styne had composed the music with Streisand in mind, and she handled both the bravura, rangy belters "I'm the Greatest Star" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" as effectively as the tender ballads "People" (soon to become a hit single in a different recording from the one included here) and "The Music That Makes Me Dance." She dominated the album, taking eight of the 17 selections alone and also appearing on four others, but Kay Medford (as Brice's mother) and Danny Meehan (as a vaudeville friend) made strong impressions in such change-of-pace numbers as "If a Girl Isn't Pretty" and "Who Taught Her Everything?" Sydney Chaplin, as Brice's husband, the gambler Nick Arnstein, was less impressive, with a very limited vocal range that sounded even more inadequate than usual against Streisand's remarkable instrument. Quickly recorded, the album was relatively underproduced for a Streisand recording, but it captured a fresh performance she could not recreate later.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 11/17/1992
  • Label: Angel Records
  • UPC: 077776466125
  • Catalog Number: 64661
  • Sales rank: 42,007

Album Credits

Performance Credits
Original Broadway Cast Primary Artist, Indexed Contributor
Barbra Streisand Vocals, Track Performer,
Milton Rosenstock Conductor, Musical Direction
John Lankston Vocals, , Track Performer
Kay Medford Vocals, Track Performer,
Sydney Chaplin Vocals,
Danny Meehan Vocals,
Jean Stapleton Vocals,
Technical Credits
Ralph Burns Orchestration
Luther Henderson Dance Arrangement
Bob Norberg Remastering
Milton Rosenstock Musical Director
Jule Styne Composer
Bob Merrill Composer, Lyricist
David Foil Liner Notes, Reissue Liner Notes
Robert Merrill Composer
Stanley Green Original Liner Notes
Irene Sharaff Costume Design
Buster Davis Vocal Arrangements
Garson Kanin Director
Isobel Lennart Book
Robert Norberg Remastering
Richard Jones Producer
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 4 )
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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Posted October 1, 2010

    Just like on broadway!!!

    I saw the play on Broadway and the numbers are exactly the same---full of Barbra's beautiful voice and the comical blurbs which made the show so wonderful. This is my favorite!!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    A Classic Cast Album Featuring Streisand's Brilliant Vocal Performance

    Although Broadway composer Jule Styne wrote better scores (GYPSY being his masterpiece), his music for FUNNY GIRL (with lyrics by Bob Merrill) is often electrifying, in no small part due to the brilliant vocal performance of the young Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice, the famed Ziegfeld Follies star who later became an even bigger household name as a radio comedienne and personality in the 1930's. Isobel Lennart's book was a strictly by-the-numbers biography that skimped on the true aspects of Brice's career in favor of Big Moments that showcased Streisand's extraordinary stage charisma and singing ability. This Broadway/Angel CD (originally released on Capitol in 1964) is a must-have disc for anyone interested in Broadway Musical History. Streisand's definitive versions of "Don't Rain On My Parade" and "People" are here, along with two other standouts: "Who Are You Now?" and "The Music That Makes Me Dance". Incredibly, the two latter songs were not included in the 1967 film version, an idiotic blunder in hindsight. The CD contains excellent liner notes that cover the history of the show's evolution from Lennart's initial, untried movie script to the exciting opening night and beyond. FUNNY GIRL belongs in the grand tradition of Old Broadway at its best.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    MY ALL TIME FAVORITE CD

    This is my all time favorite cd.A classic. You know the songs.LINDA EDER does a great remake of DONT RAIN ON MY PARADE ON HER BROADWAY MY WAY CD.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 10, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews