FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 28

This’ll help out anyone totally unfamiliar with the stage version of FUNNY GIRL:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_Girl_(musical)

As many have noted, Robbins streamlined and tailored the show to Streisand, in effect giving it the Boy from Oz treatment: a show about a star that in presentation becomes as much about the performer. Not a bad comparison. It was impossible to separate Hugh Jackman from the Peter Allen bio show, and in some ways that happened earlier with Funny Girl, despite its success with Hines and Marilyn Michaels on the road. It's a vehicle in the literal sense: the musical comedy chops of the actor are highlighted. This production aims to remove that frame -- and perhaps some would say, stigma -- by making its subsidiary characters (all billed above the title) an ensemble.

Way too early to ascertain how successful that will be, but as others note: you can't change audience expectation by putting names on a poster. Those attending are there to hear those beloved -- iconic -- songs, wanting the engendered emotion and belted notes to take the roof off. It's in the show's DNA, and thus in the audience's as consumers. They may well find the renewed focus refreshing and charming. But a part of everyone buying a ticket expects to hear terrific vocals.

I’ll be there tonight so I’ll report on the physical look and staging as that’s what I’m more curious about. I’ve “heard” the entire first preview performance so that curiosity factor has been answered so I don’t have to focus on that anymore. If anything, tonight I’ll be able to see what’s been changed and I’m hoping yesterday (their day off) they’ll decided to lower the keys for Beanie so she doesn’t have to use that ill-fitting head voice. She sounds gorgeous in the first parts of “Who Are You Now?” until she has to go to her head voice to accommodate Ramin’s vocals (it’s a duet now). As I mentioned before, it’s obvious she CAN sing. The keys the score is using now does not fit her range. If they can adjust the keys for the different actresses who played Norma Desmond in SUNSET BLVD (LuPone and the tour’s Linda Balgord are the only 2 actresses who could sing the original keys), I hope they do this for Beanie. I’m going tonight to have a great time and not to bash the show. I’ve heard it so I know what to expect with the musical numbers and the book scenes.

I was there as well.

1. The orchestra sounded incredible and the overture was a highlight if not *the* highlight.

2. The audience was there to give Beanie lots of love - there was tons of cheering, laughing, screaming (esp in the mezz) at all of her lines. She has a lot of support.

3. She can't pull it off and it isn't just her singing. It's a community theater performance - and not "undiscovered superstar" community theater performance. If I saw this at a random community theater I might have left at intermission because of Beanie's singing. "Greatest Star" is perhaps the most problematic moment - Funny Girl is thin on plot and that number has to work to propel the character forward for the rest of the show to make sense. It truly falls flat. You have no idea why the guys watching her would have such a big reaction.

4. She is best with physical comedy and can move well. "You Are Woman" was funny.

5. Sheridan Smith is the perfect example of a performer that was able to pull off the role without having Barbra vocal chops. She used her charisma, natural comedy chops, and astonishing vulnerability in some of her act two scenes to create a successful performance.

6. "Music That Makes Me Dance" was very uncomfortable.

7. Ramin was fabulous and brings the house down with his Act Two number (even with the odd dance break). It is troublesome that Nick stops the show more than Fanny.

Overall Beanie will always have fans and people will go rooting for her and wanting to have an "experience" - so I think it'll be fine for certain audience members. Also, it was the first preview and she'll have time to get better with the comedy... but the larger problems with her performance are unfixable.

I think the tourists will buy tickets because they recognize the title of the musical over the casting. I doubt many even know who Beanie is.

UWS10023 said: "I think the tourists will buy tickets because they recognize the title of the musical over the casting. I doubt many even know who Beanie is."

FUNNY GIRL the name is selling tickets - not Beanie’s or anyone else’s name above the title. Fans of the legendary 1968 film are why folks are excited about this revival and what is prompting folks to buy tickets. Everyone I know could care less about Beanie. Anyone could have been cast as Fanny and tickets would still have sold. That’s why I believe now that any top unrecognizable Broadway talent could have brought the Streisand caliber to the revival. Beanie doesn’t have an explosive fan base or the name recognition to have people flying in from around the globe to see her on stage.

