Lea Michele as Fanny - Funny Girl - Page 64

[jakethesnake]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 9:40pm

ColorTheHours048 said: "I’m not Jewish, nor do I have any stock in who is or isn’t cast in the tour of Funny Girl, but the agent/manager casting notice explicitly said “We are specifically seeking actors of Jewish heritage for the role of Fanny Brice.” If the actress they cast is not Jewish - as it seems she is not - then the fact that she was submitted in the first place is as much an issue as the team that cast her."


Hey Sutton Ross, why don’t you read this?  Maybe you actually don’t know everything like you think you do.  Some of us actually see real breakdown listings, not just the EPA postings.  

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 9:46pm

Let’s not make this a pissing contest over who saw which casting notice. There should have been consistent messaging across the board. If they were truly seeking actors of Jewish heritage for the role, they would make that language clear in EPA listings as well as private submission requests. They most certainly didn’t cast Fanny from an EPA, so how Katerina McCrimmon was cast in the first place (and, too, why she thought it was okay to submit herself at all) if she is, in fact, not Jewish is… a choice.

Updated On: 7/12/23 at 09:46 PM

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 9:56pm

Sutton Ross said: "You don't know her so these attacks are asinine, like everything else you've said. Your obsession with only posting on Funny Girl threads is sad and Im glad it's ending in September so you can stop.

Nobody cares if you don't buy a ticket. Your opinion has been noted for the past 2 days with non stop posts saying the same thing. Thanks so much.

Bye now!

Oh, hush now, Sutton. You post your blather all over the place and everyone is supposed to bow down to your infinite wisdom about Broadway. I'll post as much as I want when I want. I seldom, if ever, make personal attacks at other posters, but you seem to revel in them. If anyone needs to get a life it's you. Don't like what I post - walk on by...with the Highland Guy. Yeah, I believe I said that already, too.

 

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 10:01pm

Phillyguy said: "Penna2 said: "Can we focus please? The issue is having a Jewish woman playing Fanny Brice. Not all this tangent stuff. When they were casting the original production Stephen Sondheim said Fanny should be played by a Jewish woman. They were considering Mary Martin and Carol Burnett among others. Burnett said she believed Fanny should be played by a Jewish woman."

How do you exactly propose the producers do? Ask the illegal question if the actor is Jewish? In the absence of that question, the producers simply have to judge who's the most convincing Fanny Brice in audition.

Even if the producers want to have a Jewish actor, they simply cannot ask that question and would have to assume that the people who audition fulfil this role.

As this remains a debate and therefore no clear consensus on whether a non-Jewish actor can play this role, I would expect there are probably more than one non-Jewish actor auditioning. I don't see a way around this, even if that what everyone wanted."

I understand that. My issue is more with the actress and her agent. I also understand an actress wanting to have a role and feel capable of playing the role. We saw that with Beanie. My feeling is this young woman lacks respect for the character she so desperately wants to and may well portray. This goes beyond any show - the woman lacks character and, if anything, Fanny had character. 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 10:08pm

Two different breakdowns with two vastly different wordings? JFC.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 10:32pm

Penna2 said: "Don't like what I post - walk on by."

 

[JasonC3]

Posted: 7/12/23 at 11:04pm

I hope some people here are never subject to the rank speculation and projection about their career choices that they are dishing out in this thread.

Updated On: 7/12/23 at 11:04 PM

[QueenTwinnied]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 12:51am

^Seriously. If this young actress is fired and has her career harmed over internet mob antics I'll be beyond disgusted. 

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:11am

Indeed. The hate she is getting on her personal Instagram is too much. And surprise…a lot of it is from people who appear to be Jewish actresses in their twenties.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:18am

 If this young actress is fired and has her career harmed over internet mob antics I'll be beyond disgusted. 

That will never happen because people who are seeing this tour will not give two sh*ts about her personal life, they care if she is talented and will entertain them. Period.

Can we please stop attacking Katerina and give her an OUNCE of the benefit of the doubt?? Exactly, the audition notice asked for actors who identified as Jewish. Do you all think that ill of a person that they would go out of their way to audition for a part they knew they know they shouldn’t be? Can’t we just assume the better in others instead of assuming they’re evil right away? I’m choosing to remain optimistic, and until Katerina herself says she does identify as Jewish then I don’t see anything wrong with this casting.

