FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 60

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 9:54pm

LOL check this one out -

Penny Feldstein stars as Fanny Price in star-studded revival

https://mediianews.com/2022/04/25/penny-feldstein-stars-as-fanny-price-in-star-studded-revival/

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 9:54pm

Matt Windman from AM New York, say it louder cuz the people in the back can't hear ya! :

"Without an extraordinary lead performance, “Funny Girl” doesn’t work..."

 

[KFC1991]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 9:58pm

Robbie2 said: "LOL check this one out -

Penny Feldstein stars as Fanny Price in star-studded revival

https://mediianews.com/2022/04/25/penny-feldstein-stars-as-fanny-price-in-star-studded-revival/"

I didn't realize Nigerian princes wrote theater reviews. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 9:58pm

Robbie2 said: "LOL check this one out -

Penny Feldstein stars as Fanny Price in star-studded revival

https://mediianews.com/2022/04/25/penny-feldstein-stars-as-fanny-price-in-star-studded-revival/"

Another truly WTF review: They call her "Penny" for the headline and "Benny" in the review. Whatever this reviewer was smoking I want some...

[Auggie27]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 9:58pm

Leontyne's sister? It's the kind of evening. Turntables upstaged by actors. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:01pm

ljay889 said: "Well I think these reviews are making it clear that the Tony is going to be between Clarke and Lenk."

It's been clear to me for quite a while that this is Clarke's award. I think our 5 nominees in order of likelihood are:

Clarke
Foster
Kalukango
Lenk
Feldstein

alternative would be the nominators go buckwild and nominate De Waal and/or Cusack instead of the bottom two. Which would be possible, chaotic, and hilarious.

Updated On: 4/24/22 at 10:01 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:01pm

Variety:

‘Funny Girl’ Review: An Underpowered Revival Brings Fanny Brice Back to Broadway

 

https://variety.com/2022/legit/reviews/funny-girl-review-broadway-beanie-feldstein-1235239624/

[Lorna Joe]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:01pm

Mixed reviews, eh? WICKED got mixed reviews too. I am thrilled for this revival. It will thrive.... 

[Dusoleilcanwhistle]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:03pm

NYTimes is out 

"It must be a plot. Why else would it have taken nearly 60 years for “Funny Girl,” the hit 1964 musical about the comic Fanny Brice, to be revived on Broadway, when most Golden Age shows with even half a wit left in them — let alone such a fabulous score — have been revived unto exhaustion?

And why does the mild version that finally made it, in a production starring Beanie Feldstein that opened Sunday at the August Wilson Theater, seem likely to prolong rather than break the spell?"

"To rip the bandage off quickly: Feldstein is not stupendous. She’s good. She’s funny enough in places, and immensely likable always, as was already evident from her performances in the movies “Booksmart” and “Lady Bird” and, on Broadway, in “Hello, Dolly!” You root for her to raise the roof, but she only bumps against it a little. Her voice, though solid and sweet and clear, is not well suited to the music, and you feel her working as hard as she can to power through the gap. But working hard at what should be naturally extraordinary is not in Fanny’s DNA."

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:03pm

NY Post:

‘Funny Girl’ review: Beanie Feldstein’s Broadway show falls flat

https://nypost.com/2022/04/24/funny-girl-review-beanie-feldstein-falls-flat-on-broadway/

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:03pm

NY Times:

Review: Broadway’s First ‘Funny Girl’ Revival Shows Why It Took So Long Beanie Feldstein stars as the comic Fanny Brice in the show’s return after almost 60 years.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/24/theater/funny-girl-review.html

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:05pm

Deadline:

‘Funny Girl’ Broadway Review: No Rain On Beanie Feldstein’s Parade, But Expect Some Drizzle

https://deadline.com/2022/04/funny-girl-broadway-review-beanie-feldstein-jane-lynch-1235008859/

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:05pm

CarlosAlberto said: "Robbie2 said: "LOL check this one out -

Penny Feldstein stars as Fanny Price in star-studded revival

https://mediianews.com/2022/04/25/penny-feldstein-stars-as-fanny-price-in-star-studded-revival/"

Another truly WTF review: They call her "Penny" for the headline and "Benny" in the review. Whatever this reviewer was smoking I want some..."

Looks like it's making fun of the Collider review.

Updated On: 4/24/22 at 10:05 PM

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:06pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "ljay889 said: "Well I think these reviews are making it clear that the Tony is going to be between Clarke and Lenk."

It's been clear to me for quite a while that this is Clarke's award. I think our 5 nominees in order of likelihood are:

Clarke
Foster
Kalukango
Lenk
Feldstein

alternative would be the nominators go buckwild and nominate De Waal and/or Cusack instead of the bottom two. Which would be possible, chaotic, and hilarious."

