Funny Girl (film) to the film was released by Columbia Records in 1968. Isobel Lennart originally wrote "Funny Girl" as a screenplay for a drama film entitled "My Man" for producer Ray Stark, but when he offered it to Mary Martin, she suggested it might work better as a stage musical. Lennart consequently adapted her script for what eventually became a successful Broadway production starring Barbra Streisand. Although she had not made any films, Streisand was Stark's first and only choice to portray Brice onscreen. "I just felt she was too much a part of Fanny, and Fanny was too much a part
Funny Girl (musical) until the show closed. The First National Tour gave top billing to Lillian Roth as Mrs. Brice, Anthony George as Nicky and Marilyn Michaels third billed as Fanny. The Australasian premiere season commenced March 4, 1966 at the Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. The production starred Jill Perryman as Fanny Brice. A 1996 United States National tour starred Debbie Gibson as Fanny Brice and Robert Westenberg as Nicky Arnstein. The planned 30-city tour started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 1996, but ended prematurely in November 1996 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1999, The Production Company produced "Funny Girl" in Melbourne, starring