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March 7, 2024 15 mins
Join Orin Wolf, Producer and Chief Executive Officer of NETworks - a theatrical production company, and Jeff Chelesvig, President and CEO of DMPA, as they discuss the revival of Funny Girl. Listen as Wolf describes the person who inspired the musical – Fanny Brice, the challenges of working on such a cherished story, and what audiences can expect from Funny Girl.
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(00:05):
Thank you for joining us for thisepisode of DMPA Conversations. I'm Jeff Chellswig,
President and CEO of Des Moines PerformingArts, and today I am joined
by orn Wolf, Tony Award winningproducer and chief executive officer of Networks,
a touring theater production company. Todaywe're discussing the national tour of Funny Girl,
part of the Willis Broadway series.These podcasts are designed to give you

(00:27):
an insider's perspective of the fantastic performancesheaded to DMPA stages. Thank you again
for joining us, and now here'smy conversation with worn Wolf Oran. It's

(00:47):
great to see you on the zoomscreen. I haven't seen you for a
long time, but always a pleasure. And I think about two things when
I think about you. One wasin twenty fifteen when you had just started
with Networks here too launched the tourof the Bridges of Medicine County. Oh.
Yeah, you experienced Iowa firsthand,and I think you had a good
time. Oh we had an amazingtime well for that show, specifically because

(01:10):
obviously it has such like there wassuch so much connective tissue. We loved
it. We loved my company lovedit. Bar Chera was there and his
team, everyone and the director ofthe creative fee. Means just you're so
well cared for. And the otherthing I think of when I think of
you as one of my most favoritetimes of the Tony Awards is when you
won the Tony Award for the band'svisit and was able to go to the
after party and give you a hugand get some selfies taken, and it

(01:34):
was just a really fun time andit was so special. It's also made
special though, Jeffy, because likeyou've been supporting I mean, I remember
when I launched my first company asan agent all those years ago, and
you were supporting me. So it'slike I have relationships with people like you
and a few others who I've knownI feel like my entire adult life,
who you just nurtured me and havealways supported me. So I just feel
so close and grateful. So whenI see someone like you at the after

(01:57):
party for you on event like that, it's like so full circle for me.
It means so much. Well,thank you. The feelings mutual.
And I also have to tell youthat as this is airing, we are
in week three of Dixie's never weara tube topple writing a mechanical bull And
yeah, I actually did a podcastwith Chris Anderson and he mentioned the booking
agent that convinced me to do theTupperware show, and that was you.

(02:20):
That was me years ago. That'samazing. Well, thank you for talking
with us. You are the presidentand chief executive officer of Networks and Networks
produces Touring Broadway, and I thinkit's safe to say this is a really
great time for touring Broadway right now. And you have a number of shows
Le Miz Beetlejuice that we had inthe fall. We presented your your new

(02:44):
tour of The Book of Mormon andKill a Mockingbird. You were you also
produced on the road. But it'sa great time right now, and you're
really busy with stuff. We're verybusy, and it is a great time.
I mean, it's it's a challengingtime too, and I think the
road actually has been a consistent inwhat has been a kind of turbulent time
for Broadway in general, because costshave gone up so much and they've gone

(03:06):
up on the road as well.But fortunately there's been such robust attendance on
the road. It's been really able. We've been able to help manage that
better. So yes, it's beena great time and a time unlike any
other time I've experienced in terms ofwhat the kinds of challenges that we face.
Let's talk about Funny Girl. Thisis a musical that first premiered on
Broadway in nineteen sixty four. Itstarts with Fanny Bryce, who was a

(03:30):
real person. Tell us a littlebit about Fanny Bryce. It's the journey
of this show as this character whowas such an icon not only for women
and for in such a strong Jewishcharacter. There's so many ways in which
you can kind of walk through herjourney and what made Funny Girl so powerful,
but it was also who inhabited theworld over time. It's also what's

(03:52):
made this such a challenging show todo. Funny Girl has not been revived
as much as some other titles have, and I think one of the reasons
why is because casting a Fanny issuch a tour de force. It's such
a difficult proposition. But not tomention the history, like you said,
of Fanny Brice and the character andStreisand's historic interpretation of that part and how
that became so iconic and really becamesort of the formidable point in her career,

(04:14):
and in both she created the rolein the musical that was first and
then the movie and the film,yeah, she carried it over. It's
one of those weird moments where aniconic role and an iconic actor sort of
make each other. You know,It's like the circle was sort of complete
with her inhabiting that part, whichI think also makes it very hard for
other actors to decide how they're goingto inhabit Fanny after such an iconic marriage

