FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 70

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 5:15pm

It’s funny - I worked with Charles Strouse intimately and love Golden Boy, but even it’s biggest fan I cannot tolerate. Ignore on.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 6:23pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "It’s funny - I worked with Charles Strouse intimately and love Golden Boy, but even it’s biggest fan I cannot tolerate. Ignore on."

Please explain as I'd like to know what you are saying[or mean].  Thanks

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 6:26pm

SweetLips22 said: "iluvtheatertrash said: "It’s funny - I worked with Charles Strouse intimately and love Golden Boy, but even it’s biggest fan I cannot tolerate. Ignore on."

Please explain as I'd like to know what you are saying[or mean]. Thanks"

Oh, Lorna Joe in this thread’s username is inspired by Golden Boy. I just can’t stand their posts even tho I love the show. Stupid joke!

[Robbie2]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 6:34pm

Beanie Feldstein's Performance In The Funny Girl Revival Has Twitter In A Tizzy

Beanie Feldstein's performance got bashed by critics

Twitter followers think a different actress should have gotten the role

https://www.thelist.com/843682/beanie-feldsteins-performance-in-the-funny-girl-revival-has-twitter-in-a-tizzy/

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 6:49pm

DAME said: "joevitus said: "bryan2 said: "I find it funny that everyone is coming to her defense as if they are her best friends. Her reviews were mixed to horrible (the worst being they would not cast her in a high school production or theater camp) but this is what is. I find it funny that they still talk and badmouth Melanie Griffin (an academy award nominee) and now Pam Anderson for playing Roxie and that is acceptable, and they were the 150th Roxes lol, but for some reason you can not bad mouth Beanie performance. She was miscast and anyone who knows theater knows this .

This is a show that required a big beautiful voice and she has a small nasal voice with an ability to belt at times. The producers and the director made a calculated choice and decided that funny and hammy was enough to compensate for the lack of singing and they designed the show for someone who was polar opposite of Barbra ..so this is what it is.

Stop ripping her apart/ stop defending her she will keep working as a character actress for years to come no matter what these reviews say , she is a talented actress / buy a ticket , dont buy a ticket .. You have a choice"

I find it funnier that so many people are so vicious about it--as if they were forced to invest in the show or even purchase a ticket."

I find it funnier that you have not seen the show.. yet you are here every day , stirring the pot, and getting people worked up to defend their right to their opinions."

Not stirring the pot. Don't like the vicious posts by people who haven't even seen the show. See no need to relish bad reviews. No one is required to read a single comment of mine. But I will comment as I see fit.

Updated On: 4/26/22 at 06:49 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 7:44pm

CarlosAlberto said: "joevitus said: "DAME said: "joevitus said: "bryan2 said: "I find it funny that everyone is coming to her defense as if they are her best friends. Her reviews were mixed to horrible (the worst being they would not cast her in a high school production or theater camp) but this is what is. I find it funny that they still talk and badmouth Melanie Griffin (an academy award nominee) and now Pam Anderson for playing Roxie and that is acceptable, and they were the 150th Roxes lol, but for some reason you can not bad mouth Beanie performance. She was miscast and anyone who knows theater knows this .

This is a show that required a big beautiful voice and she has a small nasal voice with an ability to belt at times. The producers and the director made a calculated choice and decided that funny and hammy was enough to compensate for the lack of singing and they designed the show for someone who was polar opposite of Barbra ..so this is what it is.

Stop ripping her apart/ stop defending her she will keep working as a character actress for years to come no matter what these reviews say , she is a talented actress / buy a ticket , dont buy a ticket .. You have a choice"

I find it funnier that so many people are so vicious about it--as if they were forced to invest in the show or even purchase a ticket."

I find it funnier that you have not seen the show.. yet you are here every day , stirring the pot, and getting people worked up to defend their right to their opinions."

