It appears that Katerina McCrimmon was destined to star in “Funny Girl.”
“When I was in high school, I dated this boy and his mother told me I would play Fanny Brice someday,” says the affable actress, 26, who has been earning rave reviews for her role in the Broadway show’s national tour.
“She looked at me and she said, ‘You’re so funny, you’re so quirky. Have you seen “Funny Girl?”’” McCrimmon said during a recent visit to San Francisco’s Orpheum Theatre, where she wowed a select audience with a sneak peek of the show, which begins a four-week run here on April 30.
At that point, the Florida teenager watched the 1968 movie about the famed comedienne, actress and singer. She had seen it just once before she secured the juicy part that made Barbra Streisand a star. Later, she watched the film’s “iconic performance” for a second time.
“I just felt I had to pay my respect again,” says McCrimmon, adding, “obviously, I’m not going to be Barbra Streisand, but I can still watch the movie and love it and admire it and put it away when it’s time to work.”
After she got the role—which unusually occurred after a single callback following a video submission in which she sang “Don’t Rain On My Parade”—McCrimmon saw Lea Michele on Broadway: “It was an out-of-body experience. I was seeing this celebrity that I’ve looked up to since I was a kid. And, I’m like, ‘I’m going to be doing what she’s doing. I’m going to be wearing those costumes.’ This is insane!”
Having toured with the show for about six months, with about 200 performances under her belt, McCrimmon says the tune “I’m the Greatest Star” is her current favorite: “It feels like it’s where I’m at in my life right now.”
Still, she’s enamored with Jule Styne’s entire score: “Literally, the music moves you to tears. It tells a story. It doesn’t spoon feed you. It’s timeless,” she says.
The natural born singer, who attended performing arts schools and earned a degree in musical theater from Florida State University, has been onstage since she was a child. She’s had a few mishaps along the way.
Playing Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray,” she chuckles, “Doing ‘You Can’t Stop the Beat,’ I smacked Link in the face and broke my finger.’” And in rehearsal as a chorus member in “The Gondoliers,” she broke a toe.
More recently, in “Funny Girl,” a glass somehow broke in her hand during the dinner scene when Nick is seducing Fanny. She says, “Good thing it wasn’t too deep of a cut and it was just one finger. I was silently freaking out, thinking, ‘What am I going to do? I’m going to get blood on my costume.’” Thanks to adrenaline, she powered through.
McCrimmon, who in 2016 was Presidential Scholar in the Arts and National YoungArts Winner in Theatre, loved her first professional part, in “Hair,” in a South Carolina repertory theater: “I got naked on stage! I was 19 years old,” she says, gleefully.
Among her dream roles are Elphaba in “Wicked,” or to portray Mrs. Lovett in “Sweeney Todd” — again. She had the part as a kid in Florida, but says, “I would love to play her again as a woman, but that might be another 20 years from now.”
Another favorite part was in a “cool, obscure” musical called “Ride the Cyclone” as one of “six kids who die in a roller coaster” at McCarter Theatre Center in New Jersey. ““You would think it’s sad, but it’s actually hilarious, because they’re stuck in this, like, purgatory.”
Her big break, though, came in 2019 when she was discovered by Marisa Tomei, who saw her YoungArts competition video online, and helped cast her as an understudy in a revival of “The Rose Tattoo.”
“I was on Broadway without a rep. It’s unheard of, really. I was still in school,” says McCrimmon.
Interestingly, her success in New York and on a high-profile tour haven’t had a concrete impact on her psyche: “I don’t think it ever hit me, being on Broadway,” she says. And responding to superlative reviews (she’s been called a “tour de force” who more closely resembles Brice than her famous predecessors), she says, “My cheeks hurt. I feel like I’m in a dream.”
While she’s looking forward to getting to know San Francisco during her time off, on her first visit to California, the Queens, N.Y. resident someday would like to be part of a new story: “More than anything, I would love to originate a role,” she says.
Also a burgeoning singer-songwriter, McCrimmon hopes to dive into that pursuit after the “Funny Girl” tour ends. Calling her sound “mainly folk” and “I hope, like Joni Mitchell,” she says with a smile, “It’s very different from what I’m doing now. It’s not going to be nearly as loud!”
“Funny Girl” runs April 30-May 26 at the Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market St., San Francisco. Tickets are $55 to $160 at (888) 746-1799, opt. 3, or www.broadwaysf.com.