FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 27

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:30pm

DAME said:

Believe me. At this point.. and after the leaks..no one is expecting her to sound like Streisand. Lauren Bacall is all one could hope for."

STOP! I almost spit out my wine all over my shiny new MacBook! #NoBueno

 

[DAME]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:31pm

CarlosAlberto said: "DAME said:

Believe me. At this point.. and after the leaks..no one is expecting her to sound like Streisand. Lauren Bacall is all one could hope for."

STOP! I almost spit out my wine all over my shiny new MacBook! #NoBueno

"

perdoname

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:32pm

CarlosAlberto said: "She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand."

She's not supposed to sound like Minnie Mouse, either.  With or without the hair bow.  But..........

 

 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:33pm

DAME said:

"perdoname"

You're forgiven. You shameless HUSSY!

 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:34pm

DAME said: "CarlosAlberto said: "Are people on this board forgetting that Beanie is playing "Fanny Brice" and not Barbra Streisand? She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand.

I haven't listened to any of the leaked and (illegally) recorded audio from the show or even the sitzprobe footage becauseI want to go into this without any notion of what this sounds like until I get to see it for myself live and make up my own mind about it.

"

Believe me. At this point.. and after the leaks..no one is expecting her to sound like Streisand. Lauren Bacall is all one could hope for."

 

Not Loretta Swit?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:35pm

Highland Guy said: "CarlosAlberto said: "She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand."

She's not supposed to sound like Minnie Mouse, either. With or without the hair bow. But.........."


Aiy! The shade of it all....LOL! Be nice!!! 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:37pm

Dollypop said: 

"Not Loretta Swit?"

I vote for Loretta to replace Jane Lynch as Mrs. Brice. We need more Loretta Swit in our lives.

[Loopin’theloop]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:37pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Are people on this board forgetting that Beanie is playing "Fanny Brice" and not Barbra Streisand? She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand.

I haven't listened to any of the leaked and (illegally) recorded audio from the show or even the sitzprobe footage becauseI want to go into this without any notion of what this sounds like until I get to see it for myself live and make up my own mind about it.

"

Yes, she’s playing Fanny Brice. 
 

Take all of her musical moments and imagine them as spoken dialogue. Would it be correct for them to be put over in that ‘Gee wiz, I’m so happy to be doing this pageant at my Synagogue before my Nana dies. She always said I should follow my dreams and I am dedicating this, my 16 year old amateur performance to her. Also I am mad crushing on my leading man but he never talks to me in school…’ style she’s performing in, during the sitzprobe? The emotion of ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ would be a gentle, congenial monologue would it? 
 

The answer is no. The music is written with a specific drive and intensity for a reason. Being able to hit the notes is not enough. This is not a score that you can rely on charm to get through. Some are and that’s absolutely fine. This is not one of them. 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:37pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Beanie is proving as long as you can act, the singing is forgivable. Now… and actress who can do both, is a delicious treat. Would love to have Michaela Diamond replacing Beanie if they choose to keep the show running. Beanie’s FUNNY GIRL is fantastic either way. Glorious even."

Proving what - singing forgivable? Michaela Diamond I feel would have been more inspiring casting of a total unknown that can sing but is she comical?

[Papi2013]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:40pm

DAME said: "CarlosAlberto said: "Are people on this board forgetting that Beanie is playing "Fanny Brice" and not Barbra Streisand? She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand.

I haven't listened to any of the leaked and (illegally) recorded audio from the show or even the sitzprobe footage becauseI want to go into this without any notion of what this sounds like until I get to see it for myself live and make up my own mind about it.

"

Believe me. At this point.. and after the leaks..no one is expecting her to sound like Streisand. Lauren Bacall is all one could hope for."

And Lauren had star quality.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:41pm

Just putting this out there. Would anyone on this board preferred that Lea Michele be doing this instead of Beanie?

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:43pm

Papi2013 said: 

"And Lauren had star quality."

That's because Lauren was one of the girls who's one of the boys,
Enjoying the jokes and the smokes and the noise.

 

 

[Papi2013]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:43pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Just putting this out there. Would anyone on this board preferred that Lea Michele be doing this instead of Beanie?"

You do know how to shut everyone up.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:44pm

Papi2013 said: "

"You do know how to shut everyone up."

It's a gift.

 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:54pm

Carlos, I’m ashamed to admit that yes, I would. 
 

It’s hard when the evil ones have talent.

[Robbie2]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 6:55pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Just putting this out there. Would anyone on this board preferred that Lea Michele be doing this instead of Beanie?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHt-MY4mYwc

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:11pm

Reading everything with great interest and knowing that I will never be able to see this production.

Back in 1966 in Australia a talented chorus member was chosen to play Fanny Brice over an American import. Her name is Jill Perryman. Jill had the looks, the acting ability, subtle and crazy with a voice that didn't blow the roof off nor was she a belter but she carried her vocals with an ease that an audience could never question. There was never any comparison; Jill WAS our Fanny. Same with Nancye Hayes, she was our Sweet Charity.

