FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 46

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 8:53pm

"The main issue is she just doesn’t have musicality in her bones. It’s not natural to her. She’s not skilled in interpreting lyrics."

This seems a different and more nuanced prism on disappointment with the performance than posts speaking solely about pitch and stamina. And the more intriguing analysis, one that's in no way unkind or lacking of generosity of spirit. Musical comedy chops are not simply vocal skill or "talent"; they're about landing a number in a way that amplifies character, circumstance -- and engendered emotion that seemingly cannot be expressed in dialog. That mysterious inner life of a character that songs unleash.  I've seen perfectly good singers unable to integrate vocally polished numbers with characterization and storytelling. And merely adequate singers continue to tell the story through song. It's technique and skill, but in a way, a complicated alchemy. 

If you can amplify more, it's welcome. Perhaps a bigger topic than this one take on one character. 

Updated On: 4/9/22 at 08:53 PM

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 9:00pm

CBS Sunday Morning will be profiling Beanie tomorrow: Sunday April 10, and footage from the revival is included. It’ll be up on YouTube shortly after it airs so no need to watch it as someone will post it here.  

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 9:00pm

What on earth is nuanced about "doesn't have musicality in her bones"? How on earth does one even objectively define that?

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 9:05pm

“There are two types of people in the theater, explains Arthur Laurents, who wrote the librettos for “Gypsy” and “West Side Story” and has directed Broadway revivals of both: those who have the musical “in their bones” and those who do not. In his short, acerbic memoir, those with the right bone structure are generally referred to by chummy diminutives — Steve (Sondheim), Angie (Lansbury), Lenny (Bernstein) — and those without repeatedly by their full names, chiefly Mr. Sam Mendes.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Brockes-t.html
 

I was using that term to express that Beanie is not a natural at interpreting music and lyrics. Jane is, Ramin is. Beanie doesn’t have that skill, and it’s sorely missing in the ballads. She sounds like a High Schooler during the Spring vocal recital. 

Updated On: 4/9/22 at 09:05 PM

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 10:06pm

Sutton Ross said: "Correct, Larry. This is Broadway. If you want to pay basically nothing, you will get a crappy seat. Go see regional theater if you cannot afford it. Broadway is a luxury. Period."

WHAT AN OBNOXIOUS <<EDITED BY MODS>>

I personally have had great nights in the theatre from really cheap seats and more than a few really rotten nights in the theatre from great seats.  If the production is to your liking, you are going to enjoy it from most anywhere; if it is not, you are not. 

There are clearly exceptions, like the extreme sides of the Winter Garden and Ambassador theatres, to name two obvious ones.  Will you like it as much from the second balcony as from seeing it from the fifth row of the orchestra.  Of course not.  That still does not mean that you can't have a magical evening.

Because people cannot pay for expensive seats, does that really mean they should not attend.  The theatre has always had and will always have elitist snobs.  I guess you are just one of them.

Updated On: 4/10/22 at 10:06 PM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:18am

This is a REALLY great feature (regardless of your feelings on Feldstein). https://youtu.be/meZJvLYivXA

[BdwyFan]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:21am

Really wonderful segment on CBS!!  Bravo Beanie! 

[Dylan Smith4]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:22am

I saw it, Feldstein is an underrated star! I do not care what others think, I thought her performance was absolutely fantastic!

[White_Lotus]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:50am

Beanie Feldstein seems like such a genuine and sweet person

for me - her voice singing these songs will take some getting used to as Streisand's interpretation of them are embedded into my psyche 

in my mind streisand + funny girl are inextricable

I have some reservations but will try go in with an open mind when I finally do get to see this production 

 

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:54am

The best parts of the CBS Sunday Morning piece feature the history of Brice, which really capture her persona and even showcase her singing. Feldstein's thoughtful comments on her trailblazing really are apt, and give Brice the credit she's often denied in the shadow of the '68 film's reputation. Was surprised the segment included so much Streisand, including vocals; perhaps inevitable, they invite the very comparisons so many are suggesting are unfair -- and sidestepped in the production's comedy focus (If I had been publicist, I would've insisted on video of "Rat Tat Tat" or "His Love Makes Me Beautiful," which posters agree are the best showcases of Feldstein.)   And then Ted Chapin, discussing the show's problems. An odd element, since though he's a musical theater historian, his negative remarks don't sell the show.

But the show is selling quite nicely, and this probably helps.     

Updated On: 4/10/22 at 10:54 AM

[White_Lotus]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:54am

oh my.

what I meant to write was:

in my mind streisand + funny girl are indivisible

but for some odd reason I am unable to edit my original post

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 11:07am

Inextricable works just as well, if not better.

[White_Lotus]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 11:19am

TaffyDavenport said: "Inextricable works just as well, if not better."

yes taffy - it actually does!

thank you kindly. 

[Duckie4]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 12:45pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Dylan Smith4 - thank you for sharing your review but you lost me at: GLEE, calling Eddie Ryan a musical director (he’s a hoofer-turned-choreographer), and most jarring: Barbara Streisand (it’s BARBRA, not Barbara). And no, Beanie may get a Tony Award nomination (those awards politics), but has zero shot in taking it home. I loved the revival enormously, but one does need to keep realistic things in perspective. A close friend of mine is an Oscar nominated actress. Do I think she’s one of the best actresses around? Hell no. I don’t even see everything she does. Is she talented? Beyond talented. But come on. One needs to keep reality in perspective here."

