Lea Michele as Fanny - Funny Girl — Page 56

The Florence in Chess rumors are everywhere. But the production hasn't been announced. I agree; I'd imagine an LA gig would be everything Michele would want in a final if belated goodbye to the role of Fanny. 

Melissa Manchester is the star of the tour with Fanny being a complete unknown. Interesting. 

Updated On: 7/11/23 at 12:44 PM

I'm 99% sure Lea will not do a performance on tour. 

Sutton Ross said: ""​The principal cast been revealed for the North American Tour ofFunny Girl. The cast will feature Grammy-Award® winning singer-songwriter, Melissa Manchesteras Mrs. Brice, and introduce Katerina McCrimmon as Fanny Brice. "

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Katerina-McCrimmon-to-Star-as-Fanny-Brice-in-FUNNY-GIRL-North-American-Tour-20230711

"

Does not mean Lea wont do LA run.. a engagement that has yet to be announced as even part of the tour.  But yeah.. this is likely the cast they will get.

Stephen Mark Lukas will be Nick Arnstein. I saw him recently and wasn't my favorite Nick. 

Probably a smart move to go with an "unknown" who they felt simply gave the best audition. If she is really great, they can advertise it from a "star is born" kind of angle, and Melissa Manchester will bring in the boomers.

Can someone confirm that Leah Platt (Emma/Mrs. Nadler) is Ben's sister and part of that Platt family? Which would mean that her daddy cast her in his own show? I mean, based on her headshot, I'm guessing that is the case, but perhaps I am wrong...

 

EDIT:

After some amateur sleuthing, I have concluded that she is not Ben's sister, but damn she really looks like she could be so I still wonder if there is some sort of relation.

Updated On: 7/11/23 at 01:55 PM

Was hoping for a former Elphaba, so we knew there'd at least be powerhouse vocals. But I'll still probably see it. I wonder if they'll re-design anything about the tour since this production got such awful reviews.

ACL2006 said: "Anyone know anything about Katerina McCrimmon? Curious to know about her previous credits unless she's straight out of college?"

She has a couple prominent regional credits, was an understudy in the Broadway revival of The Rose Tattoo a few years ago, and was in the ensemble of the Encores Light in the Piazza production. She's not straight out of college, but still pretty young. Probably around 25.

https://www.abouttheartists.com/artists/697219-katerina-mccrimmon

Call_me_jorge said: "If anyone is interested at all Talia Suskauer is looking like a sore loser on her Instagram story…"

Sore loser? She and Samantha Massell make valid points 

hearthemsing22 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "If anyone is interested at all Talia Suskauer is looking like a sore loser on her Instagram story…"

Sore loser? She and Samantha Massell make valid points"

I agree - Fanny Brice was a Jew, from her comedy, to her looks, to her upbringing, to her obsession with Nicky. She was a real person. It isn't as if there weren't a number of Jewish actresses able to carry the role. Seems like diversity for the sake of diversity.

Updated On: 7/11/23 at 03:49 PM

jkcohen626 said: "Penna2 said: "hearthemsing22 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "If anyone is interested at all Talia Suskauer is looking like a sore loser on her Instagram story…"

Sore loser? She and Samantha Massell make valid points"

I agree - Fanny Brice was a Jew, from her comedy, to her looks, to her upbringing, to her obsession with Nicky. She was a real person. It isn't as if there weren't a number of Jewish actresses able to carry the role. Seems like diversity for the sake of diversity."

Calling out that she's Cuban American in the press release as if they deserve a gold star for not casting a Jewish woman s so gross too."

Cuban Jews exist, just because Katerina doesn’t also have a Star of David in her Instagram bio doesn’t mean she can’t also be Jewish… unless you know her personally and can give us receipts that she isn’t.

jkcohen626 said: "Then why wouldn't it say that in these releases? Even if she is Jewish, I'd still say it's gross to call out that she's Cuban and ignore that she's Jewish in a press release. Still asking for your meaningless diversity gold star while ignoring the important one."

I want to assume that if she were Jewish they would have mentioned that in the same sentence that mentions her Cuban background, but producers of Funny Girl have never been big on common sense or foresight. 

Since Talia Suskaur was rumored for the role, and therefore was probably one of the finalists for it, it automatically makes her look like a sore loser to make and share those posts. Seriously it’s like 9/10 times when an actor “speaks out” on social media about representation for their community it’s really about themselves and how they didn’t get the role.

Bruised egos masquerading as activism. I’m so over it.

P.S. I have Jewish heritage and have ancestors who were killed in the Holocaust, and no this casting is not “harmful.”

P.P.S. Lea Michele is CATHOLIC, but no one cares because she’s brilliant in the role.