52 | SEPTEMBER 21 • 2023 

T

he last time Melissa Manchester went 
out on a theatrical national tour, 
it was 1987. Manchester took over 
the starring role from Bernadette Peters in 
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance. 
Now, 36 years later, Manchester’s hitting the 
road again, this time as Ziegfeld star Fanny 
Brice’s mother in the first national tour of the 
revival of Funny Girl.
Funny Girl, starring Lea Michele as Fanny 
Brice, Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein 
and Tovah Feldshuh as Mrs. Brice, closed 
on Broadway on Sept. 3. Just six days later, 
Funny Girl kicked off the tour in Providence, 
Rhode Island. Funny Girl then goes to 

Michigan for stops in Grand Rapids and 
Detroit’s Fisher Theatre (Sept. 26-Oct. 8). 
The tour stars Katerina McCrimmon as 
Fanny, Stephen Mark Lukas as Arnstein and 
Manchester as Fanny’s Jewish mother, Rose 
Brice.
“My maternal grandfather was one of the 
founders of a small Orthodox temple in the 
Bronx, but my mother did not raise my sis-
ter and I as Orthodox. We were very, very 
Reform. My father was an atheist, so it was 
a very interesting push/pull,” says Grammy 
Award-winning Manchester, who had 19 
Billboard charted hits including “Don’t Cry 
Out Loud,
” “Through the Eyes of Love” and 

“Y
ou Should Hear How She Talks About Y
ou.
”
“My mother lit the candles every Friday 
night and davened, and it was just beautiful. 
As she got older, my mother felt guilty that 
my sister and I were never schooled formally 
in the Judaic tenets. I kept reassuring her 
that, by leaving me alone, I was able to come 
to my belief system on my own, thankfully.
”
And when she turned 50, Manchester 
had herself bat mitzvah at the Stephen Wise 

 Through the 
 Eyes of Love

ARTS&LIFE
THEATER

Melissa Manchester celebrates a career 
milestone on tour with Funny Girl.

JULIE SMITH YOLLES CONTRIBUTING WRITER

LEFT: Funny 
Girl comes to 
Detroit’s Fisher 
Theatre Sept. 
26-Oct. 8.
BELOW: Melissa 
Manchester 
stars as Mrs. 
Rose Brice in the 
national tour of 
Funny Girl.

EVAN ZIMMERMAN FOR MURPHYMADE