CarlosAlberto said: "BrodyFosse123 said:

FUNNY GIRL the name is selling tickets - not Beanie’s or anyone else’s name above the title. Fans of the legendary 1968 film are why folks are excited about this revival and what is prompting folks to buy tickets. Everyone I know could care less about Beanie.



Well, those “folks” you speak of are in for a huge disappointment…from what I’ve read the Broadway stage version (or any stage version for that matter) of FUNNY GIRL and its 1968 film incarnation are vastly different.

I do hope they’ll understand that there will be no “Roller Skate Rag”, no “Second Hand Rose”, no “I’d Rather Be Blue”, no “Swan” number, no “My Man” and no damn tugboat!

"

The Funny Girl film has some notable changes but I wouldn't call it vastly different from the stage version. It's much more faithful than Cabaret and several other films based on Broadway plays.

Jordan Catalano said: "I’ve thought a LOT about the show since seeing it the other day. Again, I enjoyed her and I think I liked her as much as I did was because she’s so opposite of anything we’ve ever seen before with the character and I thought (and still do think) it’s the right way to go, plus she’s just so likable it’s easy for us to root for her. That said, I do wish the vocals were stronger and my hope was they would be as she gets more comfortable in the role. Can that happen in a month? My initial thought was sure but thinking on it, I don’t think that’s possible. At least not to a level that’s going to blow the roof off the House. Her acting though was fabulous and she was just as funny as I would want anyone in that role to be. For me, she knocked that part of it out of the park.


One of the other reasons that I enjoyed it so much was the physical production and everything surrounding Beanie that I suppose (for me) made up for some of the shortcomings. This is one of those weird instances where hindsight has made me think a bit differently. I think Jane, Ramin, Jared and everyone else were perfection and the “Follies”-esque montages kind of took my breath away in the moment. Plus I truly loved what Harvey did with the book and hearing that score played live for the first time in my life was a THRILL. When that overture (one of the best ever) started, I got the full body chills.


I still wish her al the luck in the world and hope she’s able to pull off the impossible and turn in a performance true to her and also what people want, going in. I’m going back in a couple weeks and am very curious to see what’s changed and evolved. If you’ve been to as many shows as some of us here have, you know stranger things have happened than a show finding it’s footing from first preview to opening night. Can that happen here when the entire evening rides on one person? I don’t know. But I hope it can."

Curious as to how much of your enjoyment was enhanced (or not )from it being the first preview and being in the bubble of that over supportive New York audience? And was that even the scene? In the leaks one hears the annoying "woo hoos" that come out of that kind of over enthused but at times dishonest crowd that I have experienced in the past. .

Valentina3 said: "So.. quick detour question. Do we know who's playing the lead role at the end of April? I still have tickets for 8pm on April 30th (Sat) and I want to know if that's worth holding on to or not. I'd have loved to Beanie but I'm also in the boat of "I want to see this show" and it's not like I get to visit NYC that often."

If you want to see the show for the show itself, then I would still go regardless of who is Fanny. But, if you want to see the show only for Beanie, then I would get rid of the ticket now and book something.

Jordan Catalano said: "Dame, it’s a fair question that I’ll be able to answer once I go back in a couple weeks. The energy in that theater was palpable and something I think I hadn’t felt since that first night back on Broadway back in September. I couldn’t tell you if it was “supportive New Yorkers” or not but from where i was sitting in the front mezz, everyone was just buzzing with excitement."

Thank you Jordan. Either way it sounds like a fun night for you to have been a part of.

NOWaWarning said: "Can anyone comment on the book changes more? Is it just new dialogue or have there been major plot or structural changes?"

Zero structural changes. Harvey Fierstein just expanded existing scenes with better dialogue but plot and scenes are as they always were.

Saw this tonight.

All I will say is somebody, somewhere, at some point in this process should have pulled the plug.