Baytree

Just trying to work out which of his own songs I would most like to hear Darius sing. I think I remember you saying he would take requests. Are you collating them in advance, megham, or will there be cards or something less formal?

The role of Nicky is deliberately underwritten for two main reasons. The producer of the show was Fanny Brice's son-in-law, Ray Stark, and her daughter, Frances, didn't want to wash her parents' dirty linen in public, so the writer stuck to pretty much what was in the public domain. The second reason was that Nicky Arnstein was still alive and threatening legal action.

http://www.southwarknews.co.uk/lifestyle/9080-2/ https://thetheatrehub.com/2016/04/22/funny-...10030;✮/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...NTIN-LETTS.html https://www.londontheatre1.com/news/136223/...-savoy-theatre/ http://www.londontheatre.co.uk/londontheat...girlsavoy16.htm

And I also thought first night reviews which harped on about Sheridan's tweets when she was reeling from the news that her beloved father has cancer were the lowest of the low, even for Red Top papers. Tall poppy syndrome again!

That last line in the paragraph about Omar Sharif reminded me that Mark Shenton from The Stage in his review of the show he saw, with understudy, Natasha J Barnes, said that on a previous visit (personal), he'd only had eyes for Sheridan. He said that when he was concentrating on Sheridan he didn't realise how good Darius was or even how handsome he is. He repeated it again in an article this week saying those like Darius dimmed by Sheridan's star power got to shine. It's a long way up from Sheridan to Darius but strangely the same from the real Fanny to Nick..... One foot two inches. The real Nicky was 6ft 6! It shows that Darius is no longer thought of as celebrity casting when a critic like Mark Shenton ( in that review ) suggests a next leading role for him. He said that if Darius hadn't been transferring to the Savoy, he'd make a great Gaylord Ravendal in Showboat.

Darius's reviews at the Savoy have been very good but we still must remember reviews are just one person's opinion of one performance. Even the late Omar Sharif ....a huge star with plenty of plaudits to his name and the advantage of re-takes in a movie....could do nothing to please one critic as Nicky Arnstein. http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/funny-girl-1968 Me, I thought he was absolutely charming and set the bar high for Nicky. As a long standing fan of Darius, I'm probably biased but I think he makes a fine fist of the role. Some of the credit has to go to the revised book and the inclusion of Temporary Arrangement which let Darius reveal a little of Nicky's thinking in an era where gentlemen were very formal and definitely never showed any weakness or spoke of their financial affairs. In addition Nicky spends his life gambling. He is inscrutable. The whole point of Nicky is that he IS so different to any other character in the show. They're all showbiz people or from the Brooklyn Jewish tight knit community. The awkward, naive, gawky Fanny tells him he's like a character in a book and she'd imagined him all around the world. I think some people judge the character by modern standards or by the golden age of Hollywood when gentlemen were much more forthcoming. The wedding picture is so perfect for that era. We've all got those stylised, stuffy, studio photos of our ancestors.

Absolutely disgusted by some of the papers today. They've printed huge padded articles accusing Sheridan Smith of being drunk on Thursday. Their source? A few speculative tweets when no-one knew what was happening! One paper quotes a tweet saying she grabbed the b**L's of the Cornet Men - Hello! She pretends to.....it's part of the comedy routine and typical of the bawdy humour of vaudeville and Fanny Brice. I remember seeing it on Tuesday and it got a hearty laugh from the audience because of Sheridan's perfect accompanying expression. She has a wonderfully expressive face!

I can't help smiling at the ones that say he's come a long way from Popstars and is a bona fide West End leading man and then proceed to add the Popstars clip!

http://www.standard.co.uk/goingout/theatre...t-a3230311.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to...theatre-review/ http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre...atre_40246.html http://thebardette.co.uk/funny-girl-savoy-theatre/ http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news...y-shine-7799111 https://next.ft.com/content/f0c51580-07b5-1...23-b84d06a39ec2

Is it OK if I open a new thread for the full review links and use this one for comments etc about them?

Funny Girl like GWTW seems to have a great company - so many talents. How hard must it be to perform such fast and complex dance routines on a stage with two travelators going in opposite directions? And Joel Montague's tap routines are fabulous. He's a true triple threat. Loved his Stage Door Johnny selfie with Darius.

