Pictures: Julien Benhamou
American actress-singer impressionist CHRISTINA BIANCO is currently playing the title role of 1920s vaudeville star Fanny Brice in Funny Girl at the Theatre Marigny in Paris opposite British triple threat performer ASHLEY DAY as Nick Arnstein. The show (in English with French surtitles) finishes on 7 March 2020.
Below, Musical Theatre Review’s Patrick Honoré chats to both the stars…
CHRISTINA BIANCO
How does it feel to walk in Barbra Streisand’s shoes, especially as Parisian audiences probably only know the Funny Girl movie as the show has never been staged in the city?
Stepping into a role that Barbra Streisand single-handedly made so famous is very daunting, very nerve wracking for any performer.
Everybody wants to play Fanny Brice, because she sings incredible songs and has such an incredible story. There’s laughter and tears, comedy and tragedy. It’s such a complete role, but it’s very hard to not think of being compared to Barbra Streisand. And who wants to be compared to her?
I’m a huge fan of Barbra Streisand. I grew up watching all of her movies, listening to all the albums, and of course singing along to Funny Girl. I wanted to find a way to honour what she brought to the role, but also honour the original Fanny Brice. And then, of course, I wanted to bring some of myself to the part. My biggest goal was to create a brand new Fanny Brice for French audiences, and hopefully everyone will be happy with my creation.
Was it helpful to have actually imitated her previously in your shows?
A big fear was that people would assume that I was imitating her. But I’d been singing and acting as Christina Bianco long before I ever did impressions.
What was difficult to deal with were specific lines that you can almost hear Barbra Streisand saying. We all know how she has her way of saying “gorgeous”. We all know how she says: “I’m a bagel on a plate full of onion rolls.”
Some of those moments are so iconic. Maybe there’s a little echo of Barbra here or there, but if so, I’m not doing an impression in those instances, but rather an homage. After all, if she has the best way of saying something, then maybe it’s the best way to say it.
The beauty of this show is that it’s very different from the movie. There are very different songs. Hopefully, the audience will now fall in love with those ones as much as audiences have fallen in love with all the popular songs like ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ and ‘People’.
Even though Barbra did sing those ones in the musical, people don’t associate her with them. For some numbers, half the audience – the half that knows the movie really well – might compare me to Barbra, but the other half I don’t believe will. Knowing that made it a little bit easier for me to make the part my own.
What other book shows have you performed in before Funny Girl?
In New York I’ve been really lucky to be in a lot of shows. I’m sort of the Off-Broadway queen. I did The Marvelous Wonderettes and a wonderful one-woman play written for me called Application Pending. I played 50 characters and never left the stage. I got great reviews for it too and my second Drama Desk Award nomination.
So I’d been an actor doing book musicals and plays for a very long time when my concert career took off and my YouTube videos went viral. I’ve been riding that wave for a while because when people want to see you, you want to make the most of it.
I loved doing concerts and I loved doing impressions but I’ve always seen those as a part of my career, not my whole career.
Finally, I’m now able to get back to my roots. I’m able to be one character speaking another writer’s lines on stage under the guidance of a new director, while working with incredible co-stars and a great production team. This has been the perfect opportunity to do a play again.
Since the show is in English, did you feel worried about the audience not understanding all the lines?
I think the entire company was nervous about the fact that Funny Girl is in English but the show, I think, is really well-suited for a French audience.
Yes, we have surtitles, but like any musical, there’s more to it than words. Fanny Brice is a very big character, so my physicality is easily recognisable. What’s happening can be read, so to speak, even if you don’t know what I’m saying.
The show is so grand. There’s so much romance and emotion, ups and downs. French audiences can connect with that. And also, we have the great Ziegfeld Follies show girls and nobody does showgirls like the French!
Is this the updated version by Harvey Fierstein, the one done in London?
No. We’re honouring the original script. Funny Girl is a period piece and no changes were needed for our production. I, of course, love the original script, the one I play every day. I don’t see any reason for it to ever be updated.
What about performing ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’?
The most exciting moment of the show for me, as clichéd as it may sound, is singing ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’. I get to end both acts by myself on stage, with just the gorgeous orchestra accompanying me. What a thrill.
By the way, I have a Broadway desk recording of Mimi Hines’ closing performance of Funny Girl. And when I listened to it, I was completely amazed to learn that ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ ends with Mimi singing: “Hey, Mr Arnstein, here I am!” There’s no: “I’ll march my band out…”
Maybe that change was made for Barbra Streisand for some matinees or some other performances. It’s just very funny to think about how much we think we know a show. For months and months and years and years, so many adjustments were made to that original Broadway production that we’ll probably never know about. And again, the play is vastly different from the film. You just never know what each production of Funny Girl is going to have in store.
What do you have in store?
We’ve made a couple of very slight changes, but just in the acting. We didn’t change the vocals or anything else, but we did make some decisions and hopefully everybody will be very happy. We had lyricist Bob Merrill’s wife in on one night and she was incredibly pleased. So, if she’s happy, we’re okay!
ASHLEY DAY
What are some of your thoughts on Nick Arnstein as a acting role?
It’s a very well-put-together script, especially the original version. People may think they know the show. I knew Funny Girl, but when your read the script, there are these big book scenes that you don’t get in musicals these days. They are book scenes that you can actually really act, which is thrilling.
Did you feel comfortable about knowing that not everyone was understanding all the words?
I have to put that right at the back of my mind, because if I start thinking the audience isn’t hearing what I’m saying, that’s too much for me. I need to focus on telling my story.
It’s an odd thing. Opera’s been doing it for years and it works—audiences laugh at the jokes. And what I can tell from the audiences we’ve had so far is that they’ve all enjoyed the show.
Did you regret not doing An American in Paris at the Châtelet?
My time was perfect in London, where I closed the show. It was very special to me. But physically, it’s so demanding. I was the only person who had played the role of Jerry Mulligan who hadn’t been a principal dancer in a ballet company. So, for a whole year, it was a very different mindset for me. It was a very strict role, but also the most rewarding one.
How does it feel to be approaching a non-dancing part in Funny Girl?
These last couple of years I’ve played roles that have very much been dance focused but before that there was a period where I wasn’t really dancing. Nick is a very different role than Jerry in An American in Paris. It’s from one extreme to this, which is completely the other. I want to keep on doing roles that are very different from each other.
It looks like it’s the first time that you’ve approached a very mature part.
Yes. I’m 33, but I think that people believe I’m much younger than I am. I’m actually at an age not dissimilar to people who’ve played this role before. I have the experiences in my life to make this text and this character come alive.
Have you developed a particular working relationship with director-choreographer Stephen Mear?
This is my fourth show with Stephen. My first was when I was in the original company of Mary Poppins when I was 18. Then I did On the Town, then Thoroughly Modern Millie.
I think he’s the only director that I’ve worked with multiple times. I like to continuously work with different people, but with Stephen, we know what each other is thinking, so we have a shorthand together. He directs and puts on classic musicals like Millie and Funny Girl that I love and that don’t often get done. When they come up, I want to do them.
So, would you like to work again in France?
The city is stunning and the possibilities of going to endless galleries in the daytime before coming to work just thrills me. I would love to play the Châtelet one day. But I just moved to New York, so I’m now based there.
What are your projects in New York?
I did a show in the summer Off-Broadway called Freddie Falls in Love. It was a dance piece. Again, it was a very different world, made up of a group of amazing creative people to be around. I just want to make sure that I’m continuously being inspired and being pushed.
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