I realised last night that I was privileged to be at a very special theatrical event when at the end, the audience rose as one to give the cast a standing ovation. The spontaneity of this response was amazing and even produced some tears on stage. Whether this was some catharsis due to past difficulties, I don’t know, but Sheridan Smith was fantastic as Fanny Brice. Her timing, her presence, her delivery and her connection with the audience meant that she didn’t appear to perform the part; she was Fanny Brice; the sign of a really great actor. Smith was supported by an excellent cast; Rachel Izen was a suitably proud yet redoubtable mother, Chris Peluso as Nick Arnstein has a lovely voice and in fact all the singing and dancing was immaculate. The group of three older ladies was particularly impressive. But as the title says, it is all about Fanny Brice, the funny girl, and her rise to fame and then her difficult marriage.

The first half shows Fanny Brice presenting herself to the outside world, breaking through and then meeting this seemingly beautiful sophisticated man who she falls in love with.  It has the best songs and it is joyous and funny. In the second half we see the difficulties of the couple maintaining their relationship; he is hopeless and feckless and Fanny Brice has the money and power in her hands.  Despite living in post-feminist era, this problem still rang true. The second half finishes with the break up of the marriage and a last song of regret from Fanny, which Sheridan Smith handled with such complete bathos and sincerity that the whole audience could not help but be moved. So inevitably like any true story it ends on a sad note. The second half of the piece is not as strong as the first but the whole experience is, or at least was in this production, up-lifting.

The set and design were simple and extremely effective. (I did wonder, however, whether Chris Peluso’s presence as Nick Arnstein might have been helped by a better-fitting costume). The band was great and although at first I thought that everything was a bit over-amplified, I quickly got used to it and it didn’t present any barriers between the stage and the audience. In fact the greatness of this show, was its directness and believability, all centring on Sheridan Smith, but aided admirably by the rest of the cast, surely thanks to some very sure-footed direction.  Anyway I, who am not a true fan of musicals, thank them all for a really wonderful evening.    ★★★★★   Keith Erskine  at Bristol Hippodrome on 23^rd March 2017