Mare Winningham in Girl From the North Country is another possibility.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:07pm

NY Daily News is...interesting:

Broadway review: In ‘Funny Girl,’ waves of love and forgiveness for Beanie Feldstein

https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/broadway/ny-broadway-funny-girl-review-beanie-feldstein-20220425-pydgl7irlzdffdncsr2yiz5n7q-story.html

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:08pm

MemorableUserName said: "NY Post:

‘Funny Girl’ review: Beanie Feldstein’s Broadway show falls flat

https://nypost.com/2022/04/24/funny-girl-review-beanie-feldstein-falls-flat-on-broadway/"

 

Karimloo is a serviceable actor, but a glorious singer. When he starts to croon a short reprise of “People,” we silently beg him to do the whole thing.

OUCH!!!

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:08pm

Daily Beast:

Broadway’s ‘Funny Girl’ Revival Rains on Its Own Parade

BUM NOTES

One of the most anticipated shows of the Broadway season, the revival of “Funny Girl” has pizazz and celebrity power but falls very short in its sketching of story and character.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/broadways-funny-girl-revival-rains-on-its-own-parade

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:10pm

Theatrely is a rave: A FUNNY GIRL For Today

https://www.theatrely.com/post/a-funny-girl-for-today-review

 

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:12pm

Theatermania is mixed on Beanie (and perhaps a bit kind):

https://www.theatermania.com/broadway/reviews/review-beanie-feldstein-funny-girl_93691.html

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:14pm

Ever since I saw this I have been wondering why people continue to predict Beanie for a Tony nom (I even see users on Gold Derby having her WIN! I mean WHAT??) These reviews are reminding me that I am not crazy: she is def not getting in.

Clarke, Kalukango, Lenk, and Foster are all set. Cusack and Winningham battle for the 5th slot. 

I think Jane Lynch can still score a nomination. Maaaaaybe Ramin, but probably just misses? Maaaaaybe Jared Grimes, but he also is probably just misses. The design is overall ugly and lacking. So probably Jane is the only Tony recognition for this one.

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:14pm

The reviews are interesting, not the worst that many here were waiting, but the mixed response is justify.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:15pm

Vulture is mixed, but very negative on Beanie:

https://www.vulture.com/2022/04/theater-review-funny-girl-beanie-feldstein.html

"But in song after song, Feldstein’s voice lets her down. Piercing and unpleasant when it gets any higher than her chest, fading and pitchy when it descends even a few steps, it’s simply not a sound you expect to hear on Broadway. Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill wrote some stunners for Funny Girl, including “People” and “Don’t Rain on my Parade.” The latter song sits in Feldstein’s narrow comfort range, and so she blasts it out — particularly its final note — with foghorn force (if not phrasing). Everything else, though, goes sour."

"When it comes to function, Fanny’s songs are the whole caboodle: They must explain Brice’s titanic success, they should carry the narrative forward, and they need to do something painful to our hearts. Feldstein cannot sing them. It seems brutal to place a woman in such an exposed position, where a whole Broadway production rests on notes she can’t sustain. Though, you know, I don’t think it’s inevitable that a strained, everyday voice would necessarily ruin the calculation at the heart of the musical. Funny Girl is itself preoccupied with celebrity, and the mechanisms of fan-love are an un-extractible part of the experience. Why was Brice such an immense star? Watching clips of her work, it seems a mystery; some alchemy must have taken place, and we in the future are missing the chemical ingredients. I can picture a version of Funny Girl that makes that case — that an odd lady with an odd voice nevertheless had it. But Feldstein doesn’t give us that, either. Vocal issues, you can work around. But presence? That one, you gotta have."

[nsguy45]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:16pm

Someone did not read the entire NYT review.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:19pm

Peter Marks in Washington Post:

Beanie Feldstein attempts to scale ‘Funny Girl.' She almost makes it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/theater-dance/2022/04/24/funny-girl-beanie-feldstein-broadway-streisand/

[MadsonMelo]

Posted: 4/24/22 at 10:19pm

Still, you can’t blame Feldstein for the show’s problems; that would be like blaming the clown for the elephants. The main elephant is the book, written by Isobel Lennart and fiddled with for this production by Harvey Fierstein, to no avail. Tracing Brice’s rise from gawky waif to Ziegfeld star between 1910 and 1927, along with the corresponding decline of her romance with the “gorgeous” gambler Nick Arnstein (Ramin Karimloo), it bites off more than it can chew and then, at least in Michael Mayer’s production, repeatedly refuses to chew it.
 

This NYT reviews seems pretty fair to me.