Revive "Funny Girl" with Stephanie J. Block- Page 2

[Practically Perfect]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 5:13am

I think she'd be sensational! That girl can sing, and it would be great to see her back on broadway. But women would be queuing up by the thousand to play that role (including Shoshana Bean - I seem to remember her saying something about it...)

Mary P x

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 10:04am

I'd love to see Steph as Fanny Brice. I thinks he could handle the role very nicely. Her "Don't Rain on My Parade" is brilliant.

(Practically Perfect- If I remember correctly, Shoshana said that Fanny Brice would be the only role that would get her back to Broadway.)

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 11:41am

Oh no!!! Some people obviously know very little about Fanny Brice and the show FUNNY GIRL. Miss Block would definitely be miscast as Fanny.

[Popular]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 11:59am

Frontrowcentre and Wonderboy - it's not my style to argue with you or to try to change your mind. I'd just like to state the fact that she has been cast in this show several times regionally and even earned an award for playing the role so perhaps you may want to reserve judgment until you actually SEE her play the part.
Updated On: 11/23/05 at 11:59 AM

[otis33]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 12:16pm

Steph is not only a brilliant singer, but a fantastic actor as well. To those saying she's wrong for the part...give an actor a chance to stretch and create a character. She just might pull it off. And, Popular, you're right. She's played to the part a few times to nothing but great acclaim.

That being said, it'd be fun to watch her create a role in a new show and make it her own.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 12:37pm

Well, aside from her being too old, this is all a silly pipe dream. No producer is going to entrust a $10 million revival of this show to someone as completely unknown to the general public as Stephanie Block. NEVER happen. She can't sell tickets. It's the same reason that Charlotte D'Amboise, who can dance and sing circles around Christina Applegate can't take over the role of Charity full time. Box office would plummet. Remember the Weisslers actually cancelled the Broadway engagement altogether rather than let her open in it when it looked like Applegate would take too long to heal -- the show had over a $1 million in group sales cancel the day after Applegate broke her foot and it was announced D'Amboise would star.

Funny Girl can be done regionally till the cows come home, but until a 20-ish, not-very-attractive, preferably Jewish girl with an extraordinary multi-octave voice and a gift for physical and verbal comedy comes along who ALSO happens to be a "name" from tv or the movies, we won't see a Broadway revival of the show. The show was built around and tailor-made to Streisand's talents. Styne actually expanded the range and lowered the keys of certain songs during auditions because he wanted Streisand -- who's range was enormous enough to sing anything he threw at her -- but the producers wanted someone who was already a star; when Ann Bancroft, Carol Burnett etc.... came in to audition, they couldn't pull off the music so Streisand HAD to be cast.

Anyway, the show is a star vehicle and won't survive in today's economic climate on Broadway without a real star name in the lead. Block isn't one of those and so the search will continue....

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 12:37 PM

[Popular]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 12:49pm

Margo - broadway politics is a b*tch. You make some valid points, but I have learned in my lifetime to never say never.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 12:56pm

I think Steph can still read as 20-ish on stage. And, she certainly has the pipes. And as a slight correction, not only has Steph won awards with this role regionally, but EVERY time she has done it regionally, she won an award.

I think the idea of this as a Broadway revival is silly. Unless they are going to sex it up or throw in a star who would reinvent the part, it would never be revived by any producer with half a brain in 2005.

However, if Steph does this role again (which I don't think she will anytime soon), I'll be the first to buy a ticket.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 1:00pm

I've seen Stephanie Block's performance in FUNNY GIRL and wasn't inpressed. She really isn't right for the role despite her great vocals. She was fine for a regional theatre but not for a major Broadway revival.

Margo is of course right -- until the right star with a name attraction comes along, there is simply no need to revive the show (which is creaky to begin with).

The closest to "right on" casting happened in the late 1980s when Jule Styne approached Sandra Bernhard about doing the show. She is the only "name" I can think of who would have been convincing in the comedy and ethnicity of the role. And while her voice isn't as huge as Streisand's, She probably would have been more like the real Brice, actually.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 1:11pm

I thought about Sandra Bernhard in the role after seeing her one woman "Without You I'm Nothing" and "I'm Stil Here .... Dammit" shows. She had obviously studied voice seriously by the time of the second show, because her instrument was stunningly powerful. Not the prettiest sound I've ever heard, but strong and on pitch. I didn't know that Styne had actually contacted her about it. She would have been perfect, I think. Different enough to avoid some of the inevitable Sreeisand comparisons, but with the right combination of qualities necessary for the role. She's too old for it now (she just turned 50, believe it or not), so it's a shame it never came off.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 1:25pm

I'd still love to see Bernhard do the role in concert (she looks about 35 in person). Actually this would be perfect for the Hollywood Bowl's big one night only concert performance they do each year of a Broadway musical.

I saw her do a live set in Los Angeles last year and her voice was unbelievably powerful - her voice lessons over the years have obviously paid off.

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 1:46pm

First of all, Margo.....I am constantly reminded why you are the smartest, most knowledgable member of this board. Thank you for your input - you have basically said everything I wanted to say, though of course much better than I could have. Needless to say, I completely agree with you.

And, sidneybruhl, just for the record, I do not 'hate' Stephanie Block. I simply stated my opinion and that is that she is too old for this role - nothing personal against the woman. Another thing - Streisand might have been 26 when she filmed the movie, but she was 21 when she did it on stage.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 2:21pm

Michael, I'm shocked that you thought Steph was just "alright". I've seen her do the role a couple of times, and both times I saw it, I nearly peed myself laughing and cried buckets. For me, she is the real deal. And those who give out awards seem to agree.

Sandra could be great in the role if she could manage to be someone other than Sandra. My problem with seeing her do the part is that I would be watching Sandra do Funny Girl, instead of Fanny. I've never seen her be able to transcend herself (why would she want to -- she's fabulous).

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 2:29pm

Well, I'm not sure that Streisand was playing anything other than Streisand in "Funny Girl" or any of her other roles, which were all sort of variations on the same personality type.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 2:31pm

Exactly. That's why Sandra does well with her one-woman shows, and isn't right for stepping into another person's shoes. And I'm not sure that this is the vehicle for her to make it her own.

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 02:31 PM

[BwayLover]

Posted: 11/23/05 at 2:46pm

Margo, I don't completely disagree with you but the thing is....Streisand's personality and narrative were strikingly similar to Brice's. That's what made the casting so ideal and cemented her in the role - and in the end, she served the character as much as she served herself.

I don't want to get into an OT argument but I do think she was able to strech as an actress later on in her career, particularly in less well known films like "Up the Sandbox", "All Night Long" and even "Nuts".

Updated On: 11/23/05 at 02:46 PM

[Adjie]

Posted: 11/24/05 at 7:33pm

ABSOLUTELY!!! Stephanie would be fantastic! But I'm a little biased!!