Rational, intelligent people know she did absolutely nothing wrong. The people verbally abusing, threatening and harassing her online are filled with hate for women and people of color. They are hiding behind "I'm doing this for my tribe!". Nah, people who demand a stop to all anti-Semitic behavior and then turn around and violently accost/stalk/threaten/abuse this woman for getting a job? They are all hypocritical garbage people that like to invent things to bitch about. 

Updated On: 7/13/23 at 01:18 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 2:28am

Kad said: "blaxx said: "If it was a story of suffering they would not have failed in casting a Jewish person.

But, as always, in a story of joy and success they could've cast practically anyone and get away with a slap in the wrist."

What recent productions about Jewish joy and success have not cast Jewish leads?"

The Funny Girl revival for their National Tour. But also Falsettos recently comes to mind.

Imagine if Chenoweth and LMM were cast in Parade under the pretense that they were "the best" for the roles.

Updated On: 7/13/23 at 02:28 AM

[blaxx]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 2:29am

Highland Guy said: "Penna2 said: "RippedMan said: "Ya'll are gonna get this poor girl fired from a huge, major, life changing role. Sucks."

That "poor girl" likely saw the call and said screw it. Whatever happens, her reputation is soiled and that's on her, nobody else."



BALDERDASH. Katerina McCrimmon was chosen to portray Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl" because she was the best candidate. I look forward to seeing her performance. And I continue to send my best to her and all those involved in this touring production.

"

Correction, she was the "best" non-Jewish candidate, see how that works?

[QueenTwinnied]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 3:12am

Sutton Ross said: "If this young actress is fired and has her career harmed over internet mob antics I'll be beyond disgusted.

That will never happen because people who are seeing this tour will not give two sh*ts about her personal life, they care if she is talented and will entertain them. Period.

Can we please stop attacking Katerina and give her an OUNCE of the benefit of the doubt?? Exactly, the audition notice asked for actors who identified as Jewish. Do you all think that ill of a person that they would go out of their way to audition for a part they knew they know they shouldn’t be? Can’t we just assume the better in others instead of assuming they’re evil right away? I’m choosing to remain optimistic, and until Katerina herself says she does identify as Jewish then I don’t see anything wrong with this casting.

Rational, intelligent people know she did absolutely nothing wrong. The people verbally abusing, threatening and harassing her online are filled with hate for women and people of color. They are hiding behind "I'm doing this for my tribe!". Nah, people who demand a stop to all anti-Semitic behavior and then turn around and violently accost/stalk/threaten/abuse this woman for getting a job? They are all hypocritical garbage people that like to invent things to bitch about."

Regarding your reply to me, I completely agree. My post yesterday got deleted for probably being too aggressive but I literally laughed out loud when someone said this would hurt the “box office” as if audiences around the country would a) know about this and b) if they did, care. People are delusional if they think this will have impacts outside of social media and the personal attacks on Katerina are absolutely disgusting. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 7:09am

Two things can be true: the social media backlash to this will likely have zero impact on audiences across the country, and it’s a shame they specifically noted they were looking for a Jewish actor and then cast a non-Jewish actor.

Blaxx’s point about casting LMM and Kristin Chenoweth in Parade feels the most logical here. While it may be true that non-Jews have played Leo and Lucille, in THIS production, it was important to cast Jewish actors to tell a story that is inextricably about those characters’ Jewishness. The same is true of this Funny Girl production. If they had no intention of only casting Jewish actors as Fanny, they shouldn’t have noted it in the casting breakdowns.

As for the folks bending over backwards to deliberately misinterpret this topic and why others might be upset: maybe unpack that a bit. Because it’s honestly saying more about you at this point than anything to do with the casting itself.

Updated On: 7/13/23 at 07:09 AM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 7:23am

Right. Everyone involved is in the wrong. But what do you do? Fire someone for not being Jewish? Because that has its own horrible optics. 

[Phillyguy]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 8:34am

RippedMan said: "Right. Everyone involved is in the wrong. But what do you do? Fire someone for not being Jewish? Because that has its own horrible optics."

And illegal. Let's not forget that. 

Dilemma for casting is that you want representation, both in truth and in portrayal. Only the latter is legal. 

