Fair warning...long post!! I was at the second preview on Monday night. Let me say that again, it was the SECOND PREVIEW – so with that in mind, there’s some good news and (as much as I wanted to love this production) some bad news.
The good news is that there’s a Broadway revival of Funny Girl with a couple of standout performances and some truly hysterical one-liners that have been added in the revised book. The bad news is that one of the standout performances wasn’t from Fanny and overall the production is currently underwhelming.
First, the good... To me, Jared Grimes (as Eddie Ryan) was the best thing about the show. He has a natural stage presence and is a spectacular tap dancer. He does Ayodele Casel’s tap choreography proud and will be a strong contender for the Tony (although it feels more like a featured role despite the fact that his name is above the title – perhaps the production will lobby the Admin Committee to have him considered in the Featured category so he’s not competing against Ramin). It’s a shame that he wasn’t featured more in Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat. Jane Lynch (as Mrs. Brice) is solid, both in vocals and acting. Her comic timing is spot-on. Do I think she’s going to take a Tony for this role? Probably not. Will she get nominated? Probably. I also enjoyed Peter Francis James’ performance as Florenz Ziegfeld. Ramin Karimloo (as Nick Arnstein) looks and sounds as great as always, despite not having much to do (and very little chemistry between he and Beanie). Overall the chorus looks and sounds good as well.
Now, the less than good… As many have already noted on this board, despite trying REALLY hard, Beanie just isn’t the right fit for this role. I hate saying that as I was so excited to see them cast someone who isn’t a size zero (no offense to you ladies who are lucky enough to be a size zero) and is a bit of a “non-traditional” choice as compared to others who have done the role. I really was hoping she’d blow it out of the park. She handles the light stuff okay, but she’s working very hard and it shows (again, I saw the second preview, so I cut some slack here). The visible effort may soften over time as they get a few more shows under their belt, but it just wasn’t evident that she has the chops to pull off such a big role, nor, in my opinion the presence to own the role. And there’s the issue of her voice. While the vast majority of theatergoers don’t know sharp from flat or a belt from a head voice, it’s hard to ignore the nasal and under-supported sound. She did manage to nail her last big notes on Don’t Rain on My Parade and The Music That Makes Me Dance (and the orchestra conveniently swelled to help cover any shortcomings that may have happened), but she just doesn’t have the pipes to meet the demands of the score. Again, with some time (and some rest when they’re not rehearsing during the day and performing at night), she may get a bit better and she may get a bit more stamina to support the notes on longer phrases, but they’ve been in rehearsal for weeks, so I’m not optimistic that it’s going to improve so drastically that she’ll be a vocal standout. The upside of this is the vast majority of theater-goers are not as discerning as many on this board (nor do they see as much theater as most of us do – particularly those of us in NYC) and won’t notice her short-comings and will have a perfectly entertaining night at the theater. Keep in mind, most people only see a show or two a year, as compared to many of us who see dozens (or in my case, hundreds) of shows a year, both on Broadway, off-Broadway, and off-off-Broadway.
Another challenge is that there’s very little chemistry between she and Ramin so it’s hard to buy the romance scenes. Part of this may be due to the above-mentioned second preview and it being really apparent how hard Beanie is working, so she’s not really had time to live in the role, but I worry that what I saw may just be as good as it gets. Speaking of Ramin, while they’ve increased the number of songs he has, Temporary Arrangement in the second act is just bizarre with an odd dance break. The entire number just doesn’t fit, despite how good he sounds – and, while I normally find him a decent actor, he seemed a little disconnected Monday night (did I mention it was the second preview?).
I was also a little thrown by some of the costumes. In His Love Makes Me Beautiful, Fanny looks like she’s about to give birth to a hippo. I get that it’s part of the joke, but it was too much. There were also a couple of costumes that were just not flattering on her. Also, the shiny silver lamé uniforms of the chorus in Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat were baffling. They all looked like a bunch of tin soldiers - and Fanny's costume was straight out of a community theater.
As a few others have mentioned, the set was also cumbersome. The two spiral staircases on the sides seemed unnecessary and made the sides of the stage somewhat unusable. The brick castle turret looking wall was also strange. The upside is that combined with the revolve, it did work very effectively for the transitions from the front view/back view (transitions from seeing the show within a show from the front as the audience, then transitioning to the backstage scenes).
Overall, I think things will get a bit better (as all shows do) with repetition and the ability for everyone to get into the groove of the production, but without a Fanny with a better voice (and, in my opinion, a more dynamic stage presence) I’m not sure it will ever be the production for which we were hoping.
Oh, and for what it’s worth, I’ve seen Julie Benko in several productions and she’s got a much stronger voice than Beanie. She’s not as nasal, has a bigger belt, and supports her notes better so doesn’t struggle with the “under singing” issue I observed with Beanie. I may end up going to see it again when she’s in to see how different the production feels with a better singer in the lead.
I also saw Sheridan Smith do the role at the Menier Chocolate Factory and while I was also disappointed with her vocals, it was simply because her voice wasn’t very big. She didn’t struggle with pitch the way Beanie does, nor was her tone as nasal, but she’s an actress that can carry a tune. She’s also a much better actress – VERY funny, even at an early preview, with very good acting chops. So, while I can see the comparison (because neither of them are great singers), Sheridan definitely was more successful in the role.
