Official! Lauren Ambrose to Star in FUNNY GIRL!- Page 9

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/4/11 at 9:52pm

For what's it's worth, this anecdote from Wiki would indicate the song was always for Fanny:

As they worked to develop the character of Fanny Brice, they needed to write a special love song depicting her feelings towards Nicky. According to the book, "Jule: The Story of Composer Jule Styne" by Theodore Taylor, "Jule turned to his collaborator Bob Merrill, 'You told me the other night to work on [the lyric] "a very special person." I think I've got a helluva melody for it.'...'Great,' Merrill yelled. 'But now it's not gonna be just a "special person." Listen.' Then he ad-libbed, while Jule played the melody again: 'People, people who need people'...The song 'wrote' in thirty minutes..." Ironically, "People" nearly did not get included in "Funny Girl" during early try-outs as the producers did not like it. Bob fought to keep the song in and finally one night, Barbra was allowed to sing it on stage. It stopped the show and history was made.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/4/11 at 11:08pm

Reg--Smaxie's website expands om that idea:

==========

“People”/ “I Am Woman”
“Absent Minded Me” / “Funny Girl”

The Funny Girl Original Cast Album was released on Capitol Records. Over at her own label, Columbia, Streisand recorded several songs from the score as promotional singles. The tracks were arranged and conducted by Peter Matz. “People's” fate was still being decided when it was released as a single in January 1964. It's said that Jerome Robbins, Bob Fosse and Garson Kanin all wanted to cut the song from the show. But the single helped—“People” was beloved by audiences who heard it on the radio. The rest, of course, is history.

“I Am Woman” was the flip side of “People”. It's the same tune as “You Are Woman, I Am Man” from the show. However, the lyrics were changed to the female point-of-view so Barbra could sing it solo as a single.

“Absent Minded Me” was dropped from Funny Girl but was released as a single release in August 1964, and was later included on the People album.

“Funny Girl” is not the movie song. The 1964 single is an up-tempo song, not a ballad like the film song with the same title. It's possible the “Funny Girl” single was never used in the show. Instead, it was a catchy tune that utilized the show's title in order to advertise it on the radio.

Also, Allison Waldman's 2005 publication, Between the Grooves, revealed that “Who Are You Now?” and “Cornet Man” were recorded as singles but not released.

[Gypsy9]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 8:46am

SMaxie's link to the Barbra Streisand file resulted in my spending a happy hour with all of the great material available. The comparisons of the stage show and the film, scene by scene was particularly interesting to me because it demonstrated why I was so disappointed in the movie. The fact that several songs from the stage show went unused in the film or were replaced by what I consider inferior numbers was the main reason for my dislike of the film.(Omar Shariff's wooden acting matched Sydney Chaplain's " walking through his part" on stage). One example of an inferior number in the film replacing a great number in the stage show: "The Swan", a poor song and a boring, unfunny if elaborate ensemble ballet number contrasts negatively wih the up-beat "Rat Tat Tat Tat" ensemble number with a special pure Streisand take on Private Schwartz from Rockaway--it was an hilarious number. Each number takes place without Nick Arnstein in the audience--he was too busy gambling, a plot point.

Also from the file is juicy information of Chaplain's unprofessional behavior toward Streisand, eventually resulting in his contracted salary being given him while singer Johnny Desmond took over the part. I like Chaplain in the recording of SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING, but don't think much of his singing in either BELLS ARE RINGING or in FUNNY GIRL where I saw him walk through his role.

"My Man"', which to me was so very effective to close the film, stands virtually no chance of being used in this revival, for reasons already stated. Styne, according to the file, felt that its inclusion ruined the film(!).

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 10:43am

Love Merrill's work on Funny Girl, but anyone know why he and not Comden and Green did the lyrics? Was there ever a show that seemed more a match for Styne's frequent collaborators Betty and Adolf?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 10:43am

The "My Man"/"Music That Makes Me Dance" conundrum sure is a tricky one! I seem to recall a story about a cab driver telling Jule Styne that the only way to fix Funny Girl was to put "My Man" in the show.