Caroline O'Connor played Fanny in 2016 and she belted it out of the park but knew how to pull back when necessary. Again it was the story and the songs that blended with the lead to create a whole.

If Australia 56 and 6 years ago can allow 2 amazingly talented ladies to carry a show like Fanny then WTF is Broadway doing all these years later not using the cream of their crop to headline their own Fanny.

If Rebel Wilson can sing, why not give her a go?? I get giving someone time to learn timing, work with stage crew, an audience, time laughter, costumes etc etc but TO LEARN HOW TO SING?

You can only mugg your way through a certain amount of this score, the rest you have to SING !

[ashley0139]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:15pm

I don't understand the comparisons to Katrina in Company. In Company you don't need someone who can sing like Elphaba to do the role (I personally think Katrina sounds amazing and can absolutely sing it, she's just not screaming it like people are used to these days). In Funny Girl you do. They are completely different roles.

I'll reserve my judgement on Beanie until I actually get to see her. I happen to think Katrina is absolutely fantastic as Bobbie so I may enjoy Beanie as well.

[joevitus]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:23pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Just putting this out there. Would anyone on this board preferred that Lea Michele be doing this instead of Beanie?"

I mean, there are more than two performers in the world to choose from. I genuinely despise Michele, and I have good feelings towards Beany, but despite the fact that Michele not getting the role strikes me as great karma, I think she'd have given the stronger performance. I don't think she'd be good enough, for a few reasons (she's not great at comedy, and the role requires that; she has fairly conventional good looks, whereas a major theme of Funny Girl is that atypical beauty is still beauty; this is really a star vehicle, and she doesn't have a star's presence), but she could have sung the hell out of that score. Which, from the evidence, Beanie can't.

I think it's really odd some people are talking about hatred and venom and etc. being spewed in the comments. I don't see anyone here genuinely disliking Beanie as a performer or wanting her to fail in her career on the stage. They think this is a serious case of miscasting because she's not up to the vocal demands in a show which has only one thing to recommend itself: a score sung by someone of prodigious vocal talent. I bet you could have cast her in any number of shows or revivals and not have seen the reaction people are having here. They aren't anti-Beanie. They think Beanie's wrong for this role. 

[Theatrelover1975]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:29pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Are people on this board forgetting that Beanie is playing "Fanny Brice" and not Barbra Streisand? She's not supposed to sound like Barbra Streisand.

I haven't listened to any of the leaked and (illegally) recorded audio from the show or even the sitzprobe footage becauseI want to go into this without any notion of what this sounds like until I get to see it for myself live and make up my own mind about it.

"

When the original Broadway production wasn’t working out of town in 1964, Jerome Robbins came in to help and told them they needed to tailor the show to Barbra, because he said she was so talented. That’s what they did. It’s why all the songs are so belty. So you can’t escape Barbra with FUNNY GIRL. And yes Mimi played the role as well, but it doesn’t change that it was tailored to Barbra. The book SMASH is about the creation of FUNNY GIRL and was later turned into the tv show with Megan Hilty and Katherine McPhee.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:36pm

I have read only positive remarks about Jane Lynch's performance.  Is she, then, the actual GREATEST STAR of this show?  

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 7:54pm

Ah, yes the incessant moderation in case anyone dares potentially offend an actor. I had forgotten about the Patti Murin effect. 
 

To quote Albee quoting Davis, “What a dump!”

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 8:00pm

I wonder why many of the great posters have left this board? What could have possibly shifted over the past five years? It’s an enduring mystery to me. 
 

That usually only happens when the quality of a environment devolves so absolutely as to render it nearly useless. Nearly.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 8:54pm

Highland Guy said: "I have read only positive remarks about Jane Lynch's performance. Is she, then, the actual GREATEST STAR of this show?"

Lynch shines in Act 2 - both comically and dramatically. She has some great acting moments.  Fierstein’s revisions are showcased in Act 2, which is where the show needed its fixings.  

[NYCBTL]

Posted: 3/27/22 at 9:15pm

Saw the preview last night.  My thoughts:

 

1.  Beanie is cute and has a lovely little voice, but the part is way too big for her.  This part needs acting and singing chops.  She is just not right for the part.  I needed someone in that part that would just blow you away.

2.  I didn’t get the connection between Fanny and Nicky.  Did not feel any love between them.  You just didn’t convince me that Nicky would fall for her.  This is a major problem.

3.  I thought Jane Lynch was very vaudevillian in her moves.  Again, no connection either physically or emotionally  between her and Beanie.  Everyone else seemed to like her, but I thought she was miscast.

4.  The Beautiful Refection number felt too rushed.

5.  What was up with the brick castle look and the useless stairs on the side of the stages?  Also, from the balcony, the mirrors surrounding the stage were disconcerting.

6.  Ramin looked and sang the part beautifully, but the number where he dances was so out of character and did not fit the show.  The choreography was stilted.

 
7.  Not impressed with the choreography-many times it was very jerky.  Tap was great.

8.  Costumes were great.  Missed all the different brides thought in Beautiful Reflection though.

9.  All in all, a great deal of hype about a just so so show.  Hope they can work through the problems, but I don’t see how.  I hoped for so much more.