FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread — Page 87

Someone actually checked the astrological charts of the actors to assess their "chemistry"? That is very weird. What's next? Blood types? Sexual orientation? Food allergies?



Definitely weird.

I have friends that went last night. They had a interesting observation. They thought some of the applause and cheers were canned and being piped in. It never occurred to me that some of that stuff could be pre recorded. Thoughts? I just thought it was a interesting observation. I guess if I ever sit thru this again I would have to really pay attention.

I truly am still gobsmacked people actually do star charts to predict chemistry? Holy cow.

BrodyFosse123 said: "I’m out."

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Hey moderators, if you’re going to delete comments you don’t like, can you also delete the crazy a** conspiracy theories? Thanks!"

Can you be more specific ?

That B-roll footage didn't do it for me. I liked seeing Jared's dancing for sure, but only 15 seconds of actual singing? And only from Beanie? Is this the best they could do to promote the show? If I were on the fence about going --- I am not sure I would be persuaded.

That footage was a shocker. There was nothing there that would rush me to the box office. Jayne Lynch doing the shimmy?? Beanie showing more than she should? The whole mash-up was a smash-up of the worst kind. There was no Funny in that Girl.

Ramin is handsome, funny, talented and just plain adorable. I need "more him, more him." Should have used him singing that one section of People instead of Beanie at the end. Seriously.

I watched this first at work without any sound, so didn't know what the music was. I thought what they did was a good idea and made sense for the show, however, who picked the clips to be shown? What a hot mess. I thought they showcased Ramin well - at least he wasn't shoved into a corner, and they may be playing up his participation because he has his own fan base. Ahem.

Jared is a star and really likable. Jane's shimmy - meh. 6 tap dancers?

Whoever chose the clips of Beanie did not do her any favors. 5+ of that pink dress/nightgown. Having her fall and roll on the floor? I guess she had to sing DROMP. Sadly, a lot of people aren't paying attention.

Bottom line, now that I have heard Julie sing and have seen her cute videos, the photos comparing her to Fanny, etc., I wish they had gone with the newcomer idea - as someone else mentioned. Beanie is just wrong for the role.

Auggie27 said: My problem is the show itself: score aside, it's just a mediocrity, its stakes -- a talented woman abandoning her calling for a career criminal -- hard to make persuasive.

For me that is the conflict that SHOULD make the story work. Fanny never abandoned her calling for Nicky. If anything, she fought harder to have both. Maybe I'm a sap, I'll admit to it, but Nicky was a con man, but they loved each other. It wasn't like he was in jail all the time and once he got out of jail over the stock theft, he never got in trouble with the law again. So this suggests something about being with Fanny pushing a button. I don't buy Ramin and Beanie - I'd love to see Ramin and Julie - might make the story more believable.

Didn't mean to go off on a tangent, just to say - the romance is necessary to the story. I seem to remember reading somewhere the original title was My Man and the Woman Who Loved Him or something like that - but they couldn't get the rights to the song (I heard Nicky owned them). It was never intended to be just Fanny's story - that only happened after Streisand came on board. Personally, I liked the 2nd act and felt a couple of the Fanny numbers could have been cut to develop the relationship with Nick more as a counterpoint - give him equal weight. Fierstein did what he could, but without a complete re-write of the entire show, he did what he could.

In any event, it sounds like the cast and crew got a pep talk from the coach in the locker room. No call in from Beanie for Julie to cover for the matinee today. New promo. Let's win one for the Gipper and keep this thing going.

Sitting midway in the mezz yesterday afternoon, decent seat in the somewhat inhospitable front-rear-mezz (I saw Groundhog Day, Flower Drum Song, and Carrie from up there!), it did sound like the cheers and tumultuous responses came from the spot where Ziegfeld spoke. Behind me. Two people turned around a couple of times when the loud response happened, as if "what are they on?" or "where are they?" Sweetened or piped in, it's not appropriate to this piece. It's not Spring Awakening.

As noted above, the sound design is overkill, not trusting the music or the singers. Feldstein does some perfectly lovely upper register work on "Who Are You Now?" and elsewhere, (I didn't have issues with "People" that others have), and when she doesn't push money notes, certainly isn't anything close to the misfire some describe. But dialing up the volume has a distancing effect. Blasting her vocals doesn't help her case. It's already a big performance, that presentational clowning and rolling down the stage in the clip suggest the size. If the show trusted her Fanny characterization more, developing its subtleties, and Mayer reined in some of the shtick, she'd score more consistently.

(Sidebar: She's really quite attractive in the "Cornet Man" costume and wig. Young, sexy, the tailored fit very flattering. And then she's made to wear some of the evening's worst outfits, especially the the "You Are Woman" gown and wig, which give her a high school musical quality. It's startlingly wrong for the seduction scene. She's supposed to attract Nicky, but she's done up like the Queen Mother. The draped shinning gold satin, the wig out of "Forum", it's just shocking. She isn't well costumed again until act two, a simple maroon dress makes grown-up Fanny look striking and sophisticated. Enough with the caftans.)

The direction pushes her to be outrageous, and then tries to turn her into a serious woman fighting for her man and career. Feldstein isn't unable to play the adult Fanny, but no one helped her stitch together the two sides of this woman, so she seems to be playing one or the other. The second act, with its one-note marriage destruction plotting, makes it more challenging. Still, if this is where the story takes her, let her get there. Stop amping the voice so the roof is raised. She's not Jennifer Holiday, need not be, and trying to suggest such a feat does her no favors. I have no idea what is going on with "Music That Makes Me Dance," its abstract setting and bizarre echo chamber mic make it sound pre-recorded. Of course it isn't, but late in the show, just let her stand on stage and sing, naturally. it's so tech-canned in presentation.

I wish more people blamed Mayer for the issues in her performance. Another director would've helped shape and balance her take.

Updated On: 6/2/22 at 07:26 AM

The laughter and applause is definitely being sweetened. But it's not the first or only show doing that...

bk said: "Bette's Turban said: "I have friends that went last night. They had a interesting observation. They thought some of the applause and cheers were canned and being piped in. It never occurred to me that some of that stuff could be pre recorded. Thoughts? I just thought it was a interesting observation. I guess if I ever sit thru this again I would have to really pay attention."

I've been saying this for a few years now - I first noticed it for the tour of Hamilton. The minute the pre-show announcement came on it began. And I was smack in the center of the orchestra section and looked all around me and NO ONE, not a single person was screaming and applauding. So, I thought, maybe it's all coming from kiddies in the balcony - but a friend told me it was the same there, that it all sounded like it was coming in through the speakers. It sure would explain a lot of of the outsized, crazy reaction even the most mundane things get these days. The cynic in me believes it.

"

Yes! Hamilton is guilty of this as well. But I guess since the work on stage is of a better standard ; it’s not questioned as much. In Funny Girl there is such a twilight zone disconnect with the audience reaction that I’m guessing it’s even more amped up.

Updated On: 6/2/22 at 11:53 AM