Unofficial but, Lauren Ambrose is rumored to be Fanny Brice.- Page 6

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 11:58pm

And what of Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Awake and Sing and Light in the Piazza? Flukes as well? Or did they direct themselves?

Honestly, some people say the most amazing things around here.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/1/11 at 11:58pm

Rebecca Luker has also played a Jew. That doesn't mean she could pass for the kind of Jew that Fanny Brice represents in the musical.

[AC126748]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:00am

Smaxie, pay no attention to Skip2. He's a known troll.

Updated On: 8/2/11 at 12:00 AM

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:00am

The Ahmanson has not been lucky with Broadway tryouts- Curtains and Drowsy Chaperone made it to Broadway and Flopped. Minsky's and Leap of Faith did not make it out of LA.

Casting a moderately talented B-List name is almost never a good idea unless you're casting as a replacement (i.e. Brooke Shields). If the producers wanted to cast a TV name, why didn't they go with Anna Gasteyer or Nicole Parker? Both are talented comics AND belters.

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:01am

Was Light in the Piazza a fluke? Awake and Sing? Joe Turner's Come and Gone?

Sher is a brilliant director. If anything, Women... was the fluke. We'll see how this turns out.

Sher has always had a pretty good eye for talent. No one thought O'Hara would succeed in South Pacific and, to put it mildly, she did. Ambrose is a brilliant actress. I don't know about her belt, but she has a beautiful soprano. I personally don't see her as Fanny, but that makes it kind of interesting.

EDIT: Smaxie, you beat me to it. But how interesting our thoughts turned to those productions as well!

Updated On: 8/2/11 at 12:01 AM

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:03am

Wickedfan, Sher is a great DRAMATIC director. He showed absolutely no talent for directing comedy in WOTV. I laughed once during the entire show.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:06am

True - but the cadences and style of Jewish humor is also something that a good performer can mimic. Nathan Lane is of Irish Catholic heritage and he can do it. Why not Ambrose?

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:08am

Broadwaybaby-My post was directed at Skip, not you. My post was very delayed.

For that matter, the comedy in Funny Girl is MUCH different than the comedy in WOTV. We'll see how he does with the comedy in Funny Girl.

Quick side note, though: Drowsy Chaperone did NOT flop. It was a very popular ticket for its first year and, indeed, recouped. I don't remember if Curtains recouped, but it did run a full year.

[rougeduck]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:08am

Lauren Frost. Perfect.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:12am

>Curtains and Drowsy Chaperone made it to Broadway and Flopped.<

Drowsy recouped. Curtains did not, but came close and will probably have paid off in stock and amateur rights soon if not already.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:14am

to those worried about Ambrose's red hair...

come on, peeps. She's gonna wear a wig.

Ambrose is a brilliant actress. But I do see her as more of an ingenue than a character type.

Time will tell.

[BroadwayBaby6]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:14am

Wickedfan, Please don't get me wrong- Lauren Ambrose would probably make a good if not great Molly Brown or Sarah Brown for that matter, but she's completely wrong for Fanny.

Yes, Sher did cast Kelli O'Hara in SP, and she was magnificent. But he also cast Sherie Rene Scott as the lead in WOTV. I love Sherie- she's an absolutely wonderful actress but she was just wrong for that particular part, i.e. a WASPy actress in a latin role.

An actress has to match the role. Patti Lupone is my favorite musical theatre actress currently working the boards. I wouldn't cast her, however, as Desiree in ALNM- she would never be believable in that role even if she could sing the hell out of it. This is a clear case of miscasting, plain and simple.

[inlovewithjerryherman]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:16am

OT, but ooooo BroadwayBaby, she'd be an AMAZING Molly Brown. I'd pay to see that.
Updated On: 8/2/11 at 12:16 AM

[wickedfan]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:17am

With regards to Sherie, I felt that she COULD have been, if not wonderful, at least her usual charming self if she didn't walk through the entire production.

Again, like you, I don't see Ambrose as Fanny. That doesn't mean I consider this a travesty or anything. At the very least, it will be interesting due to Ambrose's talents.

[ljay889]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:20am

wouldn't cast her, however, as Desiree in ALNM- she would never be believable in that role even if she could sing the hell out of it. This is a clear case of miscasting, plain and simple.

She did play it in the Ravinia concert, and she had interest in playing the role in the revival. But I do agree, she's really not right at all for Desiree.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:25am

Maybe she can. Maybe she will surprise us.

But a big part of Brice's legacy is that not only did she make a huge success on Broadway with a uniquely yiddish brand of comedy and persona, but she did so despite being the epitome of the lower-east side Jew that the upper echelon had particular disdain for in turn of the century New York. Brice's features were considered 'grotesque' in their ethnic prominence. She was the epiotme of what was considered unattractive and undesirable, and yet she became the toast of New York starring alongside the most beautiful women in the world in the Ziegfeld Follies. It was a huge personal satisfaction for the Jewish community and of course for Brice who, like Streisand, was almost zealous in her personal drive, and who like Streisand also remained incredibly insecure about her looks her entire life (Brice did actually have a rhinoplasty in 1923 to reduce the size of her nose, which caused a huge outrage in the jewish press). Fanny's very specific ethnic background and appearance remain a strong part of the character's journey in the musical

Its these aspects of the story that give me pause in the casting of Lauren Ambrose. I think in a perfect world it would be nice to find someone outside of the mold of Streisand who isn't such a far stretch from Brice's ethnic roots.

