FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 12

Discount code PEOPLE just arrived in today's mail for 25% off tix.

Preview performances are either REALLY well-sold, or they're doing something stupid and holding back tickets to be sold at a later date. Basically no center orchestra seats available before Row S (or worse) most evenings. Good for them. Hope the sales continue.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "...and this is why people/productions should not post premature pics/videos because they get picked apart and are sometimes taken out of context :)"

Roth posted the overture, seemingly with full set & lighting. What's out of context?

RippedMan said: "There is just no way that Feldstein is on a Barbra level. The vocals will be lackluster."

Her singing is not my cup of tea (reminds me of SNL cast member Vanessa Bayer's parody of an untrained, nasally high school singer). To pair her with Karimloo, and to pad the singing opportunities of his role, seems a bit left of center. Still, she can tap well, and she's received acclaim for her modern-day, coming of age roles.

I think there's a reason Funny Girl hasn't been revived on Broadway in my lifetime. It's Streisand's role. ...comparable to Dolly being Carol Channing's role. I think the difference between the two is that Dolly is a show/character that can still ring true when another actress brings an interpretation that makes it their own. i.e., I think Dolly is as much Pearl Bailey's role as Channing's, and Midler brought Midler (what a perfect match).

I wonder if Funny Girl, as a Broadway show, can tolerate an opportunity for anyone other than Streisand to play the lead. That actress would have to be: A) better than Streisand, or B) bring something entirely unique to the role/show. Something outstanding enough to make an audience say, "Wow! I didn't expect that - but it works!"

Can Beanie Feldstein do that?

Sutton Ross said: "I literally thought that curtain was a projection because it looks so cheap and awful. Wowza."

It’s a scrim. During the Overture things will be happening on stage that the audience will be seeing as the Overture plays.

Here's the Phantom monstrosity for comparison:

The claws are out for this revival on this board, and I really fail to understand why.

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "The claws are out for this revival on this board, and I really fail to understand why."

None of this is me justifying the claws being out –– to be clear –– but some of the "classic musicals" fans seem to be taking offense for the following reasons:

1) There is an almost MAGA-level belief that things will never be better than the way they used to be, as well as a belief that the ideal they've concocted in their mind is better than whatever the actual outcome of a revival could be.

2) The response to Michael Mayer's London production (even though this has a different design team and choreographers).

3) Feldstein not being a carbon copy of Barbra in look and voice quality. Almost a wish that she needs to fail in order to maintain Streisand's legacy (a legacy that will exist for decades after our deaths). I think there's some disgusting "beauty standards" baked into this surrounding how certain people view Feldstein, too.

4) General apathy towards the advertising campaign.

5) The revivals of HELLO, DOLLY! and Bart Sher's productions at LCT have almost broken some people by setting such a high bar of quality and opulence, when those must be viewed as outliers in order to manage expectations.

I'm rooting for this revival's success. I commend them for moving out of the Barbra mode in a way that will hopefully be interesting and different and will appeal to those who like the show and those who have never seen it before.

If memory serves, Kathleen Marshall's revival of ANYTHING GOES had similar buzz before people actually saw Sutton Foster's performance in the show –– the belief that she could never be better than Patti or Merman."

Ermengarde, these are truly wonderful points, and very well worded (as are all your posts are, by the way - I always enjoy reading your thoughts). I remember back in 2010/2011 before Anything Goes started previews, that there were detractors for both Sutton Foster and the production itself before it played a single performance. And that revival turned out to be a great success. It ran for over a year and then toured for a few years here in the U.S. Then last year it played across the pond to more acclaim. I am not saying the same thing will happen for Funny Girl, but I hope it turns out to be a delightful surprise for everyone.

thanks, bwayphreak234!

Bette's Turban said: "bwayphreak234 said: "ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "The claws are out for this revival on this board, and I really fail to understand why."

None of this is me justifying the claws being out –– to be clear –– but some of the "classic musicals" fans seem to be taking offense for the following reasons:

1) There is an almost MAGA-level belief that things will never be better than the way they used to be, as well as a belief that the ideal they've concocted in their mind is better than whatever the actual outcome of a revival could be.

2) The response to Michael Mayer's London production (even though this has a different design team and choreographers).

3) Feldstein not being a carbon copy of Barbra in look and voice quality. Almost a wish that she needs to fail in order to maintain Streisand's legacy (a legacy that will exist for decades after our deaths). I think there's some disgusting "beauty standards" baked into this surrounding how certain people view Feldstein, too.

