"just because we like a performer doesn't mean she is right for everything."
I don't think anyone is stating that. I just think people are saying it would be an inspired choice and some would like to see what she could do with it.
Thank you, atj, and for the record, I have Gaga recordings downloaded onto my phone. I want to reiterate that I think she is quite talented and I love her politics.
But when she gets above C5, she almost always avoids sitting too long on any high note. And even when she gets off the note quickly, she doesn't have much above D5.
Fanny Brice has to belt a sustained F5 (and not just once), and also sing an E below middle C. I assume Gaga could do the latter.
Of course keys can be changed. But the bottom line is that Fanny Brice was not a blues singer, no more than Barbra Streisand. Can Gaga sing straight tones above C5? I'm not convinced.
(In fairness, Gaga is quite young. Who's to say what she may be able to do 10 years from now?)
I don't consider this issue "settled". I'm just saying i have my doubts (doubts I did not have about Lauren Ambrose, even though apparently she wasn't the draw they needed).