Review: FUNNY GIRL at Lakewood Theatre

Hello, Gorgeous!

And gorgeous it truly is. Lakewood Theatre brings the curtain down on its 73rd season in spectacular fashion with the heartfelt, funny, and moving musical comedy Funny Girl. What a way to say goodbye to a landmark season.

When Funny Girl first lit up Broadway in 1964, it launched the career of a young Barbra Streisand into the stratosphere. A beloved film adaptation followed in 1968, and then, remarkably, the show went dark on major stages for more than fifty years before triumphantly returning in 2022. There is something thrilling about experiencing this show in a theatre that clearly loves it as much as its audiences do.

The story is rooted in the life of the real Fanny Brice (1891–1951), a scrappy, irrepressible girl from New York's Lower East Side who knew, almost from birth, that she was put on this earth to make people laugh. The world, including her own mother and her poker playing friends, told her she didn't have the looks. They were wrong. She joined the legendary Ziegfeld Follies, stole every room she ever walked into, and became one of the most beloved entertainers in American history, shining brighter than every light on Broadway.

Woven through Fanny's spectacular rise is a bittersweet love story with the dashing, charming, and perpetually unreliable Nicky Arnstein. This is a romance you may cheer for, wince at, or both simultaneously. It is, to put it gently, a relationship built on hope over good judgment, and the show never flinches from the heartbreak it brings. But that tension is exactly what gives Funny Girl its emotional weight. This is a story about ambition, love, and the very real cost of having both at once.

Under the accomplished direction of Lakewood veteran Dennis Corwin, this production hums with energy and care. Every element feels purposeful, from Music Director Cyndy Ramsey-Rier's glorious live orchestra (yes, a real live orchestra, the way it should be and I love Lakewood for this) to Choreographer Laura Hiszczynskyj's spirited dance and movement work to John Gerth's stunning scenic design. The brick building backdrops evoke old New York with warmth and style, and the reimagined Ziegfeld Follies sequences are a genuine feast for the eyes.

And then there are the costumes. Oh, the costumes. Costume Designer Janelle Sutton deserves her own standing ovation. The colors, the construction, the sheer theatrical wit of each piece, they don't just clothe the characters, they help tell the story. It is design work that makes you remember why live theatre is irreplaceable.

At the center of it all is Melissa Gale as Fanny Brice, and she is simply wonderful. She leans into Fanny's stumbling, bumbling early awkwardness with full commitment and real comedic instinct, then pivots seamlessly into the powerful, fully realized star Fanny becomes, and finally into the heartbroken woman left standing at the end of it all. Her journey through those transformations is the engine of the whole show, and she drives it beautifully. She can be delightfully clumsy in one moment and belt a show-stopper in the next, and you believe every bit of it.

Nick Serrone brings easy, dangerous charm to Nick Arnstein. He is he kind of man you understand completely why Fanny loves, and completely why she shouldn't. His Nick is never a villain, which makes the heartbreak all the more poignant.

This show is a gift for anyone who loves music, comedy, history, or all three at once. It offers a genuine window into a fascinating era of American performance, the backstage world of vaudeville and the mythic Ziegfeld Follies, while also telling a very human story about what we sacrifice for love and what we discover about ourselves in the process. It asks big questions with a light touch, and the songs are truly unforgettable songs that carry the weight beautifully.

Come celebrate your big dreams and understand the cost that sometimes comes along with them.

If you have only ever seen the film, please do yourself the favor of seeing this. The stage is where this story belongs. Let yourself be transported.

On stage through June 7, 2026 at Lakewood Theatre.

They have a Wine on Wednesday (WOW) event on 5/13 and 5/27 performances which feature tastings from local wineries and often have special guests!