Streisand to Direct Menzel in Broadway Funny Girl?

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 6:52pm

Get your popcorn and favorite candy ready folks. Even if this is a rumor, this should be fun! Whee!

http://lazycircles.blogspot.com/2010/05/will-barbra-direct-idina-on-broadway.html

Updated On: 5/27/10 at 06:52 PM

[Felm_heart]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 6:56pm

Everyone at ATC is dismissing this, but I think it would be very cool.

[CapnHook]

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.

[dramamama611]

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

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

[CapnHook]

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...

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

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.

[adamgreer]

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).

[Dollypop]

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!

[Gypsy9]

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?

[Brick]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 7:59pm

Yeah, I don't believe it.

[Marquise]

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.

[somethingwicked]

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.

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

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

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.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:35pm

If we can't get Kritzer...
I can haz Natalie Weiss?

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 8:35pm

One of the dumbest things Ive ever read on a message board. Ridiculous.

[Marquise]

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.


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

[[tos]fan999]

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

Sooo, Leslie Kritzer is too old but Idina isn't?

[bjh2114]

Posted: 5/27/10 at 10:17pm

If we can't get Kritzer...
I can haz Natalie Weiss?

Um...no thank you. The girl can't act her way out of a paper bag. Farah Alvin please!

[fflagg]

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.

[husk_charmer]

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?

[Marquise]

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.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

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

"Sooo, Leslie Kritzer is too old but Idina isn't?"
Word. Is she not YOUNGER than Idina?

[wonderwaiter]

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.

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 5/28/10 at 12:18am

I agree with Lea Michele. At this point, I feel like it's destined to happen.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

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.