Kimberly Faye Greenberg proves Fanny Brice is still wanted

KIMBERLY FAYE GREENBERG

FRONT & CENTER

Below: Fanny Brice on stage in dress with floral garland in her hair.

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Kimberly Faye Greenberg

proves Fanny Brice is still wanted

Nobody wants a book about Fanny Brice!” That bit of vitriol comes from “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, a 2018 Oscar-nominated film based on real-life biographer Lee Israel. A literary agent is assuring her in no uncertain terms that Brice, Jewish comedienne, Ziegfeld Follies/Broadway, radio and film star, is an unsellable subject for a biography. The agent ushers Israel out of her office shouting, “There is nothing new or sexy about Fanny Brice!”

If you look at a picture of her and a picture of me, it’s uncanny the resemblance.”

~Kimberley Faye Greenberg

The moment is funny because it drives the introverted Israel to do something outrageous and criminal to boot.

But nobody has more reason to laugh at the agent’s assessment of Brice’s irrelevance than Kimberly Faye Greenberg, a New York actress, singer, writer and career coach. After all “Fanny has gotten me a lot of jobs,” she said.

Greenberg was in musical theater growing up, and her high school teacher told her of her striking resemblance to Brice. Greenberg didn’t really know who that was but was stunned after seeing a photo. “If you look at a picture of her and a picture of me, it’s uncanny the resemblance,” Greenberg said. She was intrigued but had no way of knowing then what a big part Brice would come to play in her career.

After moving to New York in 2000, Greenberg did the grunt work of an aspiring Broadway actress, getting small parts and keeping connected to the theater however she could, like working as a dresser for Broadway shows.

Things really started to happen once she played Sylvia Fine, Danny Kaye’s wife in an off-Broadway musical. That role, she said, also led to her “discovery” as someone who would be a very suitable Brice. She was soon cast in “One Night With Fanny Brice,” an off-Broadway solo show that was well-reviewed in the New York Times and Associated Press.

The Times reviewer wrote that “Ms. Greenberg almost matches her (Brice) in vivacity and vocal range in songs like ‘Second Hand Rose.’” Reviews like that got Greenberg noticed, and her adeptness at portraying Brice catapulted her career to new levels. Suddenly, “other people started seeing me in that show and invited me to be in their shows as Fanny,” she said.

And it wasn’t only theater people asking her to portray Brice. A Jewish organization in New Jersey wanted to see her as Brice, but since “One Night” wasn’t her show, Greenberg decided to create a unique performance for them. Soon, more requests started coming in slowly and “it became this thing, and more people wanted it,” she said, about the process of creating her one-woman show, “Fabulous Fanny Brice.”

“I’m going to have this thing for the rest of my life and I’m in control,” she said.

Greenberg recently brought the show to Arizona. The Feb. 3 performance was in Green Valley, about 20 miles outside of Tucson, and it is also where her parents happen to live. Afterward, she said the show was great, buoyed by what was “the right audience for my show, more retirees and a senior crowd more familiar with Fanny Brice.”

She guessed that there were probably more than a few Jewish audience members. Like Brice, Greenberg is Jewish, and it’s something that’s “very important” to her. She sees herself as a cultural Jew, and while she may not celebrate every holiday, she embraces her Jewish identity. Early in her career people suggested she change her name, maybe tone down her Jewishness. But she refused. “No, no, no. I’m a Greenberg,” she said.

Passing on her Jewish identity and knowledge of Jewish culture is very important to Greenberg. And Brice is hardly her only Jewish character. She’s often cast in the roles of other Jewish historical women “who are brassy and sassy.” She’s even played Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary. “I’m Jewish even in the non-Jewish shows,” she quipped.

But she keeps finding her way back to Brice. Whenever someone is writing something set in the early 20th century, people reach out to her about the possibility of playing Brice.

“Fanny keeps showing up because I’ve created this name for myself in this niche,” she said.

In addition to acting in theater, television and film, Greenberg is a career coach for other actors. People began asking her for advice, and she had a lot to teach. She’s the original multi-tasker, which pays off, especially when your main career is never really in your control. “As a performer,” she said, “you never know where that next job is going to happen.”

During the pandemic, she added author to her resume. She’s always been interested in the business side of the industry as well as the performance side, and she used quarantine to write. She’s currently polishing the final draft of her book, which is an encapsulation of all she’s learned over the years.

Greenberg has big plans for more television, film and Broadway, but since an actor never knows “what’s actually going to hit,” in the meantime she’s keeping her “hands in all the pots!”

For more information, visit www.kimberlyfayegreenberg.com.