Idina Menzel a 'Go' for Funny Girl? — Page 4

Streisand was given HELLO, DOLLY! before she even started filming FUNNY GIRL. In fact, she was already signed for ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER before FUNNY GIRL was even released and her Oscar win. Studios expected her transition to films to be epic as she was already a global phenomenon by the time she made her film debut in the film adaptation of FUNNY GIRL. That’s why she was offered HELLO, DOLLY! though everyone was aware she was way too young for the role. Career wise it made sense. In retrospect, not so much which she admits now 50 years later.

BrodyFosse123 said: "...That’s why she was offered HELLO, DOLLY! though everyone was aware she was way too young for the role. Career wise it made sense."

From 20th Century Fox's point of view, Streisand would put butts in seats.More than Channing, or any of the women that followed her in the role on stage. It made marketing sense.

Streisand, on the other hand didn't want to do it. It was 1967 and every year that went by, Dolly seemed more a relic of the past and not relevant to anything going on in the real world.

Her agent, Marty Erlichman (who is still her agent!) wanted to use the offer from Fox to bump up Barbra's asking price in Hollywood. Ray Stark had low-balled her on Funny Girl because he knew she couldn't turn it down. Erlichman sent Fox a counter offer of $1 million for Streisand to do the picture. The only other actress to have been paid that much at the time was Elizabeth Taylor on Cleopatra - and that was only because the movie went so over-schedule and they had to pay her penalty fees. Marty's thought was that Fox would reject the offer, but then word on the street would be that was what you had to come up with if you wanted to hire Barbra Streisand.

To their great surprise, Fox took the offer. Why? A.) they wanted Barbra, and B.) they knew the $1 million salary would generate publicity for the movie. It would almost be worth it just for the free press it would generate.

Which left Streisand stuck with the movie after they essentially called her bluff. She couldn't back out or the whole future salary gambit would be all for nothing. This is the way the sausage gets made.

IdinaBellFoster said: "Is this crazy? Yes. Will I buy a premium ticket? Absolutely.

This. Though on the age thing, given the age of the actresses who play Rose in Gypsy... whatever. This part doesn't feel as ingenue-y as some others.

I've never seen anyone but Barbra nail enough of the songs in this show to do the part justice. Sure, plenty of actresses can do one song, maybe even a few, but at some point it falters.

If this does go forward with a big star, it would be great to see someone like Lindsay Mendez or Annaleigh Ashford as an alternate like Donna Murphy in Hello Dolly.

Been watching FUNNY GIRL this past week (it’s been on PlutoTV), having not seen the movie in decades, and I’d forgotten how wonderful this movie is. Who ever they pick as Fanny, to star in this show on Broadway, will have some mighty big shoes to fill in an iconic role that for more than 50 years has stood the test of time.

The Other One said: "Wasn'tthe song "Funny Girl" written for the movie? Is it one of those filmsongs that have been interpolated into revivals of the show after a film version's success?"

Yes, it was written for the film, but I haven't seen a revival of the stage show since Carol Lawrence did a summer stock tour in 1977. Neither the title song nor "My Man" had been interpolated into the stage show at that time.

Personally, I think it's a better song than "Who Are You Now?", though nothing beats "His Is the Only Music"; "Funny Girl" seemed to replace both in the movie.

Updated On: 1/20/20 at 10:48 PM

I totally agree about Idina Menzel. I don't think she is much of an actress, age aside. I saw Stephanie Block, who is about the same age as Idina, do FUNNY GIRL at Cabrillo Musical Theatre. She was terrific . . . that was in 2000 . . . 20 years ago . . . Stephanie would be better than Idina if ya' wanna go with someone that age, but it's not a great musical. A revival triggers my narcolepsy.

Perhaps in an attempt to fix the script, I know just about every major production (including some major regional productions) over the past decade have played around with inclusion of material that was in the film. "I'd Rather Be Blue," "My Man," 'Funny Girl" have all made the rounds in various incarnations.

QueenAlice said: "Perhaps in an attempt to fix the script, I know just about every major production (including some major regional productions) over the past decade have played around with inclusion of material that was in the film. "I'd Rather Be Blue," "My Man," 'Funny Girl" have all made the rounds in various incarnations."

It's the The Sound of Music/Cabaret phenomenon (what a pairing!): when the movie is better and/or more generally familiar than the stage show, revivals tend to try to stage the movie.