FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012

[Rob]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:34pm

Click Here to Read FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre Starting April 2012

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:35pm

Oh

[beautywickedlover]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:36pm

I am glad "Funny Girl" is going there. It's a great musical. I had a feeling this would happen after "Billy Elliot" announced its closure.

[AvenueQResident]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:46pm

Wow, been quite a few active days regarding openings and closings.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:54pm

The puzzle pieces start to fit.

[dshnookie]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:54pm

I'm glad that's been settled :)

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:55pm

This going to be quite the season for cast recordings.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 4:59pm

Now Priscilla just needs to post closing notices, Evita needs to switch theatres and Follies needs to extend. And then everything will fully be in place and I'll be happy. Still don't know how I feel about this revival though.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 5:14pm

All change!

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 6:08pm

lets just hope that the Palace is getting Evita and Follies will stay at the Marquis......

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 6:15pm

I'm kind of surprised they nabbed a theatre and announced it before the out of town tryout even started rehearsals. What if the reviews are scathing?

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 6:35pm

^ I imagine that, like Porgy and Bess, it will not announce its cast til after the out-of-town engagement. Unless this is now being billed strictly as an "Out-of-town tryout".

[theatreguy]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 6:47pm

At the same time, what if they get rave reviews but all the appropriate houses are taken? With Rebecca, Big Fish and Nice Work If You Can Get It still waiting to officially book theaters, this could be a busy spring for the mid-sized musical houses.

[winston89]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 9:30pm

There is also the chance that they aren't worried too much about reviews. The producers could possibly think that since the show is a big name show that it will sell regardless of what the reviews have to say. Also, even if the reviews are bad, it's not like it will be the first show to get bad reviews out of town and still open up on Broadway regardless.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 10:11pm

Still really shocked at Billy's closing, seemed to still be doing fine. It's going to be weird to see something else there. Excited for Funny Girl though... unsure of the cast.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/5/11 at 11:04pm

I was hoping this would wait until Fall 2012. Do we really need another revival??

We have:

- Funny Girl
- Porgy & Bess
- Follies
- Godspell
- Jesus Christ Superstar
- Evita
- On A Clear Day...

did I forget any???

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 12:58pm

I'm just surprised they are doing FUNNY GIRL without a bigger name for Fanny.

I love Lauren Ambrose, mind you, I just don't think of her as someone who will fill a theater playing a famous Jewish comic. And in fact, I got my fifth row tix in L.A. because a nice Jewish lady-friend of mine/Ahmanson subscriber doesn't care to see the show with these leads.

I tend to agree with those who think they need rave reviews in L.A., particularly from whatever critic the NY Times sends out for an advance look.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 1:47pm

Please let's not start (or continue) judging a performer before even the out-of-town opens, especially if the judgments are going to focus on her ethnicity. It's terribly regressive.

I clearly need to spend more time on this website because this is the first I heard of Billy Elliot's closure. Sort of amazed that they announced a slew of family friendly changes and then closed up shop. I wonder if those changes were introduced solely for licensing and publication considerations?

[AC126748]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 1:54pm

Hopefully Porgy and Bess hasn't set a precedent about reviewing out-of-town tryouts, and this show will be able to play its LA run without Brantley and his ilk sweeping in.

[tazber]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 2:48pm

Funny Girl is one of maybe three classic musicals that I have never enjoyed. It just bores me to tears.

I am looking forward to seeing this revival though. I always hope that I'll see a really great production and "get" what I've always found lacking.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 5:38pm

^^me too.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 8:10pm

"I love Lauren Ambrose, mind you, I just don't think of her as someone who will fill a theater playing a famous Jewish comic. "

As many of us have said before - with 36 expressions, sweet as pie to tough as leather - nobody thinks of Lauren as someone who will fill a theater playing a famous Jewish comic.

That's why the possibility of her maybe, just maybe, pulling it off is so exciting.

Also, there's something so perfectly right about taking such a huge risk in telling a story about a woman who took such huge risks on stage and for love!

"So whether she's the rose of sheer perfection....

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 10/6/11 at 9:29pm

Give her credit for trying it. Big stretch after 6 Feet Under

[Patash]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 1:06pm

"And in fact, I got my fifth row tix in L.A. because a nice Jewish lady-friend of mine/Ahmanson subscriber doesn't care to see the show with these leads."
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Let me guess -- I bet this "nice" Jewish lady friend is the type who would scream bloody murder if she heard about someone turning down tickets to a show because it starred a Jewish actor. Bigots come in all shapes and sizes, don't they? How sad for her -- but lucky you.




Updated On: 10/7/11 at 01:06 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 10/7/11 at 8:02pm

Okay, here goes...

1. Neither I nor anyone else on this thread has questioned Lauren Ambrose's ability to actually play Fanny Brice. I specifically waited until the role was cast before I bought tickets, so obviously I think she can do it well. Posters were speculating as to the impact of casting Ambrose--pro or con--on ticket sales.

2. My Jewish friend never said non-Jews shouldn't play Jews. But Fanny Brice is an iconic Jewish real-life performer and Fanny in the musical is an iconic role. It's understandable if a certain segment of the Jewish community has strong feelings about the casting. Here's a You Tube video lampooning the sentiment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2w4qioo5Jg


As my friend's husband said to me, "The only reason to see 'Funny Girl' is if you really want to see the star in the title role.'" Lauren Ambrose doesn't do it for them, in part because she appears so specifically Irish.

3. For the record, this is all about perception. For all I know, Lauren Ambrose may be Jewish (though it seems somebody would have mentioned it by now). Or Muslim or Presbyterian.

Obviously, the original Broadway production ran for quite a while with that "goyische girl from Canada" (her words), Mimi Hines, in the role. But whether the show would have been as big a hit without the Streisand phenomenon that coincided with the opening is debatable.

Yes, I know the show was at one point planned for Mary Martin, but again, who's to say how that would have turned out?

FUNNY GIRL, FIDDLER, MILK AND HONEY, I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, etc. One trend of the early 1960s was that Jewish artists were writing Jewish characters (who were often, though not always, played by Jewish actors). And the theater community and its large Jewish contingent responded approvingly.

Maybe none of this will matter in 2012. Personally, I think Ambrose looks more like Brice than Streisand does in many ways, and maybe the casting indicates a desire to go back to the real Brice and Arnstein now that the show can't be Streisand's nightclub act.

But Ambrose isn't Mary Martin in terms of box office clout. Meanwhile, the audience for the show has a reasonably faithful facsimile of the original production on DVD, so will they pay top dollar to see the "Irish girl" play the part? We'll see.

(hyperbole, as your hat suggests, opinions tend to get polarized very quickly in these exchanges. I should have made it clear that my friend's reaction to the casting was more a shrug than Let's-man-the-battlements outrage! She said nothing about calling B'Nai B'rith to picket the Ahmanson box office (and she is very much the type to do so if she felt so inclined.) And she never said non-Jews can't play Jews, including Fanny Brice.

But you and I both know shrugs don't sell top-dollar tickets on Broadway, so I echoed earlier posters who wondered if they are counting on good reviews before coming into New York.) Updated On: 10/7/11 at 08:02 PM