MADISON, Wis. — Growing up, Hannah Shankman and her sister spent their free time watching “Funny Girl.”
Shankman was a big Barbra Streisand fan from a young age.
And, she admitted, Omar Sharif was her first crush. He played Streisand’s love interest in the 1968 film. “Funny Girl” was one of her all-time favorite movies as a child.
“It’s really a love letter to the theater. It’s the story of a girl who rises to fame through the Ziegfeld Follies and becomes a woman over the course of the show. It’s also about her journey with love, both romantic and self,” she explained. “And then, on top of everything, it’s just an incredible piece of musical theater, filled with an incredible score, amazing tap dancing and absolutely stunning performances.”
It only makes sense, then, that Shankman would soon find herself longing to be in theater. Shankman did just that; her career includes Broadway runs with “Les Miserables,” “Hair,” “Side Show” and “Wicked.” She’s also performed on West End and multiple national tours.
While she was in “Wicked,” she had the oppurtunity to do a regional production of “Funny Girl,” portraying Fanny Brice — the same role Streisand took on in the film. It consisted of just a dozen performances, but Shankman was hooked.
“The character just like really spoke to me. I thought the musical was so relevant still and I just was itching to do it again after that very very quick stint at that regional theater,” she said. “So when I heard it was coming to Broadway, I remember I immediately called my agent and I was like, ‘You have to get me seen for this. I need to be in this show.’ And then I guess the rest is kind of history.”
Now, she’s playing the leading lady in the national tour of “Funny Girl.”
"It’s strange, but we’re actually both like very similar. We both like had this really insatiable urge to be a part of the theater from a very young age. We both use humor as a means to connect with people; we both like to knock down gender stereotypes. We both love with our whole heart, sometimes blindly. She is very similar to me in a lot of ways and I think that’s what makes me feel so grateful to do this role, because I can bring so much of myself to it," she said.
Shankman has been with the show since the beginning of the tour. Better yet, two of her friends and castmates from that regional run are on tour with her, too.
At first, she was an alternate for Fanny Brice, taking on the role every Thursday. Now, she’s a full-time Fanny.
“Honestly it’s been really fun. I love playing the part and it’s very much like a dream come true, so I’m very grateful to be doing it every night,” she said.
“I think Fanny is one of those people who believes in herself even when no one else does and that’s such a valuable lesson as a human: To believe in yourself even if nobody else does. To love yourself even when nobody else does, or when you think nobody else does … She is just so resilient," Shankman said. "Her strengths of will and her character, all things that have taught me so much about my own strength and my own moral compass and self-love. She’s just an incredible role model, I think, for women and for all people in general.”
As she’s taken on the role full time, Shankman said she’s learned a lot of lessons from her character.
“I think learning my own strength. It’s a mammoth role. I sing 15 songs; I do 22 costume changes. It’s very daunting when you first start doing it. I’m very proud of myself for finding my own strength and my own resillience which is something that Fanny taught me in playing this part,” she said.
Out of all of those songs, one stands out above the rest.
“My favorite part is doing ‘People,’ the scene and the song. It’s the first time that Fanny slows down in the show and becomes very intimate with her love interest, Nick Arnstein,” she said. “Every night it’s just such a joy to do it with Stephen, the man I play opposite with. Also, you just feel the audience for the first time in the show lean in and get like excited that there’s this fire burning underneath both of them and they can’t wait to see what happens.”
While that is her favorite song, Shankman said she hopes people also appreciate the dancing in the show.
“Ayodele’s [our tap choreographer] amazing. She just really has created such a special, historically accurate representation of the tap in this production,” she said. “So the tap dancing is just out of this world. The things that the ensemble and that Izaiah, the man who plays Eddie, are just mind blowing to me. You will be gobsmacked by how incredible it is.”
But, the lessons Shankman said she hopes people take away from the show is a little different.
“I just hope that they feel a sense of strength from Fanny that they can take into their own life, in whatever, and however, way they need it. She really has this phoenix rising from the ashes moment at the end of the show and I really hope that people can see that even at your darkest hour, even when things look bleak, you still have yourself and that’s enough,” she said.
After all, Shankman said inspiring others is one of the best parts of being on tour.
Certainly, she said, being on the road can be hard, even taxing, at times. But it’s even more rewarding.
“I love being on the road. Bringing this show to these audiences in cities across America is really important. A lot of people can’t get to New York to see Broadway. So this is their way of seeing Broadway shows.
“You see like the kids after the show, or the teenagers — we were just in Cincinatti and we had some teenagers come up to me and Stephen after the show who were auditioning for college programs and it’s so important to show people that they can do this and the calliber that they can do it at and to inspire that new generation of artists. I think that’s a really big part of touring... I really wouldn’t trade it for anything,” she said.
"Funny Girl" runs at the Overture Center for the Arts from Dec. 31 to Jan. 5. Find ticket information, here.
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