(If it's true, I'm going to do a cartwheel. Ambrose is an INSPIRED choice.)
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
I know nothing of this rumor, but I do know she was *this close* to doing South Pacific, but Sher decided not to go with a name and let the show be the star. I could easily see this being true.
Ambrose can sing, but not sure she can SANG Fanny.
She can sing. Trust me. She's got a voice for days.
"You travel alone because other people are only there to remind you how much that hook hurts that we all bit down on. Wait for that one day we can bite free and get back out there in space where we belong, sail back over water, over skies, into space, the hook finally out of our mouths and we wander back out there in space spawning to other planets never to return hurrah to earth and we'll look back and can't even see these lives here anymore. Only the taste of blood to remind us we ever existed. The earth is small. We're gone. We're dead. We're safe."
-John Guare, Landscape of the Body
I think she's a charming actress and a strong (torch) singer, but I can't really see her doing the yiddish brand of Fanny Brice shtick, but I'm more than happy to be proven wrong.
This would truly be inspired, risky casting. She has virtually no box office clout, so there might be an inclination to cast bigger names as Mrs. Brice or Nicky.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
Too early to know if it would be 'inspired' casting yet, but it would be risky - I think the production would get some flack for casting a pretty Irish/Italian girl in the part. But maybe, that's ultimately a better obstacle to be faced with than constant comparisons to Streisand.
She would have made a delightful Nellie Forbush for sure.
After watching those vids, I think she'd make a great Fanny Brice--she can definitely sing the role, anyway--but I'd also like to see her play Janis Joplin either in a stage show or film. Her voice sounds like she could do Joplin's songs, and she even kind of looks like her.
I also think she would have made a great Nellie Forbush.
I think her voice is nice, but I wouldn't say the instrument is particularly unique or interesting. Some of the other 'unknowns' video-linked here over the last few weeks have been more vocally interesting singing "My Man" to me than Lauren Ambrose. That said, I don't think the production necessarily need a Streisand-esque power belter to make the revival work - but they do need someone who can capture the quirky, ethnic, homely-glamorous appeal that categorized both Brice AND Streisand. That's the thing I'm not convinced from her past credits that Ambbrose could pull off.
No no no no no no no! There is no debate! This (rumored) production is already the WORST EVER! Stop getting excited- or worse yet, waiting to actually see the show!
Its always possible that they will change keys etc. It would be kind of interesting to see what the score of Funny Girl might sound like sung more along the lines of how the real Fanny Brice might have sung it (which would be more torch-less belt). But yeah, I would probably agree - based on these videos anyway, I'm not sure she'd be able to sing score to Funny Girl entirely, nightly as originally written. But then, there aren't many who could...
Here's the thing for me: I've always found her to be a compelling actress, and she's totally a bagel on a plate full of onion rolls. Of course, there's nothing in her resume to show that she can portray a Fanny Brice, so that's obviously a challenge, as it would be for virtually anyone else. But I 'd completely buy her as a non-conventional-looking talent that catches fire.
"It does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are 20 gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
-- Thomas Jefferson
Maybe Lauren can borrow Nicole Kidman's fake nose. She's too pretty for the role. Fanny Brice was plain. If she had any nice physical traits she would have been Gypsy Rose Lee.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
Well - a moderately charming wasp-y girl with a decent voice in a show with second act problems, that only works when built around an exceptionally amazing, distinctly Jewish, take-your-breath-away singer/actress?
Who wouldn't pay $150?
I still say it should be Betty White. Or Bette Midler. Or the three gals of Betty, alternating evenings. Maybe Beth Leavel. Is Bess Truman still around?