Newcomer Katerina McCrimmon to Lead Funny Girl Tour with Melissa Manchester

Principal casting has been announced for the North American tour of Funny Girl. Leading the company as Fanny Brice will be Katerina McCrimmon, who will make her national tour debut with the production. Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester will take on the role of Mrs. Brice.

They will be joined by current Funny Girl Broadway cast member Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein, with Izaiah Montaque Harris as Eddie Ryan, Walter Coppage as Florenz Ziegfeld, Leah Platt as Emma/Mrs. Nadler, Christine Bunuan as Mrs. Meeker, Eileen T’Kaye as Mrs. Strakosh and David Foley Jr. as Tom Keeney. Additional casting will be announced. Casting is by Jim Carnahan and Jason Thinger.

As previously announced, the tour will officially open on September 9 at Rhode Island’s Providence Performing Arts Center. Scheduled stops include Baltimore, Orlando, Nashville, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Philadelphia and more. The tour is currently slated to run through August 2024.

Currently running on Broadway through September 3 at the August Wilson Theatre, the Funny Girl revival is directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Ellenore Scott, with tap choreography by Ayodele Casel. The musical features a score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill and an original book by Isobel Lennart revised by Harvey Fierstein. The musical follows the path of real-life comedian Fanny Brice on her road to stardom.

“Fans have adored Melissa throughout her 50-year musical career, and Katerina is a star in the making who embodies the rising stardom of Fanny. We could not be more thrilled to have this dynamic and talented duo lead the Funny Girl tour,” Mayer said in a statement.

The Funny Girl tour is being produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Scott Landis, David Babani and NETworks Presentations.