Tornado watch, flood interrupt ‘Funny Girl’ at The Bushnell with famous playwright in audience

Playwright Harvey Fierstein had a whirlwind experience watching "Funny Girl" at The Bushnell on Saturday when a storm spun through Hartford setting off tornado alerts and a flood.

Harvey Fierstein, who revamped the recent “Funny Girl” revival, had a whirlwind experience at The Bushnell Performing Arts Center on Saturday when a storm spun through Hartford setting off tornado watch alerts during intermission.

The musical “Funny Girl” is at the end of its run at The Bushnell as it continues along its first tour since the show returned to Broadway stages in 2022.

Fierstein — of “Mrs. Doubtfire” “Hairspray” and “Mulan” fame — contributed a revised book for the show’s revival when it returned to Broadway with stars like Beanie Feldstein and Lea Michele in the leading role.

Fierstein said in a Facebook post that he drove into Hartford to catch Saturday’s matinee performance but only got to see one half of the show — at intermission, tornado watch alarms sounded, and then water poured in.

As a heavy storm dumped buckets of rain down on the city, water seeped into the lower level of the theater and the orchestra pit.

“Crazy matinee!!!!” he wrote. “At intermission, all of the audience’s phones began to ring with emergency warnings about a tornado watch. And then the rains came down! And I mean DOWN!”

Fierstein said the rainstorm happened between Act 1 and Act 2.

“Before Act 2 could start, the orchestra pit flooded as did the first rows of the theater. … Unable to predict the weather, the rest of the performance had to be canceled. BOO!,” he wrote.

His experience at The Bushnell wasn’t over yet, though. Fierstein was able to visit with the actors behind the curtain.

“But I got to go backstage and visit with the magnificent cast. What a marvelous day when you get to hug Melissa Manchester, Katerina McCrimmon and the rest of the company.”

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The playwright urged theatergoers to catch their local production.

“Don’t miss this tour as it comes through your town,” he wrote.

Stephanie Fried, chief operating officer at The Bushnell, said flooding came into the theater from the Trinity Street side of The Bushnell’s building.

“This flooding created a situation wherein we needed to stop the show and, ultimately, cancel the second half of the performance,” Fried said. “The evening show went on as planned.”

Fried said staff from the Bushnell called and emailed patrons who attended the flooded performance to try to reseat them for the final two Sunday shows. The tour then heads to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.