smallworld said: "I finally saw this last night. Julie Benko, Jeremiah James, and Liz McCartney were absolutely wonderful. The entire cast was. That being said, the set was atrocious and I the book (especially in act two) dragged and dragged. I don't know if I'm in the minority here or not, but I think I would've rather seen the show performed as originally written without the additions of "Temporary Arrangement" and "Funny Girl". The staging was also puzzling - and I'm puzzled to hear that they've been making changes, yet have kept things in that genuinely do not work (such as the ladder in Greatest Star). Overall, I'm very happy to have seen it - and even more happy that I got to see Julie Benko play Fanny."
I saw the same performance - my second watch (after seeing Beanie back in April). I thought Julie was delightful as Fanny. Jeremiah was good, but there was very little chemistry between him and Julie - though I fault the terrible book for that more than the two performers.
Julie's final scene is an emotional journey - one that I'm glad I had a chance to watch. Interested to see how Lea stacks up by comparison - I'll find out in October.
I think last night confirmed that my problem with this production was not just Beanie's inconsistent performance (she did have her good moments, though). The book is terrible (even as revised), the production feels cheap, and the direction is terrible. Which is a shame, because the cast -- especially that ensemble -- is putting 110% into this show.