Former Understudy Lainie Kazan Says It Took ‘60 Years to Understand’ Why Barbra Streisand Didn&x27;t Want Her Performing “Funny Girl ”Role Victoria EdelMon, April 13, 2026 at 9:06 PM UTC 0 Barbra Streisand in 'Funny Girl' (left); Lainie Kazan in 1967 (left)Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Bettmann Lainie Kazan opened up about her time as Barbra Streisand's understudy in Funny Girl Kazan didn't perform the lead role as Fanny Brice until the show had been open for a year and a half Kazan said that now, 60 years later, she understands why Streisand didn't want her to perform Lainie Kazan h...
Former Understudy Lainie Kazan Says It Took ‘60 Years to Understand’ Why Barbra Streisand Didn't Want Her Performing “Funny Girl ”Role
Victoria EdelMon, April 13, 2026 at 9:06 PM UTC
0
Barbra Streisand in 'Funny Girl' (left); Lainie Kazan in 1967 (left)Credit: Silver Screen Collection/Getty; Bettmann -
Lainie Kazan opened up about her time as Barbra Streisand's understudy in Funny Girl
Kazan didn't perform the lead role as Fanny Brice until the show had been open for a year and a half
Kazan said that now, 60 years later, she understands why Streisand didn't want her to perform
Lainie Kazan has a new perspective on her experience in Funny Girl.
Kazan, known for My Favorite Year, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and The Nanny, appeared on the April 12 episode of That's Classic! for a conversation about her long career.
That career began when Kazan, now 85, was cast as the understudy to Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway. The show premiered in 1964 and was a star vehicle for Barbra Streisand. At the time, Kazan was 24 and Streisand was 21.
“Believe it or not, I didn't go on for a year and a half,” Kazan shared. “And I finally did go on two times in one day, about a year and a half after we opened.” She called it a “really, really difficult job.”
“First of all, I learned so much,” Kazan continued. “It was an extraordinary experience and I learned a lot from Barbra, and I learned what to do and what not to do.”
Some of these lessons included “how to sing,” “how to behave when you're in control or not to behave when you're in control,” and “how to talk to the producers and directors.”
Barbra Streisand (right) in 'Funny Girl' on BroadwayCredit: Snap/Shutterstock
Host John Cato asked what her relationship with Streisand, now 83, was like. “Not very warm or good,” Kazan admitted. But she explained that she now has a different perspective on why that might have been.
“We were both so young and so inexperienced and we were struggling for our self-knowledge. We were struggling to do a great job and... we wanted to be the best at it and we're both very much perfectionists. It was interesting.”
Cato pointed out that both Kazan and Streisand attended Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School. “I was a few years older than her,” Kazan said, guessing that she might have seen her “once or twice” but didn't know her at school.
Advertisement
Asked why she didn't actually go on as Fanny for a year and a half, Kazan explained, “She was such a professional and she went on stage no matter how she felt, and I learned to do that,” she said. “The show must go on. I don't hold any grudges about that.”
She added, “It was her role, her costumes, her part, and she didn't want to share it. And I understand. I do. It took me 60 years to understand it, but I do.”
Funny Girl was Streisand's second Broadway show after I Can Get It For You Wholesale in 1962. Both I Can Get It For You Wholesale and Funny Girl earned her Tony nominations, though she never returned to the stage, instead focusing her career on acting in film.
That began with the 1968 film adaptation of Funny Girl, which won her an Oscar for Best Actress. In 1970, Streisand was awarded the Special Tony Award, recognizing her as “Star of the Decade.”
Lainie Kazan in 2024Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty
In 2025, Streisand told New York Magazine that she felt “trapped” by the success of Funny Girl. Though she received widespread praise for her performance, she said, “Now I had to do a year-and-a-half of the same performance every night. Horrendous.” She compared it to working on movies, where you can do “as many takes as you need.”
The success of the show made her both confident and insecure at the same time. “When the Funny Girl reviews said I was great, I wondered, 'What is great? And what if I'm not great some night?' ” she remembered. “I was always worried about disappointing the audience.”
Kazan, meanwhile, had appeared on Broadway in 1961's The Happiest Girl in the World and 1962's Bravo Giovanni. After Funny Girl, she didn't return to the stage until 1992's My Favorite Year, an adaptation of the 1982 film of the same name, which she had also starred in. It earned her a nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical. She also starred on Broadway in The Government Inspector in 1994.
Funny Girl, based on the life of Brice and her relationship with Nicky Arnstein, was revived on Broadway in April 2022 with Beanie Feldstein leading the production. Lea Michele took over in September 2022.
Kazan is perhaps best known for her role as Maria Portokalos, the mother of Nia Vardalos's Toula, in 2002's My Big Fat Greek Wedding. She reprised her role in the 2016 and 2023 sequels.
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: April 14, 2026 at 01:00AM on Source: RED MAG
#ShowBiz#Sports#Celebrities#Lifestyle