Lea Michele to Star as Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL Starting 9/6; Beanie Feldstein Departing 7/31- Page 31

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 7:56am

Penna2 said: "Serious question re: Lea and Beanie -

Are there real bad feelings between them? I am completely out of the loop with TV gossip. As mentioned before had no idea who either of them were before FG. I can understand Lea being upset about not being cast initially, but why would she be upset with Beanie? Same with Beanie. You can't blame someone else for achieving something you want for yourself (well, you can).

They just seem so very different for their paths to cross to create a feud seems odd to me."

This was weeks before FUNNY GIRL previews started.

 

[WestEndGal]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 8:34am

I literally haven’t seen any fat shaming of Beanie *sigh*

[Kad]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:10am

Producers putting out a statement several days late saying they weren’t blindsided doesn’t really assure one they weren’t blindsided. In fact, it just makes it seem like they were blindsided twice.

[soxboy22]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:19am

TaffyDavenport said: "When you try to tell them that barely anyone ever mentioned her weight, they claim it's an unconscious bias. There's no way to win with the woke mob.


And if this fiasco involved Johnny Depp, for one, the Twitter mob would destroy your computer.

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:29am

BroadwayGirl107 said: "TaffyDavenport said: "When you try to tell them that barely anyone ever mentioned her weight, they claim it's an unconscious bias. There's no way to win with the woke mob."

Unconscious bias literally means people are not conscious of the bias, so no, it would not be mentioned."

Please, I'm not stupid. 

 

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:36am

For me, the problems with Beanie had absolutely NOTHING to do with her weight, and to insinuate otherwise is delusional IMO. I couldn't care less what she looks like. What I do care about is the performance being given. In this case, the performance was lacking in every single way.

She was never set up for success in this show because she is just not right for the part. Not every actor is right for every part, and I think the takeaway here is that just because something is your dream role doesn't necessarily mean you are RIGHT for it... Unfortunately, in this case, no one told Beanie that and the situation got out of hand.

I posted this a while ago, but the fact that an entire creative team and team of producers green-lighted her casting and continued with her after having presumably heard her sing and act during workshops and rehearsals is just baffling to me. The fact that she made it this far into the production process is just mind boggling to me and always will be. This entire thing is a fiasco that could have, and SHOULD have, been avoided. It's been glaringly obvious that she was never right for this role.

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:41am

Beanie being a plus-sized actress made me root for her to succeed and I think this was the case with a lot of people.  It's just that the voice and acting chops required for the role weren't really there.  She was way too cutesy and her voice wasn't up to the score.

Anyone who suggests that Beanie's performance wasn't well-liked because of her weight is being ridiculous.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:43am

WestEndGal said: "I literally haven’t seen any fat shaming of Beanie *sigh*"

The most consistent mention of her weight that I’ve seen has been on Facebook (I don’t use Twitter but it might be similar there?), with screaming Bean-fans saying “and don’t you DARE mention her weight!” or things along those lines. 
The woke mob mentioned her weight long and loud before anyone else.

It’s like raaaaaaaaain on your wedding day… 🎶 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:53am

i definitely agree she wasn't fat shamed. unfair to malign her haters with that. 

but different analysis re did her weight play a role in the delusional hostility towards her. yes SOME of you have been reasoned, simply stating she was miscast. MANY of you have gone well beyond that, somehow being angry AT HER for being miscast, being furious she had pre-arranged missed shows, being livid at a situation that amounts to NO MORE THAN "i dont really like whats she doing in the role."

and to be fair some of you have been pretty transparent about why: shes entitled, spoiled, "wealthy." She doesnt deserve this opportunity the way others do! It was her rich parents! There's a certain sense of "how dare she!" that has permeated this discussion/mob from the jump.  How many times have I read here that she arranged to miss a show "to go to a wedding in the Hamptons!" as if the Hamptons location makes it somehow outrageous. Just unhinged levels of rage and criticism that I havent seen directed at anyone else on Broadway, and if you tell me she is giving the worst performance on a Broadway stage in the past 5 years, you're just lying to yourself.

is part of the "SHE DOESNT DESERVE THIS!" attitude about her weight? I would think so. Unconsciously, to be sure. But this idea that she didnt *earn* this (she was hand picked by the director overseeing the property!) as if weve never seen producers bank on celebrity to create a product before. Yeah, i think her non-traditional size is a part of that. 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 9:58am

Accusing people of having an unconscious bias is asking people to prove a negative. 

Updated On: 7/14/22 at 09:58 AM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 10:18am

i agree, and im not accusing anyone of anything. i dont know whats in your head and look fwd to the day when our society stops spending so much time trying to guess whats in your head.

but i can speculate about what is driving a hostile reaction. maybe it isnt her weight, as some have casually admitted, its her "rich wealthy background" that really gets them. but there is a feeling that she didnt earn this, didnt deserve this, that goes well beyond her Vanessa Bayer ish vocals.

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 10:22am

I feel like people are making up a lot of fantasy reasons for not liking her in the role when really people don't like her in the role simply because she cannot sing the score.  Her singing is not pleasant and it's amateurish and it's sinking a show that has weak bones to begin with.

