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

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

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..........

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?

Dollypop said:

"Not Loretta Swit?"

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

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?

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

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.

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


It’s hard when the evil ones have talent.

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 !

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.

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

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.

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.