In terms of story, "Music" followed shortly by the "Don't Rain On My Parade" reprise makes a bit more sense. "Dance" is about being fulfilled by Nick's love, even in spite of all the danger signs of a troubled romance ("I know that he's near by the thunder I hear in advance"). They part ways and then the "Parade" reprise goes from resignation ("guess we didn't make it") to a feeling of triumphing over failure ("that's life in the theat-tah!").

The thing with "My Man" for me anyway is that the song lyrics about "crawling on my knees" for a man don't really match what's happening between Fanny and Nick. It works, I think, because Streisand acts and sings the living hell out of it in cinematic close-up. The vocals are so powerful, so soaring, that it's about the performer and the character triumphing over heartbreak. I've not seen a production use "My Man" in place of the show ending, so I don't know if it would ever work in the stage production. But it would take a hell of a performer to do everything that Streisand does with the song in the movie - and to do it eight times a week on stage, after singing 11 or 12 other numbers before it.

So - I think as much as I'm a "My Man" fan, the combo of "Music That Makes Me Dance" and "Don't Rain on My Parade" as the ending for the stage musical probably make the best sense, both dramatically and for the welfare of the performer!

Updated On: 8/5/11 at 10:43 AM

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 10:50am

>Love Merrill's work on Funny Girl, but anyone know why he and not Comden and Green did the lyrics? Was there ever a show that seemed more a match for Styne's frequent collaborators Betty and Adolf?<

Just a guess on my part, but maybe it was because Betty and Adolph were already busy with book and lyrics for Fade Out, Fade In (also with Styne), which opened about two months after Funny Girl? No idea though if that's the real reason.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 11:51am

You have to remember that one of the reasons "My Man" was included in the film is because Fanny Brice was still a recent memory to most film audiences. She had only been dead 12 years before the musical hit Broadway and that song to most audiences was synonymous with her. Its the same reason why "Second Hand Rose" and "I'd Rather Be Blue" were thrown in there.

But those songs today are more synonymous with Streisand than Brice, whose talents most current audiences aren't likely to be very familiar with.

For a production trying to distant itself from memories of the film and Streisand it makes the most sense to stick to the Styne/ Merrill score without the Brice (Streisand) signature tunes.

[Owen22]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 1:54pm

Again with the hypocricy! The accusations you're throwing against Lea are the same accusations people derided Streisand with her entire career. And now we all love her (don't EVEN argue that you don't). Do you forgive Barbra now because she's a "survivor"? Will you forgive Lea in twenty years when she's a star of that calibre? Or could the accusations against both be mysogenistic untruths that the bitchy use against strong women? Bitches who are insanely bitter over the young becoming successful? But I digress. The original argument was this. Would Lea Michelle IS "Funny Girl" sell a ton more tickets out of the box then Lauren Amborse IS "Funny Girl" ? I can't even believe any of you honestly think that's a wrong accessment.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 2:40pm

Michael Bennett, I think that's a very good point.

Even though I'm aware of them as Brice numbers, I really only know Streisand's versions.
Updated On: 8/5/11 at 02:40 PM

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 2:44pm

You're absolutely right, Owen. We are all not only Republican mysogenestic [Sic - you may want to learn how to spell that one, Owen] Lea Michele haters but also fascists, anti-semites, Soup Nazis, who are proudly responsible not only for Lea Michele's not getting Funny Girl, but also for Barbra not getting oscar nominations for Yentl, the killing of protestors in Egypt and Syria, the famine in Somalia, the bombing of Cambodia, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the global hacking calamity, and, worse than all of that put together, the casting of Lucy as Mame.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 3:52pm

A link to the live recording of "Music That Makes Me Dance" from Streisand's final performance on Broadway. I think this song in the context of the play is definitely at least, if not more, exciting than "My Man."

Barbra's Final Updated On: 8/5/11 at 03:52 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 3:55pm

It's Lucy's 100th birthday, so we shouldn't say anything disrespectful about her.

Tomorrow we can talk about how awful she was in that movie.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:02pm

But the Brice songs were intended to be in the play initially. It was only after producer Ray Stark (Brice's son-in-law) realized he couldn't secure the rights without paying out big bucks that he balked and asked Styne and Merrill to write "substitute" songs. They filled in the score, a score that was originally to be written around those Bruce tunes. Ultimately, Stark went back to the original plan of including them when the film was made (and the budget was much bigger).

