© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Broadway is Back: Funny Girl taps Jared Grimes to play Eddie Ryan

Jared Grimes, center, with, foreground from left: Feldstein, Jane Lynch, Toni DiBuono, Amber Ardolino and Leslie Blake Walker.Credit...
Sarah Krulwich
/
New York Times
Jared Grimes, center, with, foreground from left: Feldstein, Jane Lynch, Toni DiBuono, Amber Ardolino and Leslie Blake Walker.Credit...

The first ever Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” since its original run closed in 1967 opened on Sunday night featuring one of the most iconic scores of all time by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, a revised book from Harvey Fierstein based on the original classic by Isobel Lennart, tap choreography by Ayodele Casel, choreography by Ellenore Scott, and direction from Michael Mayer. The production stars Bean Feldstein as Fanny Brice, Ramin Karmiloo as Nick Arnstein, Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice, and Jared Grimes as Eddie Ryan.

Jared Grimes is a quadruple threat - excelling at singing, dancing, acting, and choreographing. He has danced alongside Wynton Marsalis, Gregory Hines, Ben Vereen, Jerry Lewis and toured with Mariah Carey, under the choreography of Marty Kudelka, and danced for artists such as Common, Salt-n-Pepa, Envogue, Busta Rhymes and the Roots. He choreographed “After Midnight” on Broadway and served as co-choreographer on “Holler if You Hear Me” - the Tupac musical. He most recently appeared on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of “A Solider’s Play” by Charles Fuller.

When I recorded this conversation with Jared Grimes, the company was in rehearsals. “Funny Girl” opened this past Sunday.

Stay Connected
Sarah has been a public radio producer for over fifteen years. She grew up in Saranac Lake, New York where she worked part-time at Pendragon Theatre all through high school and college. She graduated from UAlbany in 2006 with a BA in English and started at WAMC a few weeks later as a part-time board-op in the control room. Through a series of offered and seized opportunities she is now the Senior Contributing Producer of The Roundtable and Producer of The Book Show. During the main thrust of the Covid-19 pandemic shut-down, Sarah hosted a live Instagram interview program "A Face for Radio Video Series." On it, Sarah spoke with actors, musicians, comedians, and artists about the creative activities they were accomplishing and/or missing.
Related Content
  • Broadway is Back and “Beetlejuice” has returned from the dead – which is a little on the nose for "Beetlejuice," if we’re being honest.Based on Tim Burton’s film, “Beetlejuice: The Musical” is directed by Alex Timbers with Music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect and a book by Scott Brown and Anthony King. The opened at The Winter Garden Theatre in April 2019 and was scheduled to close to make room for the revival of The Music Man (which plays there now) but closed early when covid-19 arrived in New York City in 2020. The show’s popularity surged on social media and in cast recording sales over the pandemic and the producers found a new stage for the show to open again.Now at The Marquis Theater, much - but not all - of the cast is populated by the same actors as before – including the wonderful and winning Kerry Butler who plays Barbara Maitlin.Kerry Butler’s Broadway credits include "Mean Girls," "Xanadu," "Hairspray," "Beauty and the Beast," "Disaster!," "Catch Me If You Can," "Rock of Ages," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Les Misérables," "Blood Brothers," and "The Best Man."
  • In March 2020 - all of Broadway closed. All the marquees dimmed and an industry of creatives, thespians, technicians, and designers, builders, house managers, and many others were unemployed until at least August or September of 2021. As of now, many shows have moved back into their theaters and new plays, musicals, and revivals are opening in time for this June’s Tony Awards. In our Broadway is Back series, we’re going to preview several Broadway shows by speaking with an actor or director (or sometimes more than one) each day this week.First up: Brittney Johnson is currently toss-tossing her curls on stage at The Gershwin theater as Glinda in “Wicked.” Based on the novel of the same name by Gregory Maguire, “Wicked” opened in 2003 with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, book by Winnie Holzman, and was Directed by Joe Mantello. In the intervening years, “Wicked” has proven to be a global phenomenon. Brittney Johnson’s Broadway credits include “Les Mis,” “Motown,” “Sunset Boulevard,” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”
  • On April 5, director Jamie Lloyd’s Oliver Award winning revival of “Cyrano de Bergerac” will begin performances at Brooklyn Academy of Music, having run in the West End to great acclaim. For the production, Edmund Rostand’s classic text has been newly adapted from its original French verse into English (still verse) by long-working playwriting-maestro Martin Crimp. James McAvoy embodies the title character wholly and imbues the brilliant wordsmith he plays with humor and humanity. The swagger of this Cyrano is different and the entire story feels - if not new - more urgent. The production is stealthy in its minimalism and inspiring in its palpable adoration of language.Director Jamie Lloyd and actor James McAvoy join us.