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Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

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#3

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 6:57pm

Not true/Won't believe it.

Idina Menzel is miscast in the role. Sing it she can, be funny she can't. Plus she's too old.

And I'm sure that this will come up, so I'll say it now. Lea Michele is a better choice.
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
#4

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:01pm

Really? Lea Michelle as Fanny Brice? Oy. Can't see Idina either.


If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it? These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#5

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:01pm

And when I say she can't be funny, I mean to say her style of humor doesn't have the 'goofy' quality that Streisand brought to the role.

I've never READ the show nor have seen it on stage, but I have seen the movie and listened to the OBC. And I've seen the BC/EFA concert. So my opinion comes from that perspective, but I do not see Menzel doing the role.

I would, however, be in favor of Streisand directing the revival. THAT'S interesting...
"The Spectacle has, indeed, an emotional attraction of its own, but, of all the parts, it is the least artistic, and connected least with the art of poetry. For the power of Tragedy, we may be sure, is felt even apart from representation and actors. Besides, the production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet."
--Aristotle
#6

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:18pm

I'm more interested in the gossip on ATC that there is indeed a production being planned (sans Streisand). I wonder who the people behind that rumored production are looking at to play Fanny Brice. I can't imagine Leslie Kritzer isn't being considered.
"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"
#7

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:20pm

Kritzer is too old at this point for a full production.

I'm not sure Menzel is "right" for the role, but she can do comedy quite well. No one found as much humor in Maureen as she did (even in the dreadful film), and her comic timing in Aida was extraordinary (second only to Sherie).
#8

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:32pm

At this point in her life, I can't imagine That Streisand Woman putting all the effort into what it takes to direct a major musical. Heck, she hasn't put any effort into her acting in years!
"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)
#9

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:48pm

To see the movie of FUNNY GIRL is not to know the stage musical. I saw FUNNY GIRL at the Winter Garden multiple times. Yes, Streisand did have a "goofy" quality to her comedic moments which were many. The first act was fast and funny with brilliant musical numbers. The second act had major problems, mostly with the romantic relationship between Fanny and Nicky Arnstein when the momentum of the show slowed down. But then again, things slowed down in the movie whenever the very boring Omar Shariff was on camera. I do not know the younger singer-comics today, so cannot comment on Menzel. Streisand was a perfect Fanny Brice. Indeed,who could play the role today?
"Madam Rose...and her daughter...Gypsy!"
#11

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:18pm

Some tired old queen was bored today and decided to concoct this fantasy to ruffle all theater queens feathers on a global scale. It's working.
#12

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:25pm

adamgreer, I disagree that Kritzer is too old.

At just over thirty, she still has plenty of the youthful energy required to make the necessary age transformation throughout the course of the show. If ever there was an overly qualified candidate for a revival of this show, it's her.

I still find it laughable that people continuously suggest Lea Michele. Her comedic timing is nowhere near the stratosphere of what's required to play Fanny Brice. Not to mention the fact that she's convincingly playing a sixteen year old on television, which makes her far too young for the role to begin with.
Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

Updated On: 5/27/10 at 08:25 PM

#13

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:32pm

Please not Idina. I hate to judge her before I see her performance but her covers of the 2 songs I've seen her do are dreadful. And they aren't the arrangement, her voice just isn't right for it. She is also about 15 years too old.
#16

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:37pm

Oooh, the feathers are getting ruffled already. Looks like it's gonna be a good thread. Go on "girls" fight it out. Tell 'em why your favorite is PERFECT for the role only to have that idea get knocked down but another bitchy, catty queen in heat.

I have my popcorn...cuz this is gonna get good.

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Updated On: 5/27/10 at 08:37 PM

#17

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 9:25pm

Sooo, Leslie Kritzer is too old but Idina isn't?
<-----Bernadette Peters and Alexander Hanson in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC.

Send in the clowns...Send in the crowds!

"I prefer neurotic people. I like to hear rumblings beneath the surface."-Stephen Sondheim
#19

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 10:47pm

The older you get the better is Omar in the film. :) A revival of FG would need a major overhaul to the book and a strong star. There is no one today who could do it. Period.
Do you know what happens when you let Veal Prince Orloff sit in an oven too long?
#20

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 11:04pm

I think Lea Michele could handle it.

The problem with Kritzer is she is NOT a name. They are going to need someone with a recognizable name to middle America. Idina Menzel (who I have said should do it for years) is fairly recognizable, thanks to the RENT film and Wicked.

Lea Michele is solid. And, sure, she's playing 16...but do we really buy her as 16, or is it the standard "Yea, ok, they're TV 16" that we always use?
http://www.youtube.com/huskcharmer
#21

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 11:06pm

I vote for Jason Gould in all out drag with Josh Brolin as his Nicky Arnstein, James Brolin as Florenz Ziegfeld, Babs as Mama Brice and Diane Lane as Georgia Brown.
#22

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 11:15pm

"Sooo, Leslie Kritzer is too old but Idina isn't?"
Word. Is she not YOUNGER than Idina?
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.
#23

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/27/10 at 11:20pm

"Some tired old queen overzealous teen-aged girl was bored today and decided to concoct this fantasy to ruffle all theater queens feathers on a global scale fulfill some Glee-fueled hallucination. It's working.

^FTFY. I'm actually surprised that this thread found legs. I thought it was too over-the-top.
And no one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were."
#25

Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

Posted: 5/28/10 at 3:15am

I don't believe this at all, obviously, but I'm in the minority of people who think Menzel could do Fanny Brice justice. She has really, really strong comedic chops.

On what planet would Lea Michele make any sense in this role...? I think she's extremely talented but...no.

And while I love Leslie Kritzer, I think the reality is that they wouldn't stage a full-fledged Broadway production around her as Fanny. Menzel is a (somewhat) recognizable name/Tony-winner and would at least pique some peoples' interests.

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