“Funny Girl”: Did Barbra Put A Curse On Her?
Sheridan Smith (pictured), who has been lighting up London’s West End in a revival of “Funny Girl,” has been forced to withdraw from the show for up to a month after suffering from “stress and exhaustion,” it was announced on Thursday. Smith’s understudy Natasha J Barnes will play the role of Fanny Brice while she takes a two to four week leave of absence from the production. The musical made a star of Barbra Streisand in 1964 but has never been revived on Broadway. Even though the production was more than a half-century ago, there are plenty of people still alive who remember it in detail — not to mention the movie version. And what Broadway star wants to be compared with Babs? But bravo to Sheridan Smith for leaping ahead anyway.
