Funny Girl

Let’s cut to the chase. The main reason for catching this revival of Funny Girl is Sheridan Smith recreating Barbra Streisand’s indelible performance way back in the 1960s. Indeed, so fevered was the clamour for tickets to see Sheridan that the entire run at the Menier Chocolate Factory, where it plays until 5 March, was sold out in 90 minutes.

Moreover, spurred on by the unprecedented demand, the producers announced a transfer to the West End before the show had even opened at the Menier. Thus it is that Funny Girl will play at the Savoy from April, with the closing date now extended into September.

So is Ms Smith worth the price of entry? You betcha! From the moment she fizzes onto the stage, this is a fully realised portrait of an essentially plain girl made beautiful courtesy of her personality and towering talent. She manages to be touching, tender and tough by turns, with a sense of comic timing that finds laughs where you wouldn’t have thought they existed.

There is also something inherently funny about the pocket rocket-sized Fanny falling for tall, handsome Nick Arnstein (Darius Campbell, very good). Look out for a hilarious framed wedding photo that highlights this physical mismatch.

Sheridan can sing, too, even if she’s happier with the belters, like Don’t Rain On My Parade, than the more wistful ballads, like People – though in fairness, when I saw it she was battling a head cold that forced her to cancel the next two performances.

She has plenty of good support, notably from her lifelong friend Eddie Ryan (Joel Montague), half in love with her for as long as he can remember. And there's the triumvirate of her mother (the excellent Marilyn Cutts) and two card-playing buddies (Gay Soper and Valda Aviks), acting as a cross between a Greek chorus and three comic witches.

If, in the end, it doesn’t quite qualify for a fifth star, it’s got nothing to do with this zesty production or the performances. Harvey Fierstein has done what he can with the book for the second half, but as with the Judy Garland film A Star Is Born, it’s downhill all the way after the interval, as Nick’s gambling debts catch up with him. Never mind. It’s Sheridan’s night and she’ll have you on your feet at the end.

From 9 April to 10 September at the Savoy Theatre, Strand, London WC2: 0844-871 7687 or www.atgtickets.com/venues/savoy-theatre