Attention, Fanny Brice Wannabes! L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre Launches Online Search for a Funny Girl Star

If you’ve always dreamed of thrilling audiences with your rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles is offering what may be your best shot: an online casting call for the role of Fanny Brice in a 2012 production of Funny Girl to be directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific, The Light in the Piazza). According to Center Theatre Group’s website, the company is seeking audition videos from women ages 21 to 35 to play the feisty musical heroine.

The casting notice describes the demands of the role of Fanny (created on stage and screen by Barbra Streisand) in stark terms: “The woman who will play Fanny Brice must have an unforgettably thrilling voice with a big range (E below middle C to a high F; Mezzo with a high mix or belt) and great comic skill, masking deep insecurity and pain. She is a once-in-a-generation talent, and must have excellent comedic timing.” Fanny hopefuls are asked to submit one video of no more than 90 seconds, singing a song that shows off their personality.

Sher elaborates on the decision to conduct a digital casting search: “Fanny Brice is an extraordinary role that requires an equally extraordinary actress,” the director explains on the website. “By adding this open and inclusive online audition system to our more traditional casting efforts we can, in essence, launch a nationwide search into every city and town in America.”

Funny Girl, the rags-to-riches, road-to-stardom story of legendary entertainer Fanny Brice and her enduring love for rakish Nicky Arnstein, will begin previews in L.A. on January 15, 2012, and open on February 1, playing through February 26. No word on whether Sher (who has directed four shows for Lincoln Center Theater, including this season’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) might be eyeing a Broadway transfer for the production.