I got lost amongst all the exclamation points. 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 3:13pm

...........................lame

Updated On: 4/10/22 at 03:13 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 3:17pm

Several friends also wondered why the show’s publicist didn’t insist on CBS using footage of “Rat Tat Tat Tat,” a number ripe for introduction via a new Fanny. Unknown to the film fans. Posters assure it’s Feldstein’s finest moment, and could have brought in Ayodele Casel, the brilliant tap specialist profiled in today’s Times, and Jared Grimes. The segment ends with speculation about Streisand’s attendance, as a friend noted, maybe the wrong question to pose in distancing the new iteration from its still tethered star. 

Updated On: 4/10/22 at 03:17 PM

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 7:14pm

For those who have seen the show and comment that Beanie has "zero chemistry" with Ramin, is the issue that they are not well cast together, or is the issue that she doesn't project the mature gravitas to successfully play the second half of the story - which is the doomed romance between Fanny and Nick. In that cast, it likely wouldn't matter who played Nick.

 

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 7:35pm

QueenAlice said: “”or is the issue that she doesn't project the mature gravitas to successfully play the second half of the story - which is the doomed romance between Fanny and Nick. In that cast, it likely wouldn't matter who played Nick."

That’s correct. I felt nothing for Fanny in act two. I didn’t feel any genuine emotion from Beanie until the finale. 

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 8:21pm

ljay889 said: "“There are two types of people in the theater, explains Arthur Laurents, who wrote the librettos for “Gypsy” and “West Side Story” and has directed Broadway revivals of both: those who have the musical “in their bones” and those who do not. In his short, acerbic memoir, those with the right bone structure are generally referred to by chummy diminutives — Steve (Sondheim), Angie (Lansbury), Lenny (Bernstein) — and those without repeatedly by their full names, chiefly Mr. Sam Mendes.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Brockes-t.html


I was using that term to express that Beanie is not a natural at interpreting music and lyrics. Jane is, Ramin is. Beanie doesn’t have that skill, and it’s sorely missing in the ballads. She sounds like a High Schooler during the Spring vocal recital."

Well this is hardly a "nuanced view, as someone called it. And Laurents is probably always the wrong person to emulate in terms of critical vocabulary (amazing book writer; fairly awful person/critic).

[ljay889]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 8:59pm

joevitus said: "ljay889 said: "“There are two types of people in the theater, explains Arthur Laurents, who wrote the librettos for “Gypsy” and “West Side Story” and has directed Broadway revivals of both: those who have the musical “in their bones” and those who do not. In his short, acerbic memoir, those with the right bone structure are generally referred to by chummy diminutives — Steve (Sondheim), Angie (Lansbury), Lenny (Bernstein) — and those without repeatedly by their full names, chiefly Mr. Sam Mendes.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Brockes-t.html


I was using that term to express that Beanie is not a natural at interpreting music and lyrics. Jane is, Ramin is. Beanie doesn’t have that skill, and it’s sorely missing in the ballads. She sounds like a High Schooler during the Spring vocal recital."

Well this is hardly a "nuanced view, as someone called it. And Laurents is probably always the wrong person to emulate in terms of critical vocabulary (amazing book writer; fairly awful person/critic)."

I didn’t ask for your assessment of my *opinion.* Go see this revival for yourself and add your own “nuanced” opinion. 

Updated On: 4/10/22 at 08:59 PM

[Bill Snibson]

Posted: 4/11/22 at 1:21am

In this production Fanny is the only  person asked to “age”. Beanie def ages yet Ramin and Jane don’t age a bit. Am I wrong? 

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/11/22 at 1:50am

ljay889 said: "joevitus said: "ljay889 said: "“There are two types of people in the theater, explains Arthur Laurents, who wrote the librettos for “Gypsy” and “West Side Story” and has directed Broadway revivals of both: those who have the musical “in their bones” and those who do not. In his short, acerbic memoir, those with the right bone structure are generally referred to by chummy diminutives — Steve (Sondheim), Angie (Lansbury), Lenny (Bernstein) — and those without repeatedly by their full names, chiefly Mr. Sam Mendes.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/books/review/Brockes-t.html


I was using that term to express that Beanie is not a natural at interpreting music and lyrics. Jane is, Ramin is. Beanie doesn’t have that skill, and it’s sorely missing in the ballads. She sounds like a High Schooler during the Spring vocal recital."

Well this is hardly a "nuanced view, as someone called it. And Laurents is probably always the wrong person to emulate in terms of critical vocabulary (amazing book writer; fairly awful person/critic)."

I didn’t askfor your assessment of my *opinion.* Go see this revival for yourself and add your own “nuanced” opinion."

Right back at ya, hon. I posted my reaction to your opinion. I didn't ask for your assessment, either.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 4/11/22 at 11:38am

Really trying to wrap my head around what this casting would have been like.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/11/22 at 12:18pm

JasonC3 said: "Really trying to wrap my head around what this casting would have been like."

This would have been THE event that season as Bernhard was riding high in 1990, but though she does sing, its not in the polished Streisand style so she’d be getting slammed for her vocal interpretation of the score.  Bernhard uses her head voice primarily.  Those book scenes would today be part of Broadway folklore had this Weisslers produced revival ever happened.

Sandra Bernhard, circa 1990

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 4/11/22 at 3:51pm

Sandra Bernhard might have been an inspired choice. Like Streisand and like Fanny Brice, she is /was a complete one of a kind and a totally unique comedian. She also had the pre-requisite glamour to have made the love story aspect believable. And though not a vocalist in Streisand's league, I think, especially at that time, likely a stronger and more interesting instrument than Beanie Feldstein.

Updated On: 4/11/22 at 03:51 PM