Funny Girl engagements in L.A. and Broadway postponed- Page 3

[Overkill]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 4:59am

"Maybe I'm oblivious but there really didn't seem to be predictions on this forum that both the out of town and Broadway productions would be canceled..."

I don't believe there was a single person on this board who said that it would never happen. I followed the threads very closely and would remember someone saying something so foolish. They announced the stars, the theatre, the opening date - pretty much everything. It seemed to be set in stone.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 6:10am

... everything except the backing.

Updated On: 11/4/11 at 06:10 AM

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 6:40am

[singtopher]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 7:32am

This really bums me out. I have a pal who was scheduled to make his B'way debut in this.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 9:16am

Not much to add, except my voice to the heartbroken. I was looking forward to it more than any other musical this season.

[chickfila]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 9:28am

They should get Streisand to play Rosie Brice and they'll have no trouble getting the required funding.

[jayinchelsea]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 10:22am

thanks, carlosalberto, that made me lol

[Vespertine1228]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 11:32am

I know a lot of people want to blame Lauren Ambrose for this, but we just have no way of knowing. I think she would've been terrific.

I wouldn't consider this production cancelled entirely. I would consider it postponed until War Horse moves out of Lincoln Center. You know they're foolish enough to think lightning could strike twice with Sher helming a never-revived classic musical in that space.

[Brick]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 11:32am

I can't imagine there was much traction at the box office, Ms Ambrose is neither a huge draw nor very well cast. So, if you happen to be someone who knew who she was, your response to her casting was likely to be, 'huh?' Not so great for selling tickets.

[pinoyidol2006]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 12:38pm

I'm still surprised at how expensive this production was going to be. I'm not to familiar with the Broadway industry as a business. How much was the initial investment for the original Funny Girl? If it was around at leas $1.7-1.8 million, then the $12 million figure would be appropriate. Yes, prices are about 7 times what they were in 1964. Sad, isn't it?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 12:53pm

I know a lot of people want to blame Lauren Ambrose for this, but we just have no way of knowing. I think she would've been terrific.

You mean the casting of Lauren Ambrose? Because I can't see how she would be personally responsible. Personally, I thought she was an inspired choice. But then, I really don't have a problem with Lea Michele, either. I don't think Lea's over-exposure due to Glee would directly translate to her deliverng a poor performance. I do think she's talented enough and I think a good director could get a good performance from her.

Too bad Kathy Griffin isn't a singer. I would have LOVED to have seen her take on Fanny.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 12:57pm

Someone on ATC was recently crunching numbers regarding the original production of FOLLIES and surmised that the original production in today's dollars would be near 20 million dollars.

If you stop and think about FUNNY GIRL its a show that could easily be as big if not bigger than any production of FOLLIES.

The show features an enormous cast with dozens of costume changes each and several numbers meant to emulate the extravagance of the Ziegfield Follies (think about the size of the chorus and the opulence of the "His Love Makes Me Beautiful" number alone...)

The original orchestration was probably for at least 30 musicians.

This is a HUGE show. HUGE. And I'm guessing early ticket sales indicated that audiences (for whatever reason) weren't chomping at the bit to get tickets.

Its often thought, incorrectly that Streisand was an unknown who had her breakout with FUNNY GIRL, when the truth is, she was already not only a rising Broadway star (in a time when such things actually mattered) but had already released three best selling recordings and won several Grammy awards by the time the original FUNNY GIRL opened.

I actually do applaud Sher for taking risks in casting someone like Lauren Ambrose in the lead, but very possibly a well endowed not-for profit like Lincoln Center might actually be the best place for this type of non-star-driven take on the material.

Whether she would be brilliant in the role or not, I do think Ambrose is likely at odds with the perception most of the public has of the character, and that probably didn't help in people's desire to risk $145 on curiosity alone.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 1:09pm

You can't say that early ticket sales was the reason because Funny Girl advertising wasn't supposed to start until Nov. 13. Only hardcore theater fans in LA knew it was happening.