4) General apathy towards the advertising campaign.

5) The revivals of HELLO, DOLLY! and Bart Sher's productions at LCT have almost broken some people by setting such a high bar of quality and opulence, when those must be viewed as outliers in order to manage expectations.

I'm rooting for this revival's success. I commend them for moving out of the Barbra mode in a way that will hopefully be interesting and different and will appeal to those who like the show and those who have never seen it before.

If memory serves, Kathleen Marshall's revival of ANYTHING GOES had similar buzz before people actually saw Sutton Foster's performance in the show –– the belief that she could never be better than Patti or Merman."

Ermengarde, these are truly wonderful points, and very well worded (as are all your posts are, by the way - I always enjoy reading your thoughts). I remember back in 2010/2011 before Anything Goes started previews, that there were detractors for both Sutton Foster and the production itself before it played a single performance. And that revival turned out to be a great success. It ran for over a year and then toured for a few years here in the U.S. Then last year it played across the pond to more acclaim. I am not saying the same thing will happen for Funny Girl, but I hope it turns out to be a delightful surprise for everyone."

Reminds me of Tyne Daly in Gypsy. And she was wonderful."

I hope Beanie won't be analogous to Daly because Daly couldn't sing the score.

ColorTheHours048 said: "The claws are out for this revival on this board, and I really fail to understand why."

These are not my reasons but a couple of reasons I've gleaned from reading posts here and elsewhere.

1) People resent nepotism and the ascension of someone with privilege if there isn't an obvious sign of merit. Someone doesn't have to have industry connections in their chosen career for it to feel like they had unfair advantages, but obviously situations like Ben Platt will particularly raise people's hackles.

2) This has been a long-coveted role with rumored casting, dream-casting, concert performances, and non-Broadway productions so there are opinions out there about who would merit being cast as Fanny (though many of the choices are too old for the role now. See: Idina, Shoshana, Leslie Kritzer, Christina Bianco, etc.)

3) None of the clips of Beanie's past recorded performances inspire confidence in her ability to play what people consider a difficult role. Even if she can manage the songs, Fanny does a lot of singing in the show (though this might be altered in this production with the role of Nick expanded) so there's a question of stamina. The most positive video is her singing Meadowlark. Most of the criticism is her video of Dancing Through Life.

4) There is a LOT of fatphobia about how she doesn't look like the actual Fanny Brice and isn't convincingly desirable. It's not worth hashing out the specifics as they vary from mildly rude to completely deranged.

5) The London production was considered to be cheap and full of questionable choices. Plus, it points to potentially prioritizing acting over singing ability which is not what people want from a show that many consider to have a weak book. No one seems to believe that the book has been revised to a degree that it would be compelling without the songs.

6) They aren't charging Music Man prices (yet) but as Ermengarde pointed out, people are expecting opulence and it's unclear now if the production will deliver and if they're interested in the kind of glamorous production people now associate with these revivals of classic musicals.

I take it that they are holding back seats as orchestra-center 1st 15 rows or so and front center-mezz 1st 15 rows are not showing any availability for the 1st 7 weeks! Are they really selling that well or? Basically, the 1st month is sold out with a few scattered seats here and there. Suprised at the availability of no good seats for center orchestra or center front mezz. I just checked from March 26 - May 19 and gave up looking for now. Really? I did see some front row seats released for $199 for weekday performances. Wondering when they will release tickets for those sections, once previews start?

Tag said: "I wonder why Jared Grimes is missing from what Robbie2 posted above?"

He wasn't in the original above the title ads but was added after and surprised he has above title billing now?

Robbie2 said: "I take it that they are holding back seats as orchestra-center 1st 15 rows or so and front center-mezz 1st 15 rows are not showing any availability for the 1st 7 weeks! Are they really selling that well or? Basically, the 1st month is sold out with a few scattered seats here and there. Suprised at the availability of no good seats for center orchestra or center front mezz. I just checked from March 26 - May 19 and gave up looking for now. Really? I did see some front row seats released for $199 for weekday performances. Wondering when they will release tickets for those sections, once previews start?"

They're really selling that well. I'm not saying they haven't held any back, but tickets have been on sale since the beginning of October, so, yeah, they've sold a lot of tickets for the beginning of the run of a highly anticipated Broadway musical. Is it really that surprising?