Funny Girl?- Page 2

[MusicalDirector109]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 4:59pm

You really need a Jewish girl to play this role. A dynamic Fanny IS A MUST. I just listened to the CD last night. Without a great Fanny this show is doomed. IMHO that's why it has not been revived. I didn't know the Arnstein story - what a shame!!

[robbiej]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:00pm

"Iconic" was used to describe her appearance on the Judy Garland Show...not her performance in FUNNY GIRL (which it eventually came to be).

It's just very important to remember that Streisand had already been nominated for her comedic performance as Miss Marmlestein (sp?) in I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, had won a Grammy, and had made over 20 national television appearances before she ever opened in FUNNY GIRL.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:00pm

Bobby -- did they incorporate changes from the movie? Listening to the tracks of Darcie Roberts in the TUTS production, its clear they added some things from the film.

And is it true that Gibson wasn't funny at all?

[Bobby457]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 5:07pm

No changes from the movie....The changes (and they were happening every night) were Sammy's ideas.

When we first started the tour, Deborah had some trouble with the schtick, but I truly do not believe that was entirely her fault. Deborah is like a sponge, I have never seen anyone work as hard as she does. She had a bad director....period. By the time we closed 6 weeks after we opened, she was good and was getting good reviews as well.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:01pm

Mimi Hines replaced Streisand on Broadway in FUNNY GIRL and Barbara Cook did a national tour.

There was also took a few years back of a production of FUNNY GIRL starring Lisa Kurdrow

I think Randy Graff or Faith Prince, while on the older side, could manage.........although as has been said, originally attributed to Carol Burnett, according to Jerome Robbins, "the Jewishness of the actress playing in Funny Girl has to come from inside......

I would love to see the certainly Jewish Emmy Rossum star in a Funny Girl revival or an interesting choice would be Lauren Frost, the "young mini Streisand" in the concert tour a few years back. Or how about checking out Mayim Balek???

[Jwei123]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:06pm

I would love to see a revival, with definitely a jewish unknown!

[Doogie]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:11pm

What few people understand is that Fanny is damn near impossible to find:

Linda Eder cannot act, and is too old and pretty, just having the voice is not enough
Sutton is, again, too pretty, and wouldn't work here, and not sure her comedy is right on the mark.
Janine LaManna is something I'm curious about, but I'd want to hear her belt hardcore.
Julia murney would sing the s*** out of it, can act, and has the requisite look, but might not have the comic, youthful edge.

I dunno.


Doug

[luvliza89]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:12pm

Barbra wasn't that unknown. Her second album was number two in the charts, she won The Entertainer of the Year Award for Cue Magazine, and was getting more and more television appearences and such. But it wasn't like people were lining up to see just Barbra (not in the beginning anyway).

I don't nessisarly agree that an unknown actress should play Fanny. I'd love to see Stephanie J. Block in a revival mounting of this show. She has done the show before and I've only heard wonderful things about her.

[Mattio98]

Posted: 3/21/05 at 9:18pm

Luvliza beat me to it. Steph Block is the perfect choice for a revival.

[sciguy]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 9:50am

Thank ddtruit..I also had the pleasure of seeing Leslie Kritzer in the Papermill production of Funny Girl. She was amazing.What a great role for a Broadway actress. I remember there being buzz about bringing the production to Broadway, but it never materialized. I saw Hairspray for the first time two weeks ago and Leslie Kritzer was in it.
Funny Girl is long overdue for a true Broadway revival.

[musical medea]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:45am

I dont know about any professional mountings of the show, but there is a production of it opening on monday in West Palm Beach, Florida that will be as close to professional theatre as you can get. The girl playing Fanny Brice could easily do the role on broadway. And she is is still in high school. It might be worth checking out if you need a Funny Girl fix to get you by until a revival happens.

[BillyLawlor]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:00am

I actually think Janine LaManna would be great...I hadn't considered her before. You could hear her belt a bit in Seussical---particularly "All For You". I think she would be great.

Randy Graff is WAY too old, as is Linda Eder.
Julia Murney sounded INCREDIBLE on "People" when she did it for the Actor's Benefit Concert, but I don't think she has the comedic timing for the role.

