FUNNY GIRL'S MEGHAN ROSE

Anyone with even the faintest knowledge of Broadway musicals knows that Barbra Streisand is inextricably identified with Fanny Brice, the central character in the Broadway musical Funny Girl. It is the role that catapulted her to stardom. Her tender and achingly beautiful rendition of the show's celebrated ballad, People, placed her at the zenith of American popular vocalists; a position she has yet to yield.

So, can a talented young performer step into the role of an icon whose life was immortalized by an iconic performer more than 50 years later? A smart one can. Meghan Rose, who will inhabit Ms. Brice this fall on the Concord Players' stage is indeed one smart cookie, and she's drawn upon all her experience and skill as an actor to bring an authentic performance to this role depicting an American performer whose life has become the stuff of legend.

Born to Jewish immigrants in 1891 on New York's lower east side, Brice was an agile, multi-talented performer who reinvented herself many times to adapt to trends in entertainment. From Vaudeville to Burlesque, and eventually in Florenz Ziegfield's Follies, she was savvy in finding ways to fit her unique looks and unconventional performance style into whatever venue would have her. She stunned audiences one night as a singer with a solo performance of My Man, dropping all the schtick and funny business that had been her signature. The depth of her vocal talent was revealed as she stood alone on the stage, passionately intoning the lament of a woman's enduring but unrequited love, a lament that she herself was living. The song became her signature and audiences thereafter clamored to hear her sing it.

If anyone has the acting and singing chops to re-create this role in 2019, it's Meghan Rose. Singing since toddlerhood, Meghan learned under the baton of her musical director father who would sing with her on a regular basis in their basement. The movie rendition of Funny Girl was a staple of her family entertainment. Through High School, then the Brind School at the University of the Arts (where she obtained a BFA in Musical Theater) and finally to the Big White Way, Meghan advanced her career, a career that has primed her for this role.

Cast in the Broadway National Tour of Annie, throughout the course of the year she did almost 300 shows in over 40 cities. A brief jaunt with television brought big challenges, and an exciting new environment, but the thrill of a live audience kept calling her back so she returned to the stage. In the midst of it all, she and her husband decided to have a baby so she moved back to Boston to be near family. With her little guy eight months old now, she's ready to get back on the boards which has turned out to be a stroke of luck for The Concord Players.

Clearly unafraid of taking on monumental challenges, Meghan was delighted to step into this role. "I was drawn to the role of Fanny Brice because of the immense challenge it brings. It's very vocally demanding and the music is quite diverse. Jazzy and brassy 'Cornet Man', beautiful ballads like 'People', big belty show stoppers like 'Don't Rain On My Parade', comedic whipper-snappers like 'Greatest Star', old-time musical theatre love duets like 'I Wanna Be Seen With You', mock opera in 'Beautiful Bride' - Fanny sings it all and she does it well and that's a rare and exciting challenge within one show."

Only a woman as multi-talented as Brice and Streisand could dare take on the role and Meghan surely is, but she is also prudent in her approach. "This role was so brilliantly executed by Barbra Streisand. Her performance is iconic," she says. "So when taking this on myself I understood that unless I completely took Fanny back to the drawing board and discovered her from scratch on my own, every note I sing and line I read will be echoing Barbara's choices in the audiences' mind." See what we mean? Smart cookie.

As all good actors do, Meghan has immersed herself in history to understand the real Fanny Brice. "To really tear the script apart and look into history and rediscover who this woman was and figure out how I could use my own life experience to tell her story is incredibly exciting," she notes, "but it's just what has to happen."

Guided by the words of one of our time's colossal artistic geniuses, she sets her path: "My favorite quote is 'Anything you do, let it come from you. Then it will be new. Give us more to see' by Stephen Sondheim." And that's how she will re-invent Fanny, who was, herself, the master of reinvention. "The success of playing an iconic role comes in your ability to rediscover it again for the first time. I love to take music and find nuances and meaning that no one has found before. That's why I do this. This is Meghan's version of Fanny which will be, and should be, a new discovery of this character."

Director Brian Kelly couldn't be happier. "With this show I want to create a wall of sound like nobody's ever heard before," he said, "and to re-create the world that Fanny lived in." To that end, he's cast a talented ensemble of performers to surround her, all of whom will bring the color and energy of her time to life. As for Meghan, "She's got everything it takes and more to live up to the challenge," he says. "I'm thrilled to have her in this role."

The feeling is mutual. "Working with director Brian Kelly is always a phenomenal experience," she says. "He is such an ingenious, intuitive, compassionate man. Being in a rehearsal space with him is so innovative and collaborative - it feels like you're really creating something unique and authentic together. He's brilliant."

"...give us more to see," says Sondheim. This fall, The Concord Players will do just that.

Performances run November 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23 at 8:00 pm with matinees on November 10 and 17 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $28.00 and can be purchased on-line, by email, or by calling the Box Office at 978-369-2990 and leaving a detailed message. Subscriptions for the entire season are also still available. All performances take place at The Performing Arts Center, 51 Walden Street in concord Center. The theater is handicapped accessible.

--Linda McConchie