Lea Michele to Star as Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL Starting 9/6; Beanie Feldstein Departing 7/31- Page 36

[ACL2006]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 5:54pm

So last weekend she was out due to getting hurt by a trunk coming offstage. This weekend she's out due to tonsillitis. What excuse will she use for next weekend? Does she even show up for her final performance?

[stlrod]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:03pm

Tonsillitis?  No wonder she couldn't sing.  If she has surgery, recovery is conveniently two weeks.  So glad I sold my tickets the day after the sitzprobe video came out.  I'll apply the $2.00 profit to tickets to see Lea Michele.  Not a big fan of hers, but love the music and she can sing.  

[WesternSky2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:07pm

Okay, I'm scared posting this but I thought it might be useful to hear feedback from a recent performance. I saw the show last night and based on the BWW threads, I was truly expecting a trainwreck. I was expecting off-key, embarrassing singing. But I thought Beanie was fine, if not very good in some moments.

I thought her final number was genuinely beautifully sung and moving. She has a lovely voice when singing in her comfort zone, the problem here, in my opinion, is so much of the score is out of her comfort zone and her voice isn't big or powerful enough for what the role requires.

Also, FWIW, it's true that the audience went absolutely nuts for her after every single number. (Last night at least!) 

Would I have cast her? No. I agree that the show requires someone who has the comedic talent and is a vocal powerhouse - there are so many performers out there who fit the bill. But do I think she deserves the absolute vitriol I've seen posted around the internet? Absolutely not. This has been such a sad situation to see play out. She's a talented woman, I really wish her the best.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:09pm

I think what you posted is the general consensus. 

She's fine. But when you sing a song called "The Greatest Star" .... I mean, you kind of need more than fine?

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:13pm

The Greatest Star

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:17pm

Would someone explain what sort of rehearsal process Lea Michele will go through to get ready for her Fanny debut on September 6th?  

[Penna2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:30pm

stlrod said: "Tonsillitis? No wonder she couldn't sing. If she has surgery, recovery is conveniently two weeks. So glad I sold my tickets the day after the sitzprobe video came out. I'll apply the $2.00 profit to tickets to see Lea Michele. Not a big fan of hers, but love the music and she can sing."

They aren't doing tonsillectomies much anymore since they haven't proved to be helpful. In any event, even if they were, it wouldn't be done when there was an active infection.

Updated On: 7/15/22 at 06:30 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:33pm

It’s sad that she’s ill, and yes I do believe that she is. I’ve known singing actors plagued by throat infections and in her case, after being weakened by Covid, it’s not hard to imagine a vulnerable immune system response. Allergy season can exacerbate that vulnerability. But it’s just an ironic final chapter here, and it’s possible that she may not be up to a return as early as Tuesday. At this point, I join those wishing her well in her next endeavor. 

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:50pm

Sutton Foster sings "I'm The Greatest Star".  In the comments, someone mentioned that right after Sutton finished this song, she rushed out the door to run four blocks to get to her other show "Millie".https://youtu.be/2VklRpsAdtg

[ManOfLaMuncha]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:55pm

https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/applause-3519#Awards

 

Lauren Bacall sang like a fog horn in Applause, but I loved every minute of it!

And she won the Tony that year for best actress in a musical.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 6:57pm

This really is just a disaster of epic proportions. It's hard to argue that all this drama collapsed into two/three weeks in previews wouldn't have been better for all involved than the slow, painful demise we're seeing now. A disaster everyone could see coming a mile away, and yet nobody did anything until the situation became unsolvable in a professional way.

[Schmergo2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 7:16pm

Man, I know tonsillitis might just be partially an excuse, but there's a part of me that feels like the current culture of pushing performers back onto the stage as soon as their mandatory COVID absence is over is going to start showing some cracks pretty soon.

In my dinky little community theatre, about 1/3 of the actors got COVID in early June. A month and a half later, most of them still have lingering coughs or fatigue now they keep getting knocked out by colds and sinus infections and throat infections one after the other, while those of us who haven't gotten COVID this summer haven't caught any of those colds or infections. We're all vaxxed and boosted by requirement, almost all in our 20's and 30's. It really seems like COVID can leave a lot of relatively healthy young people vulnerable in the month or two after they recover. I am a little concerned about Beanie's health-- and that of other Broadway stars who seem to be catching COVID multiple times (Hugh Jackman is no spring chicken)!

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 7:27pm

Plus long COVID - which I feel has been almost completely left out of the conversation in general, not to mention re: Broadway performers!

[inception]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 7:33pm

 I don't have tickets until next weekend.  I hope she is well enough to perform by then.  But if she isn't?

I said weeks ago I want to see the show whoever is performing.   But now I feel like why should I give these producers my money?  

 I've seen other productions of Funny Girl before.

If she's out perhaps I'll ask for a refund & go see something less problematic...

