FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 4

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 2:40pm

On paper, Feldstein and the show itself are really the only positives for me. I don't love Michael Mayer as a director, and there's nobody else in here who thrills me on paper. I don't think negatively of any of them. But I wish this was a ground-up revival... give me a revised-book revival directed by George Wolfe or Susan Stroman or Casey Nicholaw, with the original orchestrations. 

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 4:59pm

everythingtaboo said: "Nice looking cast, props to them for filling it out with a good number of POC."

Ensemble, as usual. Interesting that the Nick standby/understudies are white and the Eddie standby/understudies are black.

[Tag]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 5:17pm

Doesn't this all just seem so...blah...for the first revival in 58 years?  Like where's the excitement for anything released today?

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 5:27pm

Tag said: "Doesn't this all just seem so...blah...for the first revival in 58 years? Like where's the excitement for anything released today?"

Thank you.  Even THE MUSIC MAN ensemble cast announcement was more exciting.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 5:44pm

Remember when everyone on here complained about the supporting casts for the revivals of MY FAIR LADY and KING AND I? And then many of us were blown away? Maybe we wait and see how it all plays out onstage...it's not like any role announced today would attract stars or Tony winners. The supporting ensemble of FG doesn't have a lot to do. And you also don't want to cast overqualified people in dumb roles because they're just going to get bored.

no doubt everyone announced today auditioned and won their roles over many other options.

[MannPhan24601]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 6:54pm

Sad the rumor on Michela Diamond as Fanny standby wasn't true 🤪 Good for everybody in this production though and hope to see it !!!

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 7:29pm

VintageSnarker said: "everythingtaboo said: "Nice looking cast, props to them for filling it out with a good number of POC."

Ensemble, as usual. Interesting that the Nick standby/understudies are white and the Eddiestandby/understudies are black."

Last I checked, Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes aren't white. I'm confused about where your complaint is. 

[Det95]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 7:46pm

To be completely honest 95% of the reason I want to see this is just for the Overture. I really hope the orchestrations don’t gut what is in my opinion one of the top 3 overtures. 

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 7:50pm

jkcohen626 said: "VintageSnarker said: "everythingtaboo said: "Nice looking cast, props to them for filling it out with a good number of POC."

Ensemble, as usual. Interesting that the Nick standby/understudies are white and the Eddiestandby/understudies are black."

Last I checked, Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes aren't white. I'm confused about where your complaint is."

Ramin Karimloo's Iranian descent doesn't preclude him from also being White. Nationality doesn't equal race, so how he identifies is up to him.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 8:18pm

Happy to be corrected on this, as I'm not Middle-Eastern, and I don't claim to be an expert - but as I understand it, the "Iranian" ethnicity is kind of a tricky one as far as its classification.

Officially speaking, Middle Eastern / North African (MENA) people are considered "white" by the US government census. But as I'm sure we all know, MENA people have become increasingly subject racially-motivated bias, especially since 9/11. And that bias is often perpetuated through profiling physical features, which would arguably classify it as a "race," culturally speaking.

Where it gets tricky is that many people living in this countries -- and who have emigrated to the US or other countries -- have lighter skin, and might be white-passing. So if an ethnicity is not classified as a race, but some people within that ethnicity experience racism based on their features, but not everyone within that ethnicity exhibits those features -- it's complicated. 

Also - I'm not 100% sure about this, but isn't there a somewhat higher population of light-skinned, "white-passing" people in Iran, compared to other MENA countries? I feel like I've heard that to be the case, and I've observed it anecdotally among some of the Iranian-American people I know, and the artists of Iranian decent I've been exposed to (Karimloo included). But I don't want to make sweeping generalizations about a country I've never been to, so I won't say that with any confidence. It could be that what I'm witnessing is the colorism at play in media.

In either case, I'm sure there's a diversity of skin tones like in most countries. 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 10:00pm

Ramin Karimloo's Iranian descent doesn't preclude him from also being White. Nationality doesn't equal race, so how he identifies is up to him.

Correct. 

[massofmen]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 10:58pm

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

-mlk jr

I look forward to the day when this board and this community can talk about the content of the talent in the shows again rather than the color of the people's skin who were cast. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 11:24pm

Thank you. Along with sexual orientation and gender.  We’re talking about actors.  They “play” roles.  Allow them that.  Cast them for their qualifications and talent, not their race, gender, etc.  A gay actor playing a heterosexual isn’t questioned but God forbid a heterosexual actor play a gay role today and it’s a global uproar.  Enough already.  

[JaglinSays]

Posted: 2/7/22 at 11:56pm

Have a hunch this is gonna bomb big.  Wrong actress, wrong director, wrong time.

[OffOnBwayHi]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 1:06am

Hmmmm…

I have a friend in this and I’m still hesitant. They don’t have a great record of being in great shows. Just doing a job. And that’s no shade. Came out of their own mouth lol Still, I’m curious.

My biggest question, and I believe everyone’s biggest question, is this: Can Beanie pull this off…? lol

My guess is no, but hoping I’m wrong!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 10:11am

I listened to the full score for the first time in years at the gym over the weekend. It's almost entirely Fanny's, with only a few exceptions. Nick is barely a singing role*, and the small character numbers are few and spaced. It's a big sing for an actress -- Fanny sings in 12 of the 16 original numbers (14 in the revisal) -- certainly eight times a week (just listen to "The Music That Makes Me Dance," arguably a harder song than "My Man," and a wonderful one.)  I don't doubt that Feldstein can pull off the score, but it will be interesting to learn how the 8 shows tax her. It's a marathon role. 

