Lauren Ambrose to star in ‘Funny Girl’ revival

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Lauren Ambrose, best known for HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” will star as Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl,” the role Barbra Streisand originated in 1964.

It will be the first Broadway production of the musical that gave the world “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade” since it originally opened in 1964. “Funny Girl” will play at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles from Jan. 15 -Feb. 26, 2012. The musical will open in the spring on Broadway.

“I am humbled and thrilled by the opportunity to be a part of this revival,” Ambrose said in a statement. “The character is complex, the music beautiful and challenging.”

Tony Award-winner Bartlett Sher, who directed Ambrose in the 2006 Broadway revival of “Awake and Sing!,” will direct the new production.

“Funny Girl” ran 1,348 performances between March 26, 1964 and July 1, 1967. The original cast album was on the Billboard 200 for 51 weeks in 1964 and ’65, peaking at No. 2 for three weeks. It won the Grammy for cast album. Streisand’s follow-up album featured the musical’s “People” as its title track, going to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and staying on the chart for 84 weeks.

Sher told the Los Angeles Times that he is exploring music that was cut from the original production in an effort to bolster the musical’s second act.

Billboard.com