October 10, 2001

Contact: Karen Lane Christilles, Lied Center, (785) 864-2794.

Lied Center brings Broadway's bright lights to Lawrence with 'Funny Girl'

LAWRENCE -- The Lied Center of Kansas Broadway & Beyond Series presents "Funny Girl" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6. This musical is about Fanny Brice, a gawky girl whose love for the stage drives her until she becomes Ziegfeld's brightest star. One of the biggest smash-hit musical comedies of its time, this award-winning production, told mostly in flashback, re-creates all the splendor of the Ziegfeld Follies of the 1920s and poignantly reveals the private life of its greatest singing comedienne.

"Funny Girl" is a retelling of parts of the career of the real Fanny Brice, who was born in New York in 1891. In 1910, she made her first stage appearance in Brooklyn in "A Royal Slave" and entered vaudeville. That same year, she had her first role in a Ziegfeld show.

She arrived in Hollywood in the 1930s and made innumerable films, performing her familiar sketches and songs. One of her most memorable screen appearances was portraying herself in "The Great Ziegfeld."

"Funny Girl" travels with a seven-piece band. The first act runs 90 minutes and is followed by a 20-minute intermission; the second act runs 60 minutes.

Tickets for reserved seats are on sale at the Lied Center, (785) 864-ARTS; Murphy Hall, (785) 864-3982; SUA (785) 864-SHOW; Ticketmaster (785) 234-4545 or (816) 931-3330; and online at Tickets.com. Tickets cost $40 and $34, $20 and $17 for KU and Haskell students and children under age 18, and $39 and $33 for seniors.

Lied Center facilities, parking and front-of-house staff are fully prepared to accommodate patrons with special needs. Wheelchair locations are available on all levels of the performance hall. Headsets for patrons requiring hearing-assistance or audio-description devices are available for no charge in the main lobby. Please note that photo identification will be requested when reserving the headset. Braille and large-print programs are also available. Please contact our ticket office at least two weeks before the event to make arrangements. This event will be audio-described and sign-interpreted.