Also agree with the poster who said: don't mess with the overture. Probably one of the most exciting in musical theater. The film diluted it, destroying its syncopated, percussive drive. Those thrilling key changes in "Parade," and the horn run. Still a goosebumps experience. Keep it intact, please. 

*Will "Temporary Arrangement" – Nick Arnstein and Businessmen, act 2-- be reinstated? Will "Who Are You Now" become a duet again, as it was in one of the revisions? 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 10:21am

TaffyDavenport said: "jkcohen626 said: "VintageSnarker said: "everythingtaboo said: "Nice looking cast, props to them for filling it out with a good number of POC."

Ensemble, as usual. Interesting that the Nick standby/understudies are white and the Eddiestandby/understudies are black."

Last I checked, Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes aren't white. I'm confused about where your complaint is."

Ramin Karimloo's Iranian descent doesn't preclude him from also being White. Nationality doesn't equal race, so how he identifies is up to him."

Whatever you want to believe about race is up to you. But saying that a middle-eastern born immigrant actor in a leading role is not diverse is just silly. 

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 10:31am

JaglinSays said: "Have a hunch this is gonna bomb big. Wrong actress, wrong director, wrong time."

I'm not sure it's gonna BOMB, but this should be a big glitzy event show. Prestige theatre that is the talk of the town. Instead, it's just one of several musicals opening in April. There's no more hype for it than Paradise Square, Mr. Saturday Night, or Beetlejuice when there totally should be. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 10:46am

All I want at this point is a lavish production.  On the scale of the recent SHE LOVES ME revival.

When the creatives of the announced Bartlett Sher 2012 Broadway revival of FUNNY GIRL with Lauren Ambrose and Bobby Canavale lost producers backing and realized they couldn’t produce a large-scale lavish production, they pulled the plug.  They knew a non-lavish production of FUNNY GIRL would never be accepted.  

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 10:47am

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Remember when everyone on here complained about the supporting casts for the revivals of MY FAIR LADY and KING AND I? And then many of us were blown away? Maybe we wait and see how it all plays out onstage...it's not like any role announced today would attract stars or Tony winners. The supporting ensemble of FG doesn't have a lot to do. And you also don't want to cast overqualified people in dumb roles because they're just going to get bored.

no doubt everyone announced today auditioned and won their roles over many other options."

I agree. As much as we raved about the ensembles of some recent shows, a lot of that is because a director will cut-and-paste most of his ensemble from one show to the next. And while that certainly brings a lot of goodwill and cheering on to see our favorites back on stage, we should also be cheering those who we may not know. They all gotta start somewhere, right? And Michael Mayer has created stars over the years, so I'm excited to cheer them on. 

[TNick926]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 11:57am

I'm guessing/hoping that this production uses the revised slate of musical numbers which includes Nicky Arnstein singing several numbers, mostly with Fanny.

Ramin Karimloo has a glorious voice, and I hope we get to hear as much of it as possible in this show!

Interesting to me also how he has a similar look to the great Omar Sharif as Nicky in the movie. Both such dreamy, handsome men! Easy to see why Fanny would fall for him...

 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 12:08pm

AND remember it's a very Scott Rudin thing to have the majority of principal/supporting roles be Tony nominees or winners. (Also easier with a nonprofit production where everyone is being paid scale regardless of role size.) This team isn't using that strategy.

It does not mean a thing for the box office in the long run if you cast Jonathan Freeman or Mary Testa vs Peter Francis James or Toni DiBuono. The general tickbuying public does not care.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 12:14pm

The producers likely view it as a way to say "Look! We're not racist!" but it's awfully weird to see the actor playing EDDIE RYAN be billed above the title, especially when the actor has no name recognition.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 12:30pm

I also would love to live in a world where color and sexual orientation did not matter at all- and where in show biz- performers were chosen only on their abilities. I attended a performance of Lehman Trilogy where one of the Jewish Lehman brothers was performed by a black man- and though I had my doubts- he was very effective in the role. Now I read that famous Jewish impresario Flo Ziegfeld will be played by a black man. Jews at the time of Fanny Brice were discriminated against in many ways- barred from certain industries- certainly barred from certain country clubs- and generally were seen as outcasts in certain circles.

     Today, Jews are characterized as white people- and the roles of many Jewish people are played by POC- because a Jew being cast by a POC is seen as okay- well, not to me- because I see Jewish oppression- as virulent as any other oppression- and replacing Jews with other oppressed minorities- is problematic for me.

     Could someone please name one role - of someone one Person Of Color- who was played by a Jew. Would it be okay if MLK was performed by Jake Gylenhaal- or if Julianna Margulies were cast as Michelle Obama? Why are Jews- though not persecuted because of their color- but because of their race and heritage - replaced by a diverse casting choice- when the opposite never seems to happen?

I hope this post does not offend or anger people- but I feel this issue needs to be discussed. Please do not call me a reactionary racist- and leave it at that- I think this is a valid issue up for discussion.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 2/8/22 at 12:34pm

This is a thread about Funny Girl, not race discussions about Julianna playing Michelle. Thanks. 

Back on topic, if you follow dance or saw After Midnight, you know who Jared Grimes is. He is an incredibly accomplished, brilliant dancer. I can't wait to see him in this.