Melissa Manchester first saw the musical Funny Girl, starring the legendary Barbra Streisand on Broadway as indomitable comedienne-singer Fanny Brice, when she was “a very little girl,” she says. Now, since 2023, Manchester has been starring in the first national tour in 60 years as Fanny’s equally redoubtable mother, in a production that marks the return of a big Broadway musical to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall following historic flooding from Hurricane Milton that cancelled the first part of the 2024-25 season.

It's a role she “wanted to be sure I auditioned for,” she said in a recent interview. “I prepared an audition, and they offered me the national tour. I’ve been in it since the beginning. I always thought it was a beautiful show with a remarkable score, and several songs that became American standards.”

In the show’s current version, she adds, “The refinement of the book by Harvey Fierstein really made it, fleshed out the storyline and made it very compelling. What I have found in being part of this historic event is that it’s not regarded as a throwback. It’s grown into this time.”

Depending on your age and background, you may know Manchester better as a singer-songwriter than as an actress, with hits including “Midnight Blue,” “Come in from the Rain” and her Grammy-winning “You Should Hear How She Talks About You,” dating back to the start of her career more than 50 years ago. But she’s also made time over the decades to appear on film, TV and the stage, so playing Mrs. Brice was natural enough for her.

Manchester says the show, which made Streisand a star back in 1964, today “resonates in this moment with the triumph of a person who keeps hearing ‘no’ and keeps saying ‘yes.’ Fierstein gave all the major characters a true emotional journey. You really understand why Fanny fell in love with Nick [Arnstein], and why he fell in love with her. Through today’s eyes, you see that in 1908 to 1928, when the story takes place, there wasn't language for gambling addition or co-dependence or the psychology of raising a kid. Everybody was just sort of struggling to get through.”

Manchester praises the touring production cast and crew, too. “This is a gorgeous production, with 30 dancers onstage tapping their brains out, and the pit is beautiful,” she says. “I feel like an honored guest at a very special party. I love this character; I know everything about her. And I bring everything I know to this role. I’m a mother, now a grandma, so I know what it’s like to have kids where one [like Fanny] is the squeaky wheel. You love them all. Fanny’s mother had three kids, but Fanny was the one who was insistent and urgent, with needing to express herself, and people didn’t see her value. It’s more of an acting role; I don’t sing that much in it.”

The lead role of Fanny is being played by Hannah Shankman, taking over from Katerina McCrimmon. Shankman was previously the standby for the role, and she has Broadway credits for Wicked, Les Miserables and Side Show. Manchester says Shankman is “wonderfully talented and a super comedic actress. It’s a tour de force role, and you have to have thunderous stamina to pull it off every night.”

With her less demanding role, Manchester says although she’s crossed the nation back and forth, “This is the first time I’m really seeing it. When the onus is on you to sing, you’re more protective of your voice. I get out and around in each place we go and really see it. I got to go apple picking last fall, and we had kind of a hysterical Thanksgiving—I did the cooking because I had a kitchen in my suite, and we had hors d’oeuvres in one room, dessert in one room, and so on.” She adds that she feels, “I’ve been part of a village for almost two years, and I don’t know if I’ll see these people or work with them again, so the memories will be exquisite.”

Funny Girl runs Jan. 14-19 at the Van Wezel. For tickets, call (941) 263-6799 or visit the box office or vanwezel.org.