The sets are far from glamorous. The choreography, while spirited, is uncoordinated. Many actors flub their lines. The pacing drags on. So why should you plunk down $12 to see the "Funny Girl" that opened Tuesday night at CPCC Summer Theatre?
Two words: Mary Setrakian.
This radiant New Yorker has all but made Charlotte's stages her second home. Those of us who have seen and heard her know that she is the genuine article, the best female musical-theater singer to perform in this town in years.
" Funny Girl" is a megastar part with lots of lush songs, but also daunting challenge. Daunting because the 1964 bio-musical about Fanny Brice's rise to stardom in the Ziegfeld Follies more than 80 years ago is so closely associated with the woman "Funny Girl" made a star of: Barbra Streisand singing "People" and "Don't Rain on My Parade."
But Setrakian overcomes all prejudices not only with her voice, which has clarity, power and depth, but also with her winning demeanor, her comedy, her heartfelt connection with the people in this story.
When the raven-haired beauty sings "You Are Woman, I Am Man" with Jerry Colbert (the one singer in town with the talent and dash to play opposite her), you can feel the warmth of her smile in the10th row. When she sings "The Music That Makes Me Dance," you can see the glistening of her tears. When she sings "I'm the Greatest Star," you believe it.
This is a bravura performance the likes of which we rarely hear in Charlotte. If you can't catch it over the next two weeks, don't miss her one-woman show, "A New York Romance," Aug. 8-10 at CPCC. Every city needs a stage star. Charlotte should claim Mary Setrakian for our own. We'll share.
FIND YOURSELF A TICKET "Funny Girl": 8:15 p.m. today-Saturday and July 31-Aug. 3;2:30 p.m. Sunday; and 7 p.m. Tuesday; Pease Auditorium, CPCC. $12. 330-6534,10a.m.-5 p.m. or on show days, 10a.m.-show time on show days.