[Midnight Radio]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 1:09pm

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 1:19pm

Season tickets have been on sale, however, and I'm sure producers did some market research and were able to do some forecasting based the seats that have been sold; its inconceivable to me that this revival would suddenly (and this qualifies as suddenly) be canceled unless the production team, in some capacity, had 'sudden' cold feet about the show's bank-ability at the box office verses a 12 million dollar investment.

There has certainly been plenty of early publicity about the production in the local LA press so you can't in good faith say 'nobody' in Southern California knew this was coming yet.

If the show were selling well and looked to be a hit, they would have been able to get additional investors on-board.

That's just the way it works.

By the way, I never noticed this before, but did anybody see the tiny Fanny Brice standing in the corner of the lighted sign in this revival's artwork? It looks like she's about to jump off...

Guess she was!

"Don't Tell me not to Fly, I've Simply Got to..." Updated On: 11/4/11 at 01:19 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 2:02pm

Miss Brice, upon being told that the revival of her bio-musical was indefinitely postponed:



"Oy vey! I vas so upset, look: I made a run in mine nylons!"

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 4:15pm

Damn! I was hoping Lillias White could be Lauren's alternate. :-P
Lillias White - Don't Rain on My Parade

[tommyboy]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 4:59pm

No one has yet mentioned the inevitable comparison that will be made between the new Fanny and Streisand. Even a terrific performance by Lauren Ambrose or anybody else, will be considered sub-standard, and the exiting audiences muttering, "I wish I could have seen Barbra." Established Broadway stars are too smart to get on this slippery slope, leaving aspiring starlets reaching for this elusive apple.
Updated On: 11/4/11 at 04:59 PM

[Gaveston2]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 5:04pm

I don't remember anyone here predicting the imminent demise of this production, but I do agree there was a "what are they thinking?" vibe about the project all along.

As one of my friends who sold me their tickets said, "'FUNNY GIRL is a show you only go to see if you love the star--and I've never heard of Lauren Ambrose." These friends are theater people (the quote comes from a composer), but they don't watch TV and simply weren't excited about seeing an unknown (to them) tackle the part.

In my house, we DO watch HBO, so of course we love Ambrose, but I still wouldn't have been interested had I not see the YouTube videos. But I got a link to them here and so we took a chance... Ah, well.

I know it's unlikely, but should they actually decide to move FOLLIES out here, I'll probably plotz. (And that bit of Yiddish is my farewell to FUNNY GIRL.)

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 11/4/11 at 5:39pm

I'm glad little Lea is happy and laughing at last.
If her name was attached the $ would be in place.

[dented146]

Posted: 11/5/11 at 2:16am

12M is quite average to produce a Broadway musical show these days. I think Memphis was about that amount. But these are not great days to be producing unless you can pretty much fill a theater daily for a couple of years.

Look how many theaters are dark. You need a really great production to suceed.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 11/5/11 at 2:27am

Look how many theaters are dark

Not many theatres are dark... In fact all the big houses are occupied which is why a lot of shows a struggling to get a theatre.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/5/11 at 2:54am

I'd been looking forward to this as well and I too thought that it was a good thing for Lauren Ambrose to be cast as the lead.

If backers were nervous about Ambrose, I'm not sure the other contenders for the title role (God help us, but maybe Lea Michele is the exception) were "bankable" either. I, however, do not want to see Michele in this show at all. I'd take anyone else but her.

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 11/5/11 at 3:49am

Was looking forward to seeing this, not 100 per cent sure about the casting. Maybe one day!

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/5/11 at 7:24am

They should have gone the route of the Tyne Daly "Gypsy" revival and played a year on the road prior to Broadway. That show started in Los Angeles and made its way across the country building momentum and a reputation for 12 months prior to opening in NY.

Yes, that explains a bit of Ms. Daly's tired vocals, but it also made that show a hit, and her reviews coming into the city were great.

With Funny Girl and a star of "questionable" stature, they should have done the same. Not just an L.A. tryout, but a full tour first.

I think the biggest problem is that backers just don't believe in the show enough on its own merit. It's not "Gypsy" or "West Side Story." It's not a crowd-pleaser like "Anything Goes." There are some serious issues with the book and score. It's a big, expensive star vehicle, and without a star that people will flock to see, it's just too much of a risk.

Updated On: 11/5/11 at 07:24 AM