Not stirring the pot. Don't like the vicious posts by people who haven't even seen the show. See no need to relish bad reviews. No one is required to read a single comment of mine. But I will comment as I see fit."

yes you do that joevirus…"

Hate/viciousness continues.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:13pm

joevirus + Lorna Doone = the ultimate victims of “hate”on BWW

as Julie London once sang: “Cry me a river…” 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:20pm

HAMILTON… you’ve been dethroned, bitch!

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:26pm

Rex Reed is Fanny's coat, protecting her from the harsh reviews.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:32pm

Carlos, ironically “Cry me a river” was one of Barbra’s first - and best - singles (as I’m sure you know)!

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:39pm

Sally Durant Plummer said: "Carlos, ironically “Cry me a river” was one of Barbra’s first - and best - singles (as I’m sure you know)!"

Where on Earth do you get your facts?!  Her cover of “Cry Me a River” was NEVER released as a single!  It was simply a track on her first album, 1963’s THE BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM.  

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:46pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "Sally Durant Plummer said: "Carlos, ironically “Cry me a river” was one of Barbra’s first - and best - singles (as I’m sure you know)!"

Where on Earth do you get your facts?! Her cover of “Cry Me a River” was NEVER released as a single! It was simply a track on her first album, 1963’s THE BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM. "

lol chile. maybe i’m misremembering the hello, gorgeous biography but i thought it was a b-side to A Sleepin’ Bee before the first album was recorded. maybe i’m wrong though! sorry to get y’all pressed.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 9:58pm

“A Sleepin’ Bee” was also never released as a single.  The only singles released for her first album were “Happy Days are Here Again” (B-Side: “When the Sun Comes Out” - which was included on THE SECOND BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM) and “My Coloring Book” (ended up instead on the SECOND ALBUM) with the B-Side: “Lover, Come Back to Me” (from the first album).

I’m here all week.  What else ya got? 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 10:07pm

brody, maybe I have the verbiage wrong, but I was under the impression she recorded and sold copies of “a sleepin bee” and “cry me a river” prior to the first album. i might be wrong tho. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 10:14pm

Nope.  The singles I listed were released in November 1962, prior to the February 25, 1963 release of THE BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM.  The song titles you mentioned were never released as singles at any time.  The ones I listed were the 2 singles released in advance of the first album.  

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 11:30pm

Phillytheatreguy10 said: "Anneliese Van Der Pol was always the hill I would die on when casting this- she was the final Belle in Beauty and the Beast and she has the skills. If only she could shake the Disney Channel star stigma she could be big in the theatre world."

Agreed. I'm also sold on Hannah Solow now.

[KFC1991]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 11:32pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "“A Sleepin’ Bee” was also never released as a single. The only singles released for her first album were “Happy Days are Here Again” (B-Side: “When the Sun Comes Out” - which was included on THE SECOND BARBRA STREISAND ALBUM) and “My Coloring Book” (ended up instead on the SECOND ALBUM) with the B-Side: “Lover, Come Back to Me” (from the first album).

I’m here all week. What else ya got?"

Sally is correct. Brody is wrong. In April of 1963 Columbia released Cry Me a River as a single. The flip side was an alternate take of Come to the Supermarket in Old Peking that, still to this day, has never been released in any digital format. 

[UWS10023]

Posted: 4/26/22 at 11:52pm

I would have loved to have read a Brantley review of this and The Skin of Our Teeth.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 12:43am

It's not just Beanie that got bad notices though. The whole production pretty much got a "meh" vibe.

In a season with Company and Music Man... I don't see much love headed their way.

[OldTheatreLover]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 4:33am

TaffyDavenport said: "Rex Reed is Fanny's coat, protecting her from the harsh reviews."

Not casting any aspersions but I didn't know Rex Reed was still alive, seriously.

[bk]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 5:01am

Never mind. :)

Updated On: 4/27/22 at 05:01 AM

[KitKatBoy24]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 9:31am

For some reason I was still optimistic when I entered the August Wilson last night…

Beanie was truly terrible. I’ve never heard such pitchy singing on a Broadway stage before. Except for her last notes on her big songs, she was extremely off-tune and unpleasant to the ear. Though her big belted ending notes were genuinely good, but I don’t understand why she couldn’t tap into that part of her voice at different moments and different volumes throughout.
 

