The musical comedy “Funny Girl,” which tells the story of Fanny Brice, runs Sept. 26 to Oct. 28 at Detroit’s Fisher Theater. For tickets, go to BroadwayInDetroit.com, Ticketmaster.com or the Fisher Theater box office.
As fall arrives, local theaters begin their new seasons, with the Fisher welcoming the tour of the musical comedy “Funny Girl” and Theatre and Dance at Wayne presenting the Lauren Gunderson drama “Silent Sky,” which explores the challenges of a pioneering female astronomer in the early 1900s at Harvard.
‘FUNNY GIRL’ SET TO DAZZLE IN FISHER SEASON OPENER
The musical comedy revival of “Funny Girl,” based on the life of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, popularized by Barbra Streisand in the original Broadway production, launches the Broadway in Detroit season Sept. 26 to Oct. 8 at the Fisher Theater.
The show features a score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart.
The show follows the life of Brice, as well as her stormy relationship with gambling businessman Nicky Arnstein.
The 1964 production was nominated for eight Tony Awards, with the 2022 revival nominated for one Tony.
In 2004, the original cast recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
The show, set in New York City before and after World War I, is told in flashback, following the lives of Ziegfeld Follies star Brice and her husband, Nicky Arnstein, reflecting on their tumultuous lives.
Brice rises from a star-struck vaudevillian teen to a Broadway star, and her character performs the show’s most popular numbers, including “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
The touring production stars Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice, Grammy Award-winner Melissa Manchester as Mrs. Brice and Stephen Mark Lukas as Nick Arnstein.
The show runs 8 p.m. Sept. 26 to 30 and Oct. 3 to 7, 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1 and 8 and 2 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1, 7 and 8 at the Fisher Theater, 3011 W. Grand Blvd. in Detroit.
Tickets start at $35 and are available at the Fisher Theater box office and online at BroadwayinDetroit.com and Ticketmaster.com.
Theatre and Dance at Wayne present Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky” Sept. 29 through Oct. 15 in the studio theatre at the Hilberry Gateway. For tickets or more information, call 313-577-2972 or go to TheatreandDance.wayne.edu.
‘SILENT SKY’ OPENS WSU THEATER SEASON
Lauren Gunderson’s “Silent Sky,” a drama about a pioneering woman astronomer in the early 1900s at the Harvard Observatory, opens the theater season at Wayne State University Sept. 29 to Oct. 15 in the Studio Theater at the Hilberry Gateway complex.
When Henrietta Leavitt begins to work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, women were treated as mere clerical number crunchers, and were even forbidden to touch a telescope, let alone express their ideas.
Soon, she and other budding female astronomers begin to work together, trying to make both scientific and social progress, despite their theories being both dismissed and stolen.
While Leavitt attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she also tries to find answers and balance in her personal life as well.
Performances are 8 p.m. Sept. 29 and 30 and Oct. 6, 7, 13 and 14; 7 p.m. Oct. 5, 2 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 4, 7 and 14, and 3 p.m. Oct. 15 for the closing show.
The Society of Physics Students will perform demonstrations before the 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Oct. 7 performances, and Ed Cacket, Ph.D., Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department, will present a 30-minute pre-show talk Oct. 15 about the life and important work of Henrietta Leavitt.
“Silent Sky” tickets are $25 for general admission, $20 for seniors, WSU alumni and WSU employees, and $15 for students.
To purchase tickets, contact the box office at 313-577-2972 or go to TheatreandDance.Wayne.edu.
Wayne State University’s planetarium invites the public to learn more about the wonders of the solar system through its state-of-the-art Spitz high-definition digital system, with public shows on select Friday evenings. For more information, go to planetarium.wayne.edu.