Liz McCartney Talks Playing Mrs. Brice in Funny Girl & Doing it Cause You Can't Not Do It!

Liz McCartney.

By. Kevin Ray Johnson (Staff Writer for OnStage Blog)

It is my biggest honor to introduce you to Liz McCartney. This Broadway veteran will be taking over the role of Mrs. Brice in the revival of Funny Girl from August 16–September 4th. On Broadway, Liz has performed in Sunday In The Park With George, My Fair Lady, Les Misérables, The Phantom Of The Opera, The Dance Of The Vampires, TABOO, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Mamma Mia, South Pacific, and Annie. She has also performed in theNational Tours of The Little Mermaid, Souvenir, Cinderella, Les Misérables, The Phantom Of The Opera, The Rocky Horror Show, and Wickedas well as been seen on Television in “The Blacklist,” “The Other Two,” “Annie-Live,” “Madam Secretary,” “Murphy Brown,” “Bull.”

I cannot express my appreciation for every Standby, Understudy, and Swings on Broadway during these times. Truly the unsung hero of the entire Broadway community, Liz is an inspiration to me and many others. I am so happy that she gets her moment to shine in this long-awaited revival and even more grateful to have the chance to feature her in my series for OnStage Blog.

How old were you when you knew you wanted to be a Performer?

Well, I’m the youngest of four and my two older sisters sang and performed when they were kids, so I guess I started around five, mainly to get attention.

Where did you study? Are there any mentors that helped make you the Amazing Performer you are today?

I went to college at the Boston Conservatory, but the studying never stops. I haven’t taken a class in a few years, but I learn something from every experience. From this experience, I had to relearn to listen. I was a part of the rehearsal process, but I wasn’t as involved because I was standing by, so I didn’t think my opinion was important. Turns out after listening to a little, my opinion WAS important.

Congratulations on taking over for Mrs. Brice in Funny Girl for the upcoming weeks. You are such an unbelievably talented performer. How does it feel to play Mrs. Brice in this long-awaited revival?

I had gone on for Mrs. Strakosh and Mrs. Meeker, but I hadn’t been on for Mrs. Brice until Beanie Feldstein’s final performance as Fanny. She was so giving and generous and genuinely surprised when I started to sing, that it crossed one thing off my bucket list. But I am so happy to be performing with my friend Julie Benko. Julie is phenomenal and it’s cute that she calls me her “standby sister”, because I am old enough that I could actually be her mother!

Are there any other shows, performances, or moments in your career that will always stick out and be near and dear to your heart?

I have performed with and met some incredible people, but my favorite moments were making Stephen Sondheim laugh! I was called back for the revival of ‘Forum’, that didn’t happen, and I did something that my friend calls “a Muppet exit” and he laughed loudly! When I was leaving the room, I heard him say “that’s our Domina!” He laughed at the two other shows I did with him, but THAT one I’ll remember forever.

What advice would you give any young artist who would like a career in the performing arts?

To quote my friend Danny Burstein, “we don’t do this because we can, we do this because we can’t not!”

I was teaching an audition class about a year and a half ago and I asked this one amazing young performer to look at something in the room that makes her happy. She looked at all the show posters on the walls and started crying. I said, like a smart-ass “that’s the opposite of what I wanted you to do”. She told me that she wants to do this for a living, but her guidance counselor advised against it, because “it’s scary business and it’s hard!” NO KIDDING! But, (and here comes another quote) “if it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great!” Tom Hanks in A League Of Their Own.
A lot of time, sacrifice, tears, and missing moments in my children’s lives, have gone into this career so far. And I’ve quit about a thousand times, but this is who I am and as Danny said, I don’t do it because I can - I can do lots of things - I do it because I can’t not!

Liz McCartney will be taking over the role of Mrs. Brice in Funny Girl from August 16th- September 4th, 2022 at The August Wilson Theatre. For more information, please visit -https://funnygirlonbroadway.com