[hearthemsing22]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 9:29am

RippedMan said: "Ya'll are gonna get this poor girl fired from a huge, major, life changing role. Sucks."

While the casting makes me feel icky as a Jewish person, do you truly think there's enough outcry to get her fired? This production has gone through so much. They shouldn't have revived it. 

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 9:33am

ColorTheHours048 said: "The social media backlash to this will likely have zero impact on audiences across the country, and it’s a shame they specifically noted they were looking for a Jewish actor and then cast a non-Jewish actor.

There is always a risk that social media baclkash becomes real news fodder, which could absolutely be damaging.  The producers of the tour would be foolish to ignore this.

 

 

Updated On: 7/13/23 at 09:33 AM

[Phillyguy]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 9:49am

hearthemsing22 said: "RippedMan said: "Ya'll are gonna get this poor girl fired from a huge, major, life changing role. Sucks."

While the casting makes me feel icky as a Jewish person, do you truly think there's enough outcry to get her fired? This production has gone through so much. They shouldn't have revived it."

The only real big mistake was casting Beanie, instead of Lea. Otherwise, it's been a pretty profit show with excellent re-reviews.

[MyLife]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 10:04am

blaxx said: "Kad said: "blaxx said: "If it was a story of suffering they would not have failed in casting a Jewish person.

But, as always, in a story of joy and success they could've cast practically anyone and get away with a slap in the wrist."

What recent productions about Jewish joy and success have not cast Jewish leads?"

The Funny Girl revival for their National Tour. But also Falsettos recently comes to mind.

Imagine if Chenoweth and LMM were cast in Parade under the pretense that they were "the best" for the roles."

We can also look into the move and TV world for more examples:

-Rachel Brosnahan in Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

-Kathryn Hahn in the Joan Rivers biopic (which was scrapped for unrelated reasons)

-Will Ferrell and Kathryn Hahn (again) in the Shrink Next Door.

-The Fabelmans

the list does go on. Yet this Fanny Brice casting seems most egregious based on all the points already brought up in this thread.

 

I disagree with the personal attacks McKrimmon is receiving and don’t think there’s a good way forward. If she drops out or is let go in favor of a Jewish actor, those optics are terrible. If she continues with the show, she will tour the country perpetuating stereotypes to the masses.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:29pm

I think that’s the issue I can’t quite wrap my head around. Like if a Jewish woman plays the role it’s not a stereotype but when a non-Jewish person does it, it is a stereotype? So wouldn’t that be an issue with the writing? Like Jack on Will and grace is very flamboyant but when straight guys play flamboyant I’m not offended because that type absolutely exists.

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:32pm

The producers buying out her contract or her stepping down would be an equally bad look for this tour. I highly doubt the majority of theatergoers that see tours would have no idea about this casting or even who she is.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:36pm

It's the idea that if you are of that identity that is being made fun of, you'll probably do it in a loving way and be more aware of the nuances, but if you haven't lived in that experience, you could be accidentally overstepping lines that would make it come off as a two-dimensional stereotype or just tone-deaf/offensive.  To be clear, I'm not saying this would be happening every time a straight guy plays gay or any other instance, but it's easier to know the cultural context when you've actually lived in that culture/identity.  And a lot of stereotypes are harmful because they're reductive and reduces a character to just that stereotype, or because they have been used historically to discriminate against or persecute a particular group of people, so having that context matters.

[JSquared2]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:36pm

blaxx said: "Kad said: "blaxx said: "If it was a story of suffering they would not have failed in casting a Jewish person.

But, as always, in a story of joy and success they could've cast practically anyone and get away with a slap in the wrist."

What recent productions about Jewish joy and success have not cast Jewish leads?"

The Funny Girl revival for their National Tour. But also Falsettos recently comes to mind.

Imagine if Chenoweth and LMM were cast in Parade under the pretense that they were "the best" for the roles."

 

Or imagine if original stars Carolee Carmello and the late Brent Carver (both non-Jews) were cast simply because they were the "best" for the roles...oh wait a minute...they were!  And they were MARVELOUS!!

[PabloJuan]

Posted: 7/13/23 at 1:56pm

With all the controversy, they should just tour an edited version with the Fanny Brice role cut out completely. The show would be a lot shorter. Think of it as a Melissa Manchester Concert. :)