Boyett told the New York daily, "I just kept hearing from other producers, and then from my investors, that the timing was wrong and that the economic landscape wasn’t right to try to do a top-level revival of Funny Girl... I think we could have turned a profit in a year on Broadway, but there were just no guarantees that the tourists and others would flock to the show in the numbers we needed."

Tony winner Bartlett Sher was scheduled to direct the $12 million production, which was to star Lauren Ambrose in the role of Fanny Brice. Sher told the Times that he was "in a state of shock" upon hearing that the musical had been postponed. The director also said that his star, Ambrose, tackling the role made famous by Barbra Streisand, was "heartbroken, like the rest of us."

Sher added that "investors might have had concerns about any actress we picked given that Barbra Streisand was extraordinary as Fanny...[ However], I think Lauren would have given a performance that would have long been remembered."

Funny Girl features music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill and book by Isobel Lennart.