I thought her performance could still have some validating moments, but even her comedy chops were pretty basic. Her serious moments were all surface level, emotionally. It was truly one of the worst leading performances I’ve ever seen. 

I will say, she did look incredible and is clearly having the time of her life. I still consider myself a fan of Beanie. I love her in Dolly and have always loved her on screen. This just isn’t it. She should never have been cast.

I otherwise thought the production itself was great. The rest of the cast is killing it, the design element work really well, the orchestra is great, and the choreography/tap is incredible. I can’t wait to see her understudy this weekend and hopefully be blown away by her Fanny.

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 11:25am

Thank you for your review.  It will be interesting to see how audience perception and reaction changes now that word is out.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 11:36am

Azúcar! said: "Thank you for your review. It will be interesting to see how audience perception and reaction changes now that word is out."

According to the show’s marketing, and what the general public sees as they don’t hunt down the reviews, seems FUNNY GIRL is the next biggest Broadway hit sensation after HAMILTON.   

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 4/27/22 at 12:04pm

Okay, I’ve been sitting on writing a review for this for days now and I think I just need to just get it out of my system.

Just a primer about me personally: words can’t describe how excited I was when this revival got announced. Funny Girl is a show that lives deep in my DNA. Watching the 1968 film with Barbra when I was a kid was one of those core early life memories that got me hooked on theatre and set me onto a lifetime obsession of this art form.

My ultimate takeaway on this production is this: if you grew up, like me, with Barbra’s Fanny Brice engrained into your DNA and for you, Barbra and Fanny are inextricably linked, you will most likely be disappointed by this production. However, if Funny Girl is either relatively new to you or you don’t really love Barbra, then you will have an absolutely wonderful time at this production.

For me personally, and it breaks my heart to say this, this revival did not meet my expectations. I was rooting for Beanie so hard (I actually thought she deserved a Tony nom for how hysterical she was in Hello, Dolly!), and she is clearly trying her absolute hardest. I cannot fault her for not putting in the work or doing her best (which is why I’ve found some of the intense criticism of her on here to be overly catty and nasty). That said, Fanny is one of the few roles in the American musical theatre canon that require every element of the performance to fire on every cylinder in order for the charisma and talent to pay off. And I just felt Beanie pushing too hard on the whole to make it work. She is a truly adorable and very lovable actress, and there are times throughout the show when her performance does work (I do think she’s quite funny), but on the whole, she just wasn’t quite Fanny Brice for me.

Other quick notes: I thought the scenic design was terrible and I was thirsting for more lavishness and Broadway grandeur, especially during the Ziegfeld scenes. They should’ve upped the ensemble count because the Ziegfeld numbers and even down on Henry Street felt... sparse to me? I just wanted more Broadway hugeness. Jane Lynch felt miscast. Ramin is absolutely terrific. I’m mixed on the direction because I felt the show moved by at a fantastic and appropriate pace, but I thought the musical staging was, at times, not sharp enough.

However, and importantly… I’ve been to the show three times now (I’ve really given this production as fair a shot as I possibly can!!) and each time, I’ve gone with at least one friend or family member who has never seen Funny Girl before. I have to say: they have LOVED. THE. SHOW. As did the audience at the August Wilson each time I attended it. While I was dissecting each element of the show with my Funny Girl-loving brain on, the audience around me seemed to be absolutely eating the show up from start to finish.

And so, despite my misgivings, I still find myself rooting for this production, and I think it’ll end up being a hit. Tourists and people that aren’t theatre aficionados (aka nobody on this message board) will love it and have been loving it. And for most theatergoers today, this will be their first exposure to Funny Girl, which I think is just a fabulous show and a highly enjoyable time at the theatre.

I also found this production to be better than several others I’ve seen this season, just by nature of being Funny Girl. Dare I say I still enjoyed this production better than the snoozefest revival happening at the Winter Garden right now?