Funny Girl is a musical with score by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, and book by Isobel Lennart, that first opened on Broadway in 1964. The semi-biographical plot is based on the life and career of comedian and Broadway star Fanny Brice, featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb. Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include Cabaret and Chicago, Kander and Ebb also scored several movies, including Martin Scorsese's New York, New York. Their most famous song is the theme song of that movie. Recorded by many artists, "New York, New York" became a signature song for Frank Sinatra. The team also became associated with two actresses, Liza Minnelli and Chita Rivera, for whom they wrote a considerable amount of material for the stage, concerts and television.
John Harold Kander is an American composer, known largely for his work in the musical theater. As part of the songwriting team Kander and Ebb, Kander wrote the scores for 15 musicals, including Cabaret (1966) and Chicago (1975), both of which were later adapted into acclaimed films. He and Ebb also wrote the standard "New York, New York".
Billy Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman, lyricist and columnist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with shows such as Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt (1931), Jumbo (1935), Billy Rose's Aquacade (1937), and Carmen Jones (1943). As a lyricist, he is credited with many songs, notably "Don't Bring Lulu" (1925), "Tonight You Belong To Me" (1926), "Me and My Shadow" (1927), "More Than You Know" (1929), "Without a Song" (1929), "It Happened in Monterrey" (1930), and "It's Only a Paper Moon" (1933).
Fania Borach, known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedian, illustrated song model, singer, and actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. She is known as the creator and star of the top-rated radio comedy series The Baby Snooks Show.
Raymond Otto Stark was an American film producer and talent agent. Stark's background as a literary and theatrical agent prepared him to produce some of the most profitable films of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, such as The World of Suzie Wong (1960), West Side Story (1961), The Misfits (1961), Lolita (1962), The Night of the Iguana (1964), Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), Funny Girl (1968), The Owl and the Pussycat (1970), The Goodbye Girl (1977), The Toy (1982), Annie (1982), and Steel Magnolias (1989).
Lillian Roth was an American singer and actress.
All Night Long is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Jean-Claude Tramont and starring Gene Hackman, Barbra Streisand, Diane Ladd, Dennis Quaid, Kevin Dobson, and William Daniels. It was written by W. D. Richter.
"People" is a song composed by Jule Styne with lyrics by Bob Merrill for the 1964 Broadway musical Funny Girl starring Barbra Streisand, who introduced the song. The song was released as a single in 1964 with "I Am Woman", a solo version of "You Are Woman, I Am Man", also from Funny Girl.
Funny Girl is a 1968 American biographical-musical film directed by William Wyler and written by Isobel Lennart, adapted from her book for the stage musical of the same title. It is loosely based on the life and career of comedienne Fanny Brice and her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nicky Arnstein.
"Me and My Shadow" is a 1927 popular song. Officially the credits show it as written by Al Jolson, Billy Rose, and Dave Dreyer, with Jolson and Dreyer being shown on the sheet music as being responsible for the music and Rose the lyrics. Al Jolson was often given credits on sheet music so he could earn more money by popularizing them, but he played no actual part in writing this song. Jolson never recorded the song although he did use it in the touring version of "Big Boy" in 1927.
"Mon Homme" ,also known by its English translation, "My Man", is a popular song first published in 1920. The song was originally composed by Maurice Yvain with French lyrics by Jacques-Charles and Albert Willemetz. The English lyrics were written by Channing Pollock.
Mimi Hines is a Canadian actress, singer, and comedian, best known for her appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show and her work on Broadway. She succeeded Barbra Streisand in the original production of Funny Girl.
Lazy Afternoon is the seventeenth studio album recorded by American singer Barbra Streisand. It was released on October 14, 1975, by Columbia Records. Following a mixed critical response to her previous studio album, ButterFly (1974), the singer began working with new musicians for the project. Recorded in April 1975 in Los Angeles, Lazy Afternoon contains pop standards. Producer Rupert Holmes wrote three songs on the album and co-wrote a fourth, "By the Way", with Streisand. She also included a few cover songs, such as Four Tops' "Shake Me, Wake Me ", Stevie Wonder's "You and I", and Libby Holman's "Moanin' Low".
"My Coloring Book" is a song written by Fred Ebb and John Kander. First performed by Sandy Stewart in 1962 on the television program The Perry Como Kraft Music Hall, she was one of the first artists to record the work in 1962 when it was released as a single. She also included the song on her 1963 album which was also named My Coloring Book. Stewart's single charted in the top 20, and so did another 1962 single version of the song recorded by Kitty Kallen. Stewart's recording of the song was nominated for the 1963 Grammy Award for Best Solo Vocal Performance, Female and Kander and Ebb were nominated for the 1963 Grammy Award for Song of the Year. Barbra Streisand also recorded the song as a single in 1962, but it was a financial flop. She made a different recording of the work on her 1963 album, The Second Barbra Streisand Album, which was a critical success and has enjoyed enduring popularity. Many other artists have recorded and performed the song in succeeding decades, most recently Kristin Chenoweth in 2014. While not originally written for one of their musicals, the song was included in the Off-Broadway musical revue And the World Goes ‘Round: The Songs of Kander and Ebb in 1991.
"I'm the Greatest Star" is a popular song from the 1964 musical Funny Girl. The show tune was composed by written by Jule Styne with lyrics by Bob Merrill. Barbra Streisand performed it in the role of Fanny Brice, first in the Broadway cast, then again in the 1968 film adaptation. The song was first included on the original Broadway cast recording album Funny Girl, which was a best-seller in 1964.
"Second Hand Rose" is a 1921 popular song written by Grant Clarke and James F. Hanley for Fanny Brice.
"How Lucky Can You Get" is a song recorded by American vocalist Barbra Streisand for the official soundtrack to the 1975 film Funny Lady. It was released as a 7" single in April 1975 through Arista Records. The song was written by Fred Ebb and John Kander, while production was handled by Peter Matz. "How Lucky Can You Get" is one of the new songs on the soundtrack, with its origins coming from Fanny Brice, the character Streisand portrays in the aforementioned film. The music pertains to Brice herself, particularly the sarcastic nature of the lyrics that are accompanied by an "insistent" melody and production. It was suggested that the pattern of the lyrics may have been influenced by Giacomo Puccini's 1896 opera, La bohème.
Funny Lady is the soundtrack album of the 1975 musical film of the same title, starring Barbra Streisand. Released by Arista Records on March 15, 1975, arranged, conducted, and coordinated by Peter Matz, the album's fifteen tracks are performed by Streisand, James Caan, and Ben Vereen. A sequel to the 1968 musical comedy-drama Funny Girl, the songs extend the semi-biographical account of the life of American performer Fanny Brice. Funny Lady also included songs written by Brice's third husband Billy Rose. New music by Kander and Ebb included "How Lucky Can You Get", the album's only single, released in April 1975.
"I'd Rather Be Blue" (or I'd Rather Be Blue over You (Than Be Happy with Somebody Else)") is a song from the 1928 Warner Bros. musical film My Man, in which it was sung by Fanny Brice.