Updated On: 8/5/11 at 04:02 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:05pm

... and you also realize that the original title of the entire musical was supposed to be "My Man," right?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:09pm

I think the original idea was for it to be more a play with music (Brice's music). But I think its safe to say that once Styne/Merrill were hired those plans were dropped in favor of doing a completely original score. If the plan had always been for the play to include those songs, Styne likely wouldn't have made the comments he made about the inclusion of those songs 'ruining' the film version.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:17pm

Styne also said that Hollywood ruined everything he ever wrote for the stage, but that "of all the material they ruined," Funny Girl came out the best.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:19pm

He also called Shirley Temple a "nasty nasty little girl". He had some bitter pills, but I think its safe to say his estate will likely honor his feelings and not include the Brice stock numbers in the revival.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:25pm

That final audio of Babs doing MUSIC THAT MAKES ME... is thrilling, when the voice announces her I got chills, and it also shows that she was in amazing shape after a hard run.
The arrangement, especially the horns is brilliant.
There is also that audio of MY MAN that she did after the curtain calls that night.
That was a final performance for the ages, and she never looked back and never returned, what a shame.
But it's also why we all have been chatting this last week.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:31pm

If they want to honor his wishes and feelings, then yes. And I doubt they have a choice.

But Sher still has to face audiences who are very familiar with the movie and "that big number at the end," which I maintain is the reason Streisand took home her Oscar (tied with Hepburn). Without "My Man," and those final moments, I don't think she would have won it.

I also think Sher is very inventive, and I do think he can take the existing material and do something with it to make it have a similar power and impact. The "Music" song is just too wistful, introspective, and slow, interpreted in the same slow way by virtually everybody who's ever recorded it (Streisand's version being the best). He'll have to do something fresh with it if he wants to match the raw power of those final moments in the film. And I do think it can be done (remember Bennett's staging for I Am Changing?).

It can make the difference between an "enjoyable" evening at the theatre and an "electrifying" evening at the theatre.

I hope they try, for everyone's sake.

... and I have no reason to think that they won't. But these comments that "it's just fine the way it is" ... I have to disagree. The show fizzles out (as written) at the end, especially by comparison, and unfortunately that's what the audiences will be left with as they're walking up the aisles.

Updated On: 8/5/11 at 04:31 PM

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 4:52pm

I personally think you are over-estimating the popularity of the film, Best12.

Yes, It was a big hit when it came out, but it's not a film that is as iconic today as something like "The Sound of Music" or "Grease" (both of which have audiences that I think do expect to see the material added for the film). To me its the same as if you were to say audiences today are going to miss those big moments from the movie version of "Oliver" whenever the stage show is revived. I just don't think the film, despite its accolades at the time, is one of the great beloved movie musicals.

I think a lot of people under 35 have never even heard of FUNNY GIRL, which I think is actually a bigger reason why doing a revival is both a risky box office venture, and perhaps not as difficult to reinvent as we are imagining.

I do think Sher knows he has to address the issues of the original script, and I think we WILL see some other Styne/Merrill songs added potentially to the score, but they will be from their catalogue - not Brice's.

Updated On: 8/5/11 at 04:52 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 5:09pm

I hope they're from "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol."

This isn't a "multiplex" audience either, MB. And people know it better than Oliver! because of Streisand and her career. It's ranked #16 on the AFI top musical movies of all-time.

But whether they know the Striesand film or not, and I venture to say that most of the 35-year-olds who will pay their money to see this on Broadway probably do know the film, the ending as written still fizzles dramatically. They can make it better. I hope they will.

Updated On: 8/5/11 at 05:09 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 5:20pm

Besty, one of the peak's of 20th-century culture is the lyric "We're reprehensible / We'll steal your pen / and pencilbe."

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 5:31pm

Yes, please!

I love that score. When I lived in L.A., early on (in the late '80s) I knew a woman who was Jules Styne's secretary at the time. Back then, Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol had all but fallen off the radar. It had a timid VHS release (which eventually gained momentum combined with repeated TV airings). She said he was surprised when anybody remembered it, and he was very proud of that score.

Updated On: 8/7/11 at 05:31 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 5:37pm

"Winter Was Warm" is as sublime as anything he ever wrote, IMHO.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/5/11 at 5:43pm

100 percent agree.