Welcome to Curtain Call, our mostly queer take on the latest openings on Broadway and beyond.
The Rundown:
After decades of false starts and rumored stars, a highly anticipated revival of Funny Girl finally arrives on Broadway. Beanie Feldstein steps into the role of comedian and stage star Fanny Price, made famous by she-who-must-not-be-named.
Joined by Jane Lynch as her mother with a perfectly timed double-take, and Ramin Karimloo, her leading man with a flashy six-pick and a voice more appropriate for that French revolution musical, this Funny Girl fails to grow up. Director Michael Mayer’s bubbly and well-intentioned attempt to make the musical resonate with 21st-century audiences lands a few punchlines, but the overall effect is as fleeting as the cast’s New York accents.
No Tea, No Shade:
Funny Girl comes from a long lineage of biopic musicals that struggle to cast their subjects in any other hue except the spotlight. And despite Feldstein’s best efforts, audiences are still left wondering why the star of stage and screen remained so enamored of Nick Arnstein (Karimloo), a known gambler. Longtime friend and choreographer Eddie Ryan (Jared Grimes) is waiting in the wings (when he’s not tearing up the stage with spectacular tap-dancing), but Brice only has eyes for Arnstein.
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Packed with memorable songs by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill, such as “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance,” the score is a substantial lift for its leading lady. And while Feldstein’s charm and comic timing exude in the show within a show, these other moments fall flat, with little nuance or color in her voice.
“Who are you now?” sings Fannie in the musical’s opening scene, staring into a dressing room mirror as the memories of her lifetime descend upon her. Later, she asks the same of Arnstein, continuing: “Am I giving too little by my loving you too much?” He is her Achilles’ heel as well as that of the show.
There are a few welcomed distractions from Funny Girl’s central love story. With humor and pathos, Lynch nails the style of Harvey Fierstein’s revised book, and Peter Francis James as theater producer Florenz Ziegfeld makes the most of his quick entrances and exits. Grimes also shines, both effortless and electrifying in tap sequences choreographed by Ayodele Casel.
Let’s Have a Moment:
Funny Girl attempts to play to its actors’ strengths, particularly when it comes to new vocal arrangements for Karimloo’s soaring tenor. “Temporary Arrangement,” sung by Karimloo’s Arnstein in the second act as he strikes several business deals, was cut from the original Broadway production during out-of-town tryouts. The number was reinserted for the 2015 London production (also directed by Mayer) and appears in this production, forcing Karimloo to awkwardly contort himself to execute Ellenore Scott’s choreography.
The Last Word:
On the Funny Girl press circuit, Feldstein has often mentioned that she went to her third birthday party dressed as Fanny Brice and that stepping into the role is a dream come true. She continues to hold onto that childlike wonder onstage, which serves part of Brice’s story but not its totality. Her Fanny never entirely matures, leaving audiