#78: Funny Girl, live podcast event and season 2 finale

The highlight of "Chasing Phantom's" brief history happened in May 2025 with the recording of what I hope will be the first of many live podcast events. Phil Crosby, the executive director of Richmond Triangle Players, has been a guest 6 times before so, after many times inviting him over to my house to record, he returned the favor!

As with the end of the first season, this is an episode largely about Barbra Streisand and there is no one I can think of better equipped to talk about her than Phil. After some fun trivia, we get into the development of "Funny Girl," the rise of young Barbra's career, and how that that convergence resulted in a once-in-a-generation phenomenon.

There is plenty to talk about after that: how Streisand loved rehearsing but hated doing the show once it opened, Sydney Chaplin's horrendous behavior, replacements who had to follow in Barbra's shoes, the movie and the recent revival and much much more.

Phil and I have a great time as we always do but we (well, mostly Phil) also drop conspicuous amounts of fun Broadway and show-biz anecdotes in along the way. Oh, and perhaps best of all, there are two live performances of complete songs from "Funny Girl," not just the snippets I usually include. What a blast!

As always, more information and video clips can be found at ChasingPhantom.net. And please rate, review and subscribe to this podcast so you will be ready to receive season 3 when it starts rolling out early in September. Thanks for listening!