FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 80

I certainly would NOT precipitate on THAT celebration! It def. sounds like it was highly coached to play to her vocal "strengths", esp. the long held notes where flourishes would usually be. The long pause after "BAM" is long enough for her to drink a glass of water - I imagine she is taking a long breath there.

Updated On: 5/14/22 at 02:34 AM

It just occurred to me what this sounds like. It sounds like Vanessa Bayer doing Jacob the Bar Mitzvah Boy character on SNL.

Its been confirmed Beanie is actually channeling Vanessa Bayer’s SNL character Laura Parsons:

That clip won't be up long, so take a listen. It does reveal the underlying issue, which isn't about held notes or occasional pitch variance. It's not an embarrassing vocal performance, aside from sounding eerily like an adolescent at times, particularly in that oddly petulant and teenage dialog prior to the song proper. But the needed synergy of character-reaching-an-act curtain and actor hitting one of the evening's musical highs just doesn't happen. We can talk for days about whether the singing is pretty or acceptably in character. The thrill -- the tear the place apart raise the roof aspect -- is just lacking. I can understand why it's a challenge to articulate the disappointment. You can feel the house rooting for her, awaiting the final push. But it's a contrived finish, not an organic one, whether aided by the sound board or not.

Updated On: 5/14/22 at 12:47 PM

This stills holds up as a Master Class in marketing and cleverly pulling quotes. This person who did this is a genius. This makes David Merrick’s legendary pull quotes ads look like pre-school material.

She performing at the Tonys?

I am not a Beanie hater or invested emotionally in this show in any way to promote it. But there is a good reason this revival received only one Tony nomination: the lead is miscast.

Beanie is not a terrific singer and audiences love this because of the memory of the songs. It has nostalgic appeal.

I feel bad for Ramin. He deserved better. Sounds like most of you agree.

Listening to the bootleg above, I was surprised at how much better she sounded than I was expecting. I don't think the producers were crazy to hire her. She's not embarrassing.

But doing an A to B comparison with Benko, and it's obvious what a night and day improvement Benko is. Even the preceding dialogue is so much more authentic. She provides genuine pleasure, rather than mere respectability. Benko would be the toast of the town had she gotten to open on this.

That leaked audio is not a Broadway caliber delivery. I truly like Beanie but the song has no build, no momentum, no agency and no urgency. She’s trying hard and pushing all the way through. She’s having a hard time delivering emotion because she’s clearly thinking about how to deliver the song. She’s not able to act at the same time. It’s very sad and embarrassing for all involved.

Updated On: 5/27/22 at 10:04 PM

Don't want to judge a whole performance just based on audio, but yeah, that was rough. I've liked Beanie in other stuff, but she's way out of her element here. Hopefully this production is a learning experience for her to know her limitations.

ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure said: "Don't want to judge a whole performance just based on audio, but yeah, that was rough. I've liked Beanie in other stuff, but she's way out of her element here. Hopefully this production is a learning experience for her to know her limitations."

I doubt she has the internal wisdom to realize how bad she is in this role and no one is telling her besides the critics. If she has read any of the critiques, they have certainly had no effect on her performance or her seeming belief that she is the right person for the role...because, well, her mom dressed her up as Fanny/Barbra when she was 3. If she had any amount of humility and grace, she would have bowed out before the show opened.

Beanie IS primarily known for her handful of film roles. Her only notable TV work was playing Monica Lewinsky in Ryan Murphy’s AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT prior to FUNNY GIRL. And being Ben Platt’s bff, which first brought attention to her from the DEAR EVAN HANSEN phreaks.