(04:36):
of actress. In part, it'sjust there are roles like gypsy, there
are roles a couple of these likestrong, almost iconic roles that have these
landmark interpretation, these landmark actors thatinhabit them, and then how do other
actors sort of fill those shoes.Although I couldn't be more excited about how
we've managed to solve that puzzle forthe road. Yeah, before we get

(04:59):
there though, back to Fanny Brice, she was a masterful comedian. In
the twenties, she was a starof the Zigfeld Follies on Broadway, and
then really in the nineteen thirties whenshe was on radio is really where she
took off. And I've heard herradio show, and she was hilarious.
I mean, she was in herforties playing this precocious, mischievous ten year

(05:19):
old baby snooks and really really funny. She was. She was ahead of
her time. I mean, shehad an edge, and I think she
pushed the envelope as far as comedywas concerned and really took it in all
direction. So I think, likeall trailblazers, I think that was certainly
the space that Fanny occupied. Yeah, so let's talk about when this opened

(05:39):
in nineteen sixty four. Julie SteinRobert Merrill wrote the music and lyrics,
and two very popular songs came outof this People and Don't Rain on My
Parade, at a time when Broadwayshows were actually putting pop hits back on
the radio, where that was atime when that happened more frequent line and
it became a huge hit for BarbaraStreisan and people. Her performance of those

(06:01):
songs became huge, and the songsthemselves became standards. Okay, so let's
talk about this touring production. Youmentioned, this is based on the Broadway
production. Fair to say that there'ssome Broadway heavyweights that are working on this,
Michael Meyer and Harvey Feierstein, whokind of rewrote the book, tell
us a little bit about that Theybrought Harvey and I think to really work

(06:24):
on. Call it an update tothe script, although I don't want anyone
to think that we've changed anything aboutthe show. I mean, the show
is still set exactly as it wasmeant to be set originally. The show
had had a few different types ofendings of the film that the ending of
the film was slightly different than theBroadway show. But Harvey's job, I
think, was really just taking anotherlook at the language, taking another look

(06:46):
at the characters. And again,when I say update, it's not meant
to suggest that it's modern, butit's certainly just meant to suggest that you
take a look at it through theworld as we understand it today, and
how we can help inform and populatethose characters and flesh out the language and
the comedy and the music and justmake it feel fresh. So even though
I wasn't involved firsthand in that processwhen it was happening, I really was

(07:09):
brought in to really produce the tour. My experience of it is certainly that
when I went and saw it radiallyon Broadway with Beanie and then saw it
again with Leah, you understand youcan feel Harvey's spirit in the show.
You can feel his sensibility, whichI think is really nice. But it's
also not overbearing. You don't feellike this is a whole new funny Girl

(07:30):
that you don't understand, or it'svery much the show that people know and
love. Yeah, I remember seeingit on Broadway as well and really thinking
about Harvey's influence. And so let'stalk about the casting. You have some
great names in this and a newcomerthat is really we're all looking forward to
seeing. Yeah, well, havingMelissa in the show molssa Manchester and having
her it's one of those unique things, you know. They had been considering

(07:54):
her for Broadway actually she was interestedin doing it, and then when we
were talking about the tour, hermewas sort of on a list of sort
of names that were unique. I'mlike, you know, Melissa, obviously
she populates a space that's very differentand what this show is. But as
soon as her name was put onthe list, what we thought of as

(08:15):
producers is we thought, well,there is an audience that I think will
want to come see Funny Girl thatalso is going to know Melissa for her
musical career and for her musical andimpact which was massive, And so that
immediately got us interested in terms ofwhat her name might mean on the road
for subscribers and for people who maybethinking of seeing Funny Girl anyway, but
seeing Melissa's name on it is justanother reason to say yes. It's just

(08:37):
another reason to make this show feelkind of special and kind of like an
event, and it is because noone else is really going to have an
ex chance to see Melissa to dothis. What we didn't know when we
immediately leaned into this opportunity was ay, how warm and wonderful a person she
is. I mean, hardest working, so focused, absolutely humble and instantly

(08:58):
became such a leader for the companyand just joyful from the very first meeting,
great all the way through the rehearsalprocess, just loved doing this.
And then we actually saw her andhabit the part and it turns out that
she's fantastic. So I think theaudiences into mon are going to be in
for a real treat to kind ofwatch this icon, this woman who they
know well through her music, butto really see her come to life in

(09:20):
this role I think is really specialand Katerina our young Fanny. First of
all, it's a very difficult auditionprocess when you're auditioning for Fanny, and
of course I'm the producer, soI have the pleasure of not necessarily having
to be there for those earlier auditionswhere there's where you're casting the widest net.
I was able to come in alittle later and actually just see a

