Julie Benko as Fanny - Funny Girl — Page 3

Jordan Catalano said: "Yes, there is chemistry with Jeremiah. I’ll go back and see her again when she’s on with Ramin.


With Julie, you get a real “Fanny”. She nails the book scenes, she completely nails the score and she just has that “it” thing that really brings the character to life. At times she even looks like the real Brice. She had tears in her eyes while singing “People” and then again singing “Music That Makes Me Dance” - you could see an actress whose dream was coming true. "


I’m glad you mentioned her slight resemblance to the real Fanny Brice - I was wondering if it was just me!

I haven’t seen Beanie yet, so I can’t compare them, but I thought the show basically “worked” tonight in a way that it doesn’t with Beanie, based on the reviews and reactions on this board, anyway. (The second act is what it is, but I imagine it goes down easier when you know you’re never more than a few minutes away from some solid vocals?) Julie’s “The Music That Makes Me Dance” was especially beautiful - I can’t imagine wanting to cut it, as some suggested in the previews thread.

Bill Snibson said: "Understudies/stand-bys do not get to go out there and put there own stamp on a role. Its not how it works.”


Well, Bill. Julie (thankfully) didn’t get this memo because she did go out there and put her stamp on it. So I guess that is how that worked.



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My understanding is it really just depends on the specific role, production and management at the time. Sometimes carbon copies are expected and others not at all. Since some (eg Jordan) have already seen the show and confirmed it is not a carbon copy is there much more to say?

I saw an interview with Estelle Parsons years ago. She said when she stepped into August: Osage, she just tried to copy the original actress.

Regardless if someone copies another actor’s performance verbatim, it will still be a totally different performance. Even if they were imitating the actor. Every actress who ever played Sally Bowles in the Sam Mendes revival gave completely different interpretations. Julie Benko was directed by Michael Mayer and has the same outline as Beanie but she is not imitating Beanie in any way. Physically, personality, vocal range and other factors infuse her performance innately- even if she tried to imitate Beanie, it would not look nor read the same as Beanie. Even if she’s instructed to walk over to a table in 4 steps leading with her left foot.

I have three friends who've made careers covering roles. One did an extensive amount of road work (as he says, all the way to health insurance coverage.) They would argue mightily with the idea of a locked-in performance. Staging and individual scene blocking are of course rigidly observed. But as one friend said, to copy the existing performance would be impossible, and also throw everyone else on stage off, having to listen to one actor imitate another. Of course line readings follow the production's general textual interpretation. But within those parameters lies much room for individual stamp.

This season, I saw several covers, including Jennifer Blood on for Mare Winningham. Blood is superb, but in no way copies an actor probably 15 years her senior. Both women create a dimensional character, but Blood doesn't have the unique Winningham eccentricity, and works from a very different place, a younger, wiry, raw-boned edginess that people tell me is similar to the London performance. Both women break hearts with "Like a Rolling Stone," but both reach the devastating rawness -- that searing sense of unbidden self-examination -- in different ways. To me, seeing the show a few times, it was a master class in how actors can work within the same frame and find powerfully different takes. Both succeed..

Audio is floating on Twitter. Now THAT’S how you sing with passion and meaning. She sounds young in a way that fits the character, not like a high schooler.

Updated On: 4/30/22 at 09:16 AM

I can't find any audio on Twitter. Without posting a direct link, will someone point me in the right direction?

Laine Kazan.... called Julie....This happened?

Updated On: 4/30/22 at 10:10 AM

LUCKY2 said: "Laine Kazan.... called Julie....This happened?"

Lainie Kazan and Shirley MacLaine called Julie. They did a pre-show Zoom meeting with her.

Ke3 said: "BroadwayGirl107 said: "What an absurd idea that because an actor is doing the same blocking that they are not making a role one’s own. You can’t tell me every Elphaba for the past 19 years is giving the same performance Idina Menzel was, even though they are saying the same words, wearing the same costumes, and executing the same blocking.

of course any production is built around the actors who originated the role. Their stamp on it is unavoidable and if someone else had played the part, a production would of course look different. But any actor can and will bring themselves and their own interpretation to a part within those parameters. Understudies and replacements are not doing mere impressions of stars.

"

I agree with what you're saying, but Wicked is a poor example. They are notoriously rigid with the way they want the show done. One of the biggest criticisms of the show is that nobody is allowed to really stretch the role or do anything different."

I mean that’s kind of the point. They STILL aren’t giving the same performance, even when a show has rigid parameters.