People don't dislike her performance because of her weight, or her scheduled absences, or because her family is rich and well-connected (although this is extremely annoying).  They just don't like her performance because she's miscast.  Period.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 10:28am

You weren’t accusing and you don’t know what people are thinking, you were just speculating. Got it. 
 

Seems like the simplest answer here could be best: an unqualified performer somehow was cast in one of the most iconic musical theater roles in a production of a show that has never been revived. And people understandably kind of want to know how the **** we got here, what the explanation is for such a failure. 

[pippy1]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 10:39am

She was never set up for success in this show because she is just not right for the part. Not every actor is right for every part, and I think the takeaway here is that just because something is your dream role doesn't necessarily mean you are RIGHT for it... Unfortunately, in this case, no one told Beanie that and the situation got out of hand.

This is the truth. I am close to a working actor and she has told me that it is up to her to be honest with herself and when her reps send her an audition she knows she is not right for, she need to pass because she doesn’t want to waste anyone’s time. That is very different than sending in a tape when you know you might not have a specific look or think you are too old or too young. Being honest about strengths and weaknesses is a whole other matter.  But - it seems across the board no one wanted to be honest about the situation. 

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 10:59am

I expect the actor who portrays Fanny Brice to actually resemble Fanny Brice in some basic way.  Barbra looks like Fanny.  Julie looks like Fanny.  Lea looks like Fanny.  Beanie looks like........?

The curtain call photo posted above of Beanie and Jane Lynch embracing immediately makes me think that even Jane looks more like Fanny than does Beanie.  They should have switched roles.

Updated On: 7/14/22 at 10:59 AM

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:12am

At least 80% of the audience has no idea what Fanny Brice looked like without googling.  Bernadette Peters and Angela Lansbury looked nothing like Rose Hovick. William Daniels didn't look much like John Adams. 

Yes Fanny Brice was a real person but she was a stage and radio star and what remains of her legacy is not visual. Everyone has different expectations but this strikes me as a weird one. 

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:12am

Highland Guy said: "I expect the actor who portrays Fanny Brice to actually resemble Fanny Brice in some basic way. Barbra looks like Fanny. Julie looks like Fanny. Lea looks like Fanny. Beanie looks like........?

The curtain call photo posted above of Beanie and Jane Lynch embracing immediately makes me think that even Jane looks more like Fanny than does Beanie. They should have switched roles."

Because Babs looked so much like Fanny Brice with her 60's hair lol.

I don't think the actress playing Fanny Brice has to look like the real Fanny Brice.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:13am

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

 

Highland Guy said: "I expect the actor who portrays Fanny Brice to actually resemble Fanny Brice in some basic way. Barbra looks like Fanny. Julie looks like Fanny. Lea looks like Fanny. Beanie looks like........?”

 

For anyone looking for proof of unconsciou bias, here you are, LOL. The only reason any of these women look more like Fanny Brice than Beanie is their size because none of them look much like Fanny at all. (Maybe Benko does a touch)

 

Besides, dramatically speaking, the actor playing her doesn’t need to look like real life Fanny because most people would know Fanny Brice if they were staring at a picture of her. What’s important is that she is very Jewish looking and not traditionally “beautiful”. 

 

Updated On: 7/14/22 at 11:13 AM

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:19am

BroadwayGirl107 said: "What’s important is that she is very Jewish looking and not traditionally “beautiful”."

Jewish looking?  Please tell us what that would be.

 

 

 

 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:20am

Brice died 70 years ago. The only image of her remaining in popular imagination is Streisand playing her.  Who cares if the actress doesn’t resemble her? The show itself isn’t true to her life. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:28am

Streisand’s 60s Fanny was an obvious creative decision to not disconnect the Streisand personality for the audience.  Only a handful of her costumes were indeed period costumes but the rest were contemporary 60s wardrobe evoking period, most notably her iconic Cleopatra eyeliner, long nails, and 60s pageboy hairdo.  You saw present-day Barbra on that Winter Garden stage.  The film’s 2nd Act is sheer 60s Streisand in its full glory.  Never in her life did Fanny Brice sport a short asymmetrical Vidal Sassoon peek-a-boo hairstyle.  

[felixleiter]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:28am

If she was great we would all be celebrating her performance as a triumph for plus sized people and their representation.   She is not great and the potential for that has been lost.  Could it be the unconscious (but still very real)  loss of that possibility is way more at play here than an unconscious bias against people whose body types are not usually seen as leading roles on Broadway?  

 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:31am

WestEndGal said: "Being a theater fan used to be fun and exciting, and inclusive. Now it feels anything but. It’s tiring."

Honey, this is the best BroadwayWorld has been in years. You can delete the snarky comments, ban relevant gossip, even force a blackout on topics most fans of Broadway would be interested in discussing, but you can't stop theatre queens from bitching. And that's why this thread is so good.

 

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:38am

Ridiculous to say people don't know what Fanny Brice looked like  She has been a well-known and loved figure in popular American culture for more than a century.  OF COURSE people recognize her.  Did you know there's even a Broadway musical based on her life?

Ridiculous.

[He replied]

Posted: 7/14/22 at 11:40am

Never in her life did Fanny Brice sport a short asymmetrical Vidal Sassoon peek-a-boo hairstyle. "

I simply could not enjoy a sentence more.