'Humbled and Thrilled' Lauren Ambrose Headed to Broadway in Funny Girl

It’s official: Lauren Ambrose will play Fanny Brice on Broadway in Funny Girl. Bartlett Sher’s revival of the musical is headed for the Great White Way at an unspecified theater in spring 2012 after a pre-Broadway run at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre from January 15 to February 26. No further casting has been announced.

“Let’s face it, there is obviously more than a lot to live up to playing Fanny Brice, but I am humbled and thrilled by the opportunity to be a part of this revival,” Ambrose said in a statement. “The character is complex, the music beautiful and challenging. I can’t wait to get into that rehearsal room with the team Bart is assembling—wish we could start tomorrow!”

In a preemptive attempt to manage expectations for the first Broadway revival of a star vehicle created by Barbra Streisand, Sher said in a statement, “It’s important that people not see this casting process as trying to find the next Barbra Streisand. She is one of a kind. Instead, I really needed someone with whom I could explore the original musical and come to terms with Fanny Brice for a new era. The world of burlesque, vaudeville and the Follies is a unique American invention and how Fanny Brice came up in that world is a wonderful story, but this show is also about the sacrifices of being an artist and the high cost that women in particular suffer when they find great success and the difficult choices that come with accomplishment."

Sher's statement continues: "Lauren Ambrose has enormous accomplishments as an actor, especially a truthfulness in her acting that leads to great comedy, as well as a wonderful, rich voice that is fully trained and can genuinely soar. For me the key to any revival is finding the balance between respecting and unearthing all the deepest intentions of the original, and yet pushing the work ahead to see it in a new way. I know with Lauren that we can do that. We couldn’t be more thrilled to get to work and make something special and something new.”

Ambrose is best known as Claire Fisher on TV's Six Feet Under, a role that earned her two Emmy nominations. She made her Broadway debut in Awake and Sing!, helmed by Sher, and also appeared on Broadway in Exit the King. Her other stage credits include Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo and Juliet (as Juliet in 2007) and Hamlet (as Ophelia in 2008). The 33-year-old actress' many TV and film credits include Can't Hardly Wait, Torchwood, Psycho Beach Party, The Return of Jezebel James, Diggers, Party of Five and Where the Wild Things Are. She also leads the jazz group Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class.

Featuring music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and a book by Isobel Lennart, Funny Girl tells the rags-to-riches story of legendary entertainer Fanny Brice and her enduring love for rakish Nicky Arnstein. The original production opened on Broadway on March 26, 1964, starring Streisand as Fanny and Sydney Chaplin as Nicky. The show ran at three theaters for a total of 1,348 performances, closing on July 1, 1967. Streisand received an Academy Award for the 1968 film adaptation.

For Funny Girl, Bartlett Sher reunites the design team of his Tony Award-winning production of South Pacific: scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Catherine Zuber, lighting design by Donald Holder and sound design by Scott Lehrer. The music director is Kimberly Grigsby, and the choreographer is Christopher Gattelli.

Funny Girl will be produced in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre by Center Theatre Group, with special permission from Bob Boyett, Sonia Friedman Productions, Jean Doumanian, Stacey Mindich and Tim Levy.