(09:41):
really refined list of actresses who couldcome in to potentially can be considered for
this part. But even watching thoseyou sort of get a lot of really
wonderful, talented, strong singers,wonderful actors, and they're all coming in
and delivering a very respectable audition.But when you have Funny Girl, and

(10:03):
it's what I was saying earlier inthis in this conversation, it's the pressure.
The expectations for Fanning are so highbecause of streisand and then of course
what Lea Michelle did on Broadway didn'tmake it any easier because that was also
a tour to force performance with aname, and we just understood it from
the economics and just from the difficultiesof touring that you couldn't get someone like

(10:24):
necessarily Lea Michelle to put her lifeon hold for a year in tour.
So we knew we had to kindof go outside the box and maybe find
some unknown name or lesser known nameto occupy the role of Fanny Brice.
But the demands of the role areso immense, and so we were watching
those auditions sort of very respectful,very happy to see all this talent,

(10:46):
but not knowing what were we goingto do to satisfy those expectations. And
then Katerina walked in, and it'sit's a rare it's a rare moment in
those audition rooms when you have somebodythat can occupy a role so full.
We walk in out of the blue, at least out of the blue in
terms of my understanding of who shewas. But then all of a sudden
she opens her mouth and not onlyis the instrument there right, the ability

(11:11):
to hit these notes and to andto sustain them in a way that is
so muscular but utterly controlled, youknow, with precision. I mean,
her vocal muscles and her vocal skillsare just unprecedented. But then also from
her personality. The way she actuallywas able to inhabit the character of Fanny
Brice was remarkable, and it waslike she sort of walked out of the

(11:35):
room and everybody's kind it said,like, Wow, I think we might
have just figured this out. Thisis someone who we thought might be able
to meet people's expectations. What wedidn't realize is that she's actually been able
to exceed them, and it's justlike she just keeps getting better. So
it's really it's one of those rareand very special moments in the live theater

(11:56):
where it comes together. It's notbrilliant producing. I can tell you that
it was a lot. It takesa lot of luck, but sometimes the
stars align and you find the rightperson for the right part. Well,
you sent all of us that hadbooked the tour. You sent us a
little video of her singing Don't Rainon My Parade, which I still remember
when I watched that the first time, I was just absolutely blown away.

(12:18):
She's just yeah, you just don'tget to see this very often. You
just don't get and you know this, Jeff, I mean, you know
how rare it is when you seethat's right, a marriage of character of
actor and role this way. Soagain, even if we didn't have Melissa,
even if we didn't have Katerina either. One of these performances I think
are so surpassing what anyone's deputation mightbe. So to see them, you

(12:41):
know, together, it's it reallyis an abundance of riches. It's it's
I feel very fortunate to be associatedwith it. It's great. So what
do you hope audiences take away fromseeing the show? Well, first and
foremost, it's just so fun.It's just so funny and so much fun.
I think audiences are surprised by howmany more songs other than the big
ones they actually know and feel familiarwith. So I think all of that,

(13:05):
the fun is just there in abundance. But I think what I hope
people could take away from this,especially subscribers and other audiences who may come
in who may not know Funny Girl, is just a recognition of these really
important parts of the American theatrical canonand how these musicals still have so much
life, and how accessible they areand how entertaining they are. There is

(13:30):
something joyfully old school about Funny Girl, and I think it's one of the
things we like to celebrate about it. It's that the humor is still just
as strong today as it was whenit was originally done. So I want
people to take that away as anappreciation for just how great some of these
shows from this canon are from theAmerican Musical theater canon. Funny Girl is

(13:50):
the best, and again, Ithink we've delivered a tour that is spectacular
and exceptional in every single way.This is the great American Broadway tours.
I think it was always meant tobe right right, Yeah, it's and
it and again it's a sixty yearold musical. It's and yet it's still
fresh. It's the music is fabulous. I have a very strong fondness,

(14:11):
like you, for the old fashionedmusicals, those big bags that we think
of define Broadway and totally no,I think audiences are in for such a
treat, and I think they're goingto be surprised, even if they come
and expecting they like it, Ithink they're going to be surprised by how
much they like it, and thatthey'll like it even more than they think.
That's that's been my experience, andI've watched audience all over the country
have that thin reaction. That's great. So I encourage people to bring young

(14:35):
people, bring friends, bring peoplewho might not know the show. It
delivers for everybody orin Thanks so much, great to talk to you. Always
look forward to seeing in person soon. We appreciate you joining us for d
MPa conversations. This podcast is producedby Andrew downs Do Our donors and season

(14:58):
ticket holders. Thank you for providingthe foundation for great performances and educational opportunities
at Des Moines Performing Arts. VisitDMPA dot org or wherever you get your
podcasts for future conversations like this one. Thank you for listening.
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