Funny Girl (musical) was halted 15 minutes in. She was replaced by her understudy, Natasha J Barnes, who continued to play the role until Smith's eventual return on July 8. A UK tour of the Menier production began in February 2017, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. After vey favourable reviews, both Smith and Barnes returned to the role of Fanny Brice and alternative venues throughout the UK tour. A production of "Funny Girl" was also performed at John Cooper Studio, York from 25 to 28 July 2018. Streisand's label, Columbia Records, declined to produce the cast album, so Capitol Records released it. It
Funny Girl (musical) Finally, Isobel Lennart submitted "My Man", which pleased both Stark and Columbia Pictures executives, who offered Stark $400,000 plus a percentage of the gross for the property. After reading the screenplay, Mary Martin contacted Stark and proposed it be adapted for a stage musical. Stark discussed the possibility with producer David Merrick, who suggested Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim compose the score. Sondheim told Styne, "I don't want to do the life of Fanny Brice with Mary Martin. She's not Jewish. You need someone ethnic for the part." Shortly after, Martin lost interest in the project and backed out. Merrick