Edit: I'm not flying from the West Coast with the hopes of seeing some understudy. And, I don't see anything classy about all her social media posts. 

Updated On: 7/15/22 at 07:33 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 7:51pm

inception said: "I don't have tickets until next weekend. I hope she is well enough to perform by then. But if she isn't?

I said weeks ago I want to see the show whoever is performing. But now I feel like why should I give these producers my money?

I've seen other productions ofFunny Girlbefore.

If she's out perhaps I'll ask for a refund & go see something less problematic...

Edit: I'm not flying from the West Coast with the hopes of seeing some understudy. And, I don't see anything classy about all her social media posts."

She's a stand-by promoting her performances for her fans/friends/family. It's pretty industry standard. 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 7:54pm

Inception, you're far better off seeing Benko than Feldstein. That is, if you enjoy music.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:09pm

Just let her go home. Enough torture.

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:12pm

inception said: "I don't have tickets until next weekend. I hope she is well enough to perform by then. But if she isn't?

I said weeks ago I want to see the show whoever is performing. But now I feel like why should I give these producers my money?

I've seen other productions ofFunny Girlbefore.

If she's out perhaps I'll ask for a refund & go see something less problematic...

Edit: I'm not flying from the West Coast with the hopes of seeing some understudy. And, I don't see anything classy about all her social media posts."

 

Best to get a refund now.  If Julie is performing, she and the cast won't need your negative energy.

 

[Alecohanian]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:14pm

Sally Durant Plummer said: "The Greatest Star"

Oh how I pray we will get to hear and see more choreography like the marvelous clamor of Barbras footsteps in this recording come September!! 

[Papi2013]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:26pm

joevitus said: "Sally Durant Plummer said: "I can't help but be reminded of what DAME so succinctly said after the first preview:

"I do not get the excuses. This is broadway. This is the olympics of theater. No one should be defending themselves for being over critical, having high expectations, or wanting the absolute best.""

Having high expectations for a Broadway performance isn't anything like venomously ripping a performer continuously because one didn't like them. One can insist on high standards while not repeated going into attack mode (not saying you did, saying many have). There have been enough comments on these threads--by people who have been posting here for years, not people signing up just to push Beanie--who found her voice light but effective and her work as an actress effective. A hopeless amateur wasn't cast here. Thus the excessively harsh posts are not about high standards, and those criticizing those harsh posts and not an example of how woebegone modern audiences don't understand what Broadway should represent."

But a lot of the repeated attacks was instigated by people like you that constantly posts on this thread and social media to defend the indefensible.  And on top of it all.. you have not seen the show.  You have been on here since day one making sure the drama level stays at high alert.  

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:38pm

WesternSky2 said: "Okay, I'm scared posting this but I thought it might be useful to hear feedback from a recent performance. I saw the show last night and based on the BWW threads, I was truly expecting a trainwreck. I was expecting off-key, embarrassing singing. But I thought Beanie was fine, if not very good in some moments."

My feeling on both Beanie and Benko is that both are giving very interesting Regional Theatre-level performances –– Benko a little more traditionally Barbra, Beanie taking a bigger swing. If I saw either of those performances at a venue like Barrington or Goodspeed or The Muny, I'd come out impressed and with bragging rights.

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:47pm

ManOfLaMuncha said: "https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/applause-3519#Awards



Lauren Bacall sang like a fog horn in Applause, but I loved every minute of it!

And she won the Tony that year for best actress in a musical."

A. That role in Applause doesn't require a strong singing voice.  A strong singing voice is ESSENTIAL for Funny Girl.

B. Lauren Bacall could act.

[Azúcar!]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:48pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "WesternSky2 said: "Okay, I'm scared posting this but I thought it might be useful to hear feedback from a recent performance. I saw the show last night and based on the BWW threads, I was truly expecting a trainwreck. I was expecting off-key, embarrassing singing. But I thought Beanie was fine, if not very good in some moments."

My feeling on both Beanie and Benko is that both are giving very interesting Regional Theatre-level performances –– Benko a little more traditionally Barbra, Beanie taking a bigger swing. If I saw either of those performances at a venue like Barrington or Goodspeed or The Muny, I'd come out impressed and with bragging rights."

I thought Benko was ok. Nothing extraordinary.

[Georgeanddot2]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:51pm

Beanie makes Benko look incredible.

They really should've done a huge nationwide search for the new Fanny Brice.  Was there a shortage of funny Jewish girls who can really sing in the US????

[Papi2013]

Posted: 7/15/22 at 8:57pm

BCfitasafiddle said: "Julie Benko has been nothing but a class act through this whole mess. As kind and gracious as she is talented."

It is her job.  You people are just too much.   You don't know Julie Benko.  You don't know if she is a class act, kind, or gracious.  Same could be said for Beanie.  You are just going by  mob mentality.  And Benko is just  fine in the role.  Better than Beanie.  But that is about it.