★★★★☆ Caroline O’Connor’s Fanny Brice shows why her reputation as the nation’s most gifted entertainer is so richly deserved.

State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne
July 23, 2016

The trouble with roles that already have a definitive performance, is that parallels are inevitably going to be drawn. And so it is for the Broadway classic Funny Girl, the musical biopic of variety star Fanny Brice, immortalised by Barbra Streisand in the cherished, oscar-winning 1968 film adaptation. It was a savvy bit of casting by the Production Company when, for its debut production in 1999, it engaged the reigning queen of Australian musical theatre, Caroline O’Connor, as their challenger to Streisand’s crown. It’s a tactic that has been equally smart 17 years later. O’Connor not only gives Streisand a run for her money, but also delivers a sensational turn that makes clear why her gold-plated reputation as the nation’s most singularly gifted entertainer is so richly deserved.

Funny Girl is a double hinged story, polarised between the dazzling, spotlit fantasy of the theatre and the dusty, tarnished reality backstage. It charts the hard-won success of a young, aspiring trailblazer who conquers Broadway and then America, to become...