Very glad to hear everyone was fine. Gutted for audience members from out of town, especially those making the trip to celebrate life's special occasions.

Funny Girl's curtain came down just a half hour or so in tonight. The audience waited another 40 minutes or so before they were told the show was cancelled due to technical problems. No further explanation. Darius is apparently at the MADtrust cabaret just now. I hope they can fix whatever's wrong for tomorrow. There's not a lot of technical stuff in FG. I'd think it would be hard to do the show if the travelators malfunctioned though.

Well that's me sorted for the cast CD. I signed up for it at the show on Tuesday. t hope that towards the end of the run, they'll film the show live. I'm always grateful for any recording of Darius's performances. Other than your sterling work, Meg, there's so little. I wish they'd got round to a cast recording of Gone With The Wind even although Darius didn't have that many songs. Yes, I thought "Who are you now?/People reprise" as a duet really underlined the dramatic scene far more than as a solo song in the movie.

My screen shows latest Darius news on Buzzjack as... Darius is to star in new musical From Here to Eternity! That was 2013. I'll try to gather together the links for Funny Girl reviews asap. Have to say that I'm disappointed the Menier ones aren't in a pinned thread yet.

No, I'm sorry, I just can't justify it so soon - money or time wise. Frankly I don't know what I'm doing from week to week. We're trying to fit in two family holidays to Northern Ireland and France and it looks like they may need to be in July. I couldn't even stay one night this time because of community commitments. I had a meeting at the City Chambers on Monday and another vital one today and the regular Tenants'/Residents Association tonight. I'm the Treasurer. Last week I'd to do a presentation for funding for our next project. Got that so now I have to make sure the project is set up and managed efficiently and effectively.

Fleeting visit to London yesterday to catch the show. Arrived mid-afternoon and returned on the Caledonian Sleeper. My sister just had an eye operation and couldn't come. I almost turned in both tickets but something stopped me. I'm glad. I missed From Here to Eternity live, I just couldn't miss Funny Girl. There's no guarantee of another ticket and travelling to London on the off chance of a day ticket is OTT. So what did I think? The show certainly lives up to the hype. The audience was engaged throughout - real theatre - not one mobile went off, no undercurrent whispering not even sweetie rustling. Sheridan Smith? What can you say? Astounding! She must be emotionally and physically exhausted at the end of every show. Darius? Better than ever. The marriage breakdown scenes were excellent. Cracking chemistry and real emotion. Annoyed that again the next scene is on the stage virtually as Darius delivers the last note of Temporary Arrangement, his only solo song and there is no time for applause. The same thing happened with Marking Time in FHTE. That said, it's not a great Styne song. Tricky too but Darius delivers it so well.

http://johnnyfox.co.uk/reviews/review-funn...colate-factory/

http://simonparrismaninchair.com/2016/01/1...ew-london-2016/

I'd think they'd have to cut down on the profanities in the US. I wouldn't be surprised if Darius had the record for most for a lead in a West End or Broadway musical.

Current release date for Imperium is 16th September and the first poster has appeared. http://dan-radcliffe.co.uk/2015/12/first-p...r-for-imperium/

http://theculturedtraveler.org/2015/12/22/...colate-factory/ Scroll down for full review The show is very well cast. Fanny’s obsession with Nick Arnstein is no surprise, thanks to Darius Campbell’s performance. Towering over Fanny, he is both suave leading man and lost soul. And he gives the best vocal performance of the role of anyone I’ve seen or heard. In fact, a number that may have been cut from the original production (or was it written for and subsequently cut from the movie) – “Temporary Arrangement” – has been reinstated for Campbell. The supporting cast delivers the goods. Also, http://talkstageytome.blogspot.co.uk

http://kateinbrockley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/...-chocolate.html I can't believe they've just done 7 shows in 4 days! That seems ridiculous especially as Sheridan has such a demanding role physically and emotionally. She must be onstage nearly as much as Jill was in GWTW.

Good podcast review of Funny Girl - 1st 10 minutes approximately. http://ayu-londontheatre.org/?p=771

https://vickster51corner.wordpress.com/2015...colate-factory/