Michele, Benanti, O'Hara, and Parker in the running for FUNNY GIRL... — Page 4

Can Nina Arianda belt?

If not, could we teach her to?

I'm just sayin...

THIS!!! Ugh, Nina would be so fantastic in terms of her acting and comic timing. If she could sing the role, she would get my vote.

So, last night on Glee, we were treated to Lea's second audition - even thought the song is NOT in the actual stage musical.

Talk about blatant campaigning...

Except Michele's 'My Man' was far better then her over sung 'Don't Rain on My Parade'

I might sound like a fanboy due to my user name, but if Idina Menzel was younger she'd be perfect for this.

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OK, some defense for Ms. Michelle:
Her MY MAN was pretty great (auto-tuned or not, I mean it is TV and you use your resources to their advantage). And she can sing live, with the right coaching I believe she could sing the role. Her character on GLEE has been a Barbra fanatic from show one, (before any revival was planned) so it makes sense to emulate her and sing her songs. (Even if she picked them, which she may have some input, but she does not write the show)
And just because some people hate the show (and her) you are sorely underestimating the drawing power she would have from GLEE, it's an International Sensation.
And she certainly looks the role and is more age appropriate than laughable choices, O'Hara and Benanti.
Her TV series schedule will probably exclude her from the "mix",
but at this point she is the obvious best candidate, IMO.

Not that she'd do it, but I think the only person's voice that can even hold a candle to Barbra's is Shoshana Bean.Does she have the comedic chops? I'm not sure. But every time I see her perform, I can't stop watching her every move. This show needs a star like that.

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TOM, FUNNY GIRL comes to fruition at the Ahmanson in LA Feb. 1.
Not sure how that would wrok for Lea.

I think Shoshana is a good choice also.

Would love to see Stephanie Block play Fanny again. I did FG with her in LA back in 1993. I was the Production Tenor who sings "Beautiful Bride" to the showgirls, with Fanny entering very pregnant.

Time will tell as to who will ultimately get the role.

Why revive this at all? Not a very good libretto and was tailored to Streisand during out-of-town previews. This will be pretty tough to pull off for anyone.

Benanti, although hilarious and an amazing voice, seems much too traditionally beautiful to play the role.
I really wish that Donna Murphy were younger, I'd always seen her playing this role-- beautiful in a different way, great comedic and acting skills, and a good voice. Her talking about wanting to play Fanny Brice last week killed me. Anyway.
I would love to see Arianda in this role. She was fantastic in Venus In Furs and she's hilarious in Born Yesterday. A believable Brice in terms of appearance as well I think.

Allll that said, please god don't revive this.

Updated On: 5/19/11 at 08:29 PM

Thank god.

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I saw Woody Allen's new film "Midnight in Paris" last night, in which Arianda has a role, and all I could think the entire time onscreen was how much I'd like to see her in this role.

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Benanti seems unlikely for the role, or at least isn't expecting to get it. She tweeted in response to someone lobbying for her to play the part that she doesn't think she can belt high enough for it.
Benanti's Tweet

lull89, Benanti's vocal (and physical, IMO) inappropriateness notwithstanding, she has a television series shooting in Chicago that renders her unavailable anyway.

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