[musikman]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 1:26am

For those unsure of Sher's comedic directorial chops, please go see his production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Met if you can, or watch the broadcast of it. It's extremely clever, fast-paced, quite silly, but also poignant.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 1:44am

This is 2011, and, really, shouldn't we all be on the color-blind casting bandwagon by now? If I have to read another post dismissing a talented actress out of hand simply because she doesn't look Jewish enough, I'll be forced to rescind my annual donation to the ADL.

[hyperbole_and_a_half]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 1:44am

~ It seems I have mastered the art of double posting ~ Updated On: 8/2/11 at 01:44 AM

[madbrian]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 8:19am

"...shoudn't we all be on the color-blind casting bandwagon by now?"

Fanny's ethnicity is core to the story, so it's a legitimate concern. It's one I think she can overcome, but it's a legitimate conversation to have.

To those who are focusing on SRS in WOTV, how about what Sher got out of Benanti? A performance no one expected. And how about Victoria Clark in Piazza? And didn't we all see a new take on Bloody Maryin South Pacific? I know this is different; it's a much more specific role. But given Sher's track record, and my admiration for Ambrose, I'm excited about the prospects.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 9:12am

I agree that Fanny's unique personality and anti-American beauty rose (circa early 20th century) looks are crucial to telling this story right. I agree that her humor and sensibility are extrinsic to her Ashkenazi identity (maybe I should have said that the other way around). And, ok, Ambrose is, on paper at least, Fanny-challenged (although perhaps it might also be noted that under Sher's direction she already did quite well, I hear, as an American Eastern European Jew, albeit one very different than Fanny, in Awake and Sing) .

But I also agree that Ambrose is a superb actress and a great and well-trained singer with a big and delightful voice, a warm and wonderful presence on stage, and clearly capable of beautifully inhabiting a character very much unlike herself. This makes her a very exciting choice for the role. I wouldn't advise writing her off just yet. If she does triumph, which I find much easier to believe than some posting here, it will be seen as an acting coup, the kind of jolt of an energy which is much needed to invigorate this show.


Lauren sings Updated On: 8/2/11 at 09:12 AM

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 12:01pm

Acknowledging in advance that this point is somewhat irrelevant insofar as a discussion by us theatre fans of our personal preferences, opinions and predictions for what sort of Fanny Ms. Ambrose might make (wow, that was a long caveat):

I do put some stock in the almost certain fact that the keepers of the Styne, Merrill and Lennart estates have approval over whoever is chosen to play Fanny (just as they likely had approval over Sher as the director) and that they have a strong vested interest in ensuring that the choice is a good one. As she is not a proven musical theatre performer, I'd even be willing to bet that she had to audition for them in some fashion.

Now of course, they are as fallible as any director or casting director or any of us and it's entirely possible they could put their faith in the wrong choice. But if all of the authors estates, and Bart Sher, and the casting director and the producers all believe she is "the one", I'd like to believe at the very least that Ms. Ambrose couldn't possibly be as catastrophic a choice as some on this board have made her out to be. At worst -- speaking just for myself -- she's an intriguing choice and worthy of a "wait and see" attitude.

No one is Babs and no one will be. But I for one am not really interested in seeing someone go that route. I'm much more interested to see if it's in fact possible for anyone to crawl out from under that shadow and make that part their own.

And with that, I lean back and wonder what a BWW message board would have looked like in 1974 when Angela Lansbury was announced as Mama Rose in the revival of "Gypsy".

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 1:41pm

"And with that, I lean back and wonder what a BWW message board would have looked like in 1974 when Angela Lansbury was announced as Mama Rose in the revival of "Gypsy". "


Amen!

I can also just imagine what would have happened back in '66 when she was announced as Mame"

"Oh, please, Lansbury can't carry a musical. We all know what a hit Anyone Can Whistle turned out to be!"

"Of course they're going with a Hollywood name when there are hundreds of great New York actresses who would be much better for Mame."

"I see her much more as Vera. She was perfectly arch and bitchy in State of the Union and Gaslight"

"I love Angela but I can't see her pulling off the zany comedy that Mame demands. This isn't Dark at the Top of the Stairs or The Manchurian Candidate!"

"What's next. Chuck Connors as Tevye?"







Updated On: 8/2/11 at 01:41 PM

[jovie27]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 9:40pm

The Press Release on Playbill.com mentions this:

"Funny Girl will begin rehearsals in New York this November. It will officially open Feb. 1, 2012, for a run through Feb. 26, 2012"

Is that, true...is that short of a run????

[averagebwaynut]

Posted: 8/2/11 at 9:52pm

Jovie -- that refers to the LA run only.