And please, don't kill me....but Kristin Chenoweth was great the Benefit concert, and she has one hell of a belt. I think she could pull it off.

[WISHIHADATONY]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:01am

PJ?????? "No one's ever had the balls, and excuse me for being so crass, to play Fanny on Broadway since Streisand in the 60's."

Are you joking PJ? I assure you if a production group gets together to finance a production of FUNNY GIRL on Broadway, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of performers who would have the "b*lls" to play Fanny on Broadway.

Streisand was already a star on the rise when FUNNY GIRL opened. She already had been tony nominated for I CAN GET IT FOR YOU WHOLESALE, had two best selling albums already and had begun making several memorable television appearances, even prior to her "early" television specials starring herself. She had also already become THE cabaret darling of New York's nightclubs. FUNNY GIRL certainly cemented Streisand as a legend and a star worthy of her own planet. But, she was hardly an unknown when FUNNY GIRL opened. Had she been an unknown, why would they have put her name OVER the title in the original production?

[cur10call]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:26am

I think there was a production of Funny Girl done at the Pittsburgh CLO a few years ago. Anna Gasteyer played Fanny. They had pictures up on their site that looked pretty good and I think she got good reviews.

[bobbysworld]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:37am

I saw Funny Girl a couple years ago when Music Theatre of Wichita did it. Stephanie Block played Fanny and was ABSOLUTLY perfect for the part...she not only sang the crap out of the role but she acted it with such ease. Honestly it was one of the top performances i've ever seen! She HAAAAAAS to do the revival if it ever happens.

[PJ]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:33pm

WISHIHADATONY: Unfortunately you're reading comprehension skills aren't as clever as that username of yours. Yes, I said no one has had the balls to do it. YET. Have you seen the show mounted on Broadway since the 1960's? No. But just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that some unknown in the future won't come out of no where and tear the hell out of the role. But, like I said, no one has done so yet. You are forgiven.

[jim coleman]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:43pm

I know that she is way too old now, but I read an article in Theatre Arts magazine back in the 70's (the magazine doesn't exist anymore). Someone asked Jule Styne about a revival and he said that he would like to see Bette Midler do it. That would have been great, I think.

[LostLeander]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:56pm

Cur10: I saw Funny Girl at the PCLO, and it was not that good.
I have never liked A PCLO show I have seen.
Ana - she sounded like she was doing Streisand doing Fanny, which means it was a barely recognizable character.

She has a pretty good voice, though.
I felt like in her serious moments she was going to suddenly crack a punchline SNL-style.

She was a bit overwhelmed in this part.
Which is understandable.
I would refuse to see her play Elphaba.
Unless it was free.

[Marquise]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 5:57pm

okay *girls* retract the claws...i think the point has been made that streisand was not an unknown when she starred in "funny girl".
geez, reading thru this thread and all the responses that one comment got you'd think a crime was commited against humanity. are all streisand fans this. for lack of a better word, "defensive"?

[Feodor Sverdlov]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 8:38pm

As someone who's hated Barbra Streisand since I saw her on stage in FUNNY GIRL, I can assure you that all Barbra Streisand fans ARE that defensive. Just watch.

[BwayBaby18]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 10:57pm

KRistin Chenoweth as Fanny Brice

[Swiftynifty15]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:14pm

Shoshana has mentioned she wants that part if there was a revival.

[Theatreboy49]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:27pm

They had so many great people at the concert a couple years ago, Id like to see Idina do it but at the same time have a hard time seeing that, Sutton would be very good. Id also like to see Len Cariou play Zigfeld as he did in the concert (Im just that obbsessed with Sweeney Todd)

[BroadwayNick]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:30pm

I think it'd be cool to see Barbra in the revival...maybe as the mother or something! It'd be a bit ironic. (Well I guess not ironic, but oh well.) Ana Gastyer would be cool as Fanny too! She can sing and is pretty funny as well!

[Matt_G]

Posted: 3/22/05 at 11:36pm

Swifty, according to you Shoshana has interest in doing every show. Judging by the way she acts in WICKED there would be no way on God's green earth anyone would put her in a revival of show that size.