FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012- Page 2
FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
#25FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 11:29am
Lauren Ambrose doesn't do it for them, in part because she appears so specifically Irish.
Just for the record, Ambrose (real name: d'Ambruoso) is Italian. But I guess for some people, like your friends, red hair and pale skin will always signify Irishness. I agree with you that Ambrose looks more like Brice than Streisand ever did--the problem there is that the role of Fanny Brice is more synonymous with Streisand than with the woman on whom it's actually based.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#26FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 2:41pm
^^^
And not just my friends, AC. The YouTube parody to which I linked above also suggests that "they" (meaning Jewish people in general) think Ambrose is Irish.
All of this is about perception rather than reality. Good reviews could change that perception very quickly, I suspect.
At the moment, Ahmanson tickets are quite the extravagance in my house, even at the subscription discount. What sold me was the You Tube of Ambrose singing "Brother, Can You Spare a Dime," in particular the verse, which she sings quite tenderly.
To me, what matters in a Fanny Brice is whether she can sing it. Despite the title, I don't even care that much whether the actress is funny.
#27FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 4:46pmWhat's interesting to me is that Ambrose HAS played Jewish--and extremely well, in my opinion--in Sher's production of Awake and Sing five years ago. Of course, gentile actors can play Jewish quite well, and vice versa. Either way, I'm not a fan of prejudging a performance, which seems to be what people are doing with respect to her here.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
#28FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 7:54pm
I suspect that Ambrose tried out for the part- right. So some pretty experienced theater people must have thought see was damn good.
We all know she's a fine actress. How many of these things fail because the leads suck. There are a thousand things that make or break any show.
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#29FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 9:02pm
AC, I honestly don't think anybody in this thread is pre-judging Ambrose's performance. (Or if they are, like me, they are pre-judging positively and assuming she'll be terrific.)
We're just talking about perceptions and how they may affect the box office.
My friends, poor things, who have been made--without their consent--to stand in for Jews everywhere, barely know who Ambrose is. They watch very little TV and live in LA, not New York. Once they read reviews, they may very much regret having sold their tickets--which was more or less my original point.
#30FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 9:22pmNot in this thread, no. Other threads--the large one here, and over on All That Chat--people were definitely prejudging her abilities and the performance they thought she would give.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#31FUNNY GIRL Revival to Play Broadway's Imperial Theatre in April 2012
Posted: 10/8/11 at 11:18pm
True about the other thread here. (I don't read at that other site.)
I don't think Ambrose is an automatic and obvious choice. But that's a good thing, right? She's clearly got the chops.
Hell, I hope they have some interesting new ideas as to how to approach the material! As I believe I said on that other thread, with the exception of five or six great songs, it isn't really a well-written show.
Sheer speculation department: I've read that the original was restricted by Arnstein and Brice's daughter, who owned the rights. I'm assuming she is no longer with us almost a half-century later. Maybe now they can give us a Fanny and a Nicky who are multi-dimensional characters...
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