FUNNY GIRL on Broadway - Reviews & News Thread- Page 98

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 1:14pm

“ Michele is often credited as reintroducing the show to an entire generation of musical theatre fans due to her Glee character Rachel Berry's series-long obsession with the show's original star, Barbra Streisand.”

LOLOL.

I mean, coming from a theater queen who first heard "Don't Rain On My Parade" from Lea's performance on Glee when I was in the 6th grade... That's not entirely wrong.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 1:17pm

Glad they're giving her an alternate and glad Benko is getting all the mentions. 

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 9:00pm

Georgeanddot2 said: "Will Lea play Fanny Brice or Barbara playing Fanny Brice?"

Good question. I don't know much about her, tbh, but having seen her "I'm the Greatest Star" from Glee, it appears she is doing Barbra doing Fanny. JMO. I find her voice similar to Streisand's. What her challenge will be is to make the songs her own - it's too easy to take on the Streisand inflections. The acting in between will tell the tale.

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 9:06pm

Although Jane Lynch is scheduled to leave before Lea Michele begins as Fanny, they are bound to "run into each other (possibly)", as Lea Michele begins the rehearsal process.  Is it possible for a lead like Lynch to avoid an incoming lead (Michele)?  

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/11/22 at 9:38pm

Lea isn’t rehearsing at the August Wilson Theatre so there’s zero chance of anyone bumping into her unless they head over to the studio space she’s rehearsing.  

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 12:09pm

Any truth to the rumor that Beanie is now in talks to star in a revival of THE ACT?

 

Just askin'

[themick2]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 3:03pm

No, no, no that happens after Beanie does her ultra-inclusive, ultra-edgy gender swapped Boy From Oz.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 3:41pm

Another indication of how the Funny Girl drama is sucking up all the attention right now, this is how Deadline decided to portray its coverage of this week's grosses:

‘Funny Girl’ Attendance Drops To 65% Of Capacity In Week Leading Up To Lea Michele Announcement; Ticket Prices Surge For Her Debut

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 4:33pm

Beanie Feldstein will follow Stockard Channing's musical theater trajectory by doing the following musicals:

Two Gentlemen of Verona

They're Playing Our Song

The Rink

Pal Joey

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 5:07pm

We do need a revival of THE RINK. 

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 5:18pm

Jordan Catalano said: "We do need a revival of THE RINK."

agree 100%, and with Ariana deBose and Audra McDonald...i'd fly to NYC for this one!...leave Beanie out of this one for sure...

Updated On: 7/12/22 at 05:18 PM

[Robbie2]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 7:24pm

Dollypop said: "Now that Beanie is "at large" there are soooo many projects she'd be right for:



SWEET CHARITY

PETER PAN

CAMELOT

I DO! I DO!

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

THE RINK

MARY POPPINS



,,,,,,Oh. The list goes on!!!!"



HAIRSPRAY

Updated On: 7/12/22 at 07:24 PM

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 7:35pm

^ Now that's in bad taste.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 9:43pm

THE KING AND I

THE PAJAMA GAME

MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN

MEDEA

ROMEO AND JULIET

CARNIVAL!

APPLAUSE

BAKER STREET

 

 

[Alecohanian]

Posted: 7/12/22 at 10:59pm

Was the alternate discussion panel removed?...

I hope that the audience at the AW tonight (and onward) show Beanie a lot of love. I hope her friends, family and fans come to show their support and help end this chapter for her on a high note. I think she is more than deserving of that kind of closure, performance aside. I never doubted that Beanie wanted to do it well for everyone and whether she succeeded or not is not longer relevant...all things considered. While I [shamefully] admit the drama has been entertaining, I also recognize that real lives and mental health are affected in this situation behind the hearsay and headlines. Wishing her lots of love and healing. 

 

That said...I really wanna hear thoughts on what needs to/can be changed for the fall. This show is visually so hideous, it is shocking to me that Hilferty is partially responsible. Unfortunately, the set changing is a pipe dream. Let's get throw away anything which slightly resembles 'Cirque du Soleil' and replace it with a HIGH quality rip off of the film adaptation. Im serious. In some ways, we SHOULD be replicating rather than originating. Replace Nicks costumes with more debonaire, tailored garments.

Moreover, lets be sure to cut one of my favorite numbers, 'Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat'. While it pains me to suggest and hope for this, Lea Michele should under no circumstances be in a position where she is wearing bagels at her waist singing as a Jewish archetype. I am in no position to deny a persons religion but Jewish, she is not.

Nicks number in ACT II must be removed for the sanity of all involved. It is painful to watch. Save some money too by not upping the electric bill caused by those horrible neon signs. 

The cutting of those arduous dance breaks during Henry Street, Sadie Sadie and other numbers might get us closer to a reasonable run time. 

I've seen some suggest cutting the 'DRONMP' reprise wth 'My Man' and I'd be fine with that (although I do think this specific number could lead them into an accused Barbra imitation cr*p trap.) but I absolutely do not think we need to include Who are you Now, Music That Makes Me Dance AND My Man to finish off the show. It sounds exhausting just thinking about it. 

also...NO STATIONARY SINGING ON THE LADDER FOR HALF OF GREATEST STAR. Dance Fanny! put your money where your mouth is girl!

Updated On: 7/12/22 at 10:59 PM

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 1:19am

I understand Lea's father is Jewish, so she isn't technically a Jew.... Would agree about cutting Rat tat, except it's a big transition in the storyline and needed for dramatic effect.

Cut some of the incidental dance stuff. Maybe Cornet Man - except the instrument is used throughout the show and Styne was paying homage to the musician I think.

Disagree about Temporary Arrangement. I sing it all the time, which suggests something. Possibly only the state of my mental health. Nick needs a number of his own and when I first heard it, it got the most appreciation from the audience. 

I'd give Ramin more to sing, not less. Who Are You Now was the best number of Beanie's vocally, but in terms of dealing with their relationship and how something they thought was so good could go so wrong.

My Man is not a part of the score. From what I understand Nick yhad the rights and wouldn't release them for the show. They actually wanted that to be the name of the show with ...and the woman who loved him or some such.

Much prefer The Music That Makes Me Dance. It's a great torch song and, if done properly, a great closer for Fanny. Cut the b.s. just let her sing it straight.

My thought has always been Lea mimics Streisand - it's just how she sings, so I expect most of the songs will have some of the Streisand gymnastics added, which is not a bad thing. 

Costumes - get rid of the nightgowns, please.

Updated On: 7/13/22 at 01:19 AM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 6:58am

Agree on "My Man." Not available -- this was discussed ad infinitum circa the previews -- and that's a good thing. The last thing the iteration needs is to trigger thoughts of the film. I passionately agree on "Music That Makes Me Dance." Gorgeous torch, one of Styne's best. It was conceived as a "My Man" proxy (I know, I know, not in the film; I was in that thread, too), a Follies number.  When I saw this production, I was baffled by its re-purposed placement, including the odd trappings that conjure Magritte and Ken Russell, and have a strange echoing reverb in the amp. When the number arrived, I flashed on the number of posts that suggested cutting it, and it's easy to understand why. Just put it back with Fanny center stage, use the original announcement that's on the OBC. 

The costuming was always bizarre, and their replacement logical since the Feldstein Fanny clothes didn't all work on Benko. I find the last red dress we've all seen in clips the most garishly unappealing, especially in the show. The best costume -- the "Cornet Man" outfit -- might be one that survives. But all of the longer gowns, including the unfortunate one worn in the "People" sequence fail to suggest Brice, even as a younger woman. Against that set, well, the visual recreation of the era is not especially evocative.   

I continue to contemplate the second act, to me unfixable without structural work and rethinking; simply changing dialog in the scenes doesn't help the suspense-free plotting. If only the show dared to view Nick as a real criminal. Which he was. Falling in love with a man who has con in his DNA is a decent subject, and apparently part of the real Brice. The show treats his criminality as a "whoops" sort of stumble into white collar crime, even with the revised mother-daughter scene. If it were about the human error in putting your focus on someone unworthy of you, the show would acquire an edge. And even relevance. But it tries to have it both ways -- Nick is kinda sorta a guy with a heart out of Guys and Dolls and also a sexy get -- and so its trajectory is not really "about" anything but a disintegrating marriage. An hour of it.  We know it can't be funny, but if only it were more honest, so that a woman scrambling to hold onto her gift and resulting stardom was a survival tool, the way the "Parade" reprise suggests. The story doesn't have a strong enough point of view beyond getting over Nick. So we're left for waiting for Fanny to lose him. It's just not compelling enough. Maybe Michel will embody the adult Fanny with more gravitas, and it will feel more authentic somehow. It's uncomfortable now because the current Fanny can't locate that sophisticated woman post Sadie. 
 

[TNick926]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 8:58am

Jordan Catalano said: "We do need a revival of THE RINK."

YES! YES! YES!  I love that Kander and Ebb score!!  And hunky men on skates! 

Let's cast it right now!

I'd go with Krista Rodriguez or Ariana DeBose as the daughter, Bebe Neuwirth or Karen Ziemba as the Mom.

Fantasy Superstar casting:  Gaga as the daughter, Patti as the mother!

[gibsons2]

Posted: 7/13/22 at 10:52am

Dollypop said: "Now that Beanie is "at large" there are soooo many projects she'd be right for:



SWEET CHARITY

PETER PAN

CAMELOT

I DO! I DO!

ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER

THE RINK

MARY POPPINS



,,,,,,Oh. The list goes on!!!!"

I think Beanie should spare us from being on Broadway in the near future. For her own good as well.

[Lorna Joe]

Posted: 8/11/22 at 10:05pm

I am thrilled to be seeing this. The music is gorgeous and so many memories. I better not sing along. But I will be tempted so maybe during intermission I will dance in the aisle. 

[Lorna Joe]

Posted: 9/11/22 at 3:50am

Lea out... tested positive for COVID. Julie Benko in until Sept. 18th. Get well soon, Lea. 

[Amos Hart2]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 1:03pm

Lorna Joe said: "Lea out... tested positive for COVID. Julie Benko in until Sept. 18th. Get well soon, Lea."

A rough break for Lea, especially after a triumphant opening night.

It's one thing after another with this show -- the illnesses, the early departures, the actress going on with script in hand because all of the other understudies were already filling in for other cast members.  Did someone turn off the ghost light or mention a certain Shakespeare play by name?

[nativenewyorker2]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 8:29pm

Any truth to the rumor that Tovah has been reported to equity for making the ensemble run errands for her?

[Emma_Pillsbury]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 8:31pm

nativenewyorker2 said: "Any truth to the rumor that Tovah has been reported to equity for making the ensemble run errands for her?"

Are you serious? Has she actually been doing that? 

[nativenewyorker2]

Posted: 9/12/22 at 8:33pm

I heard rumblings about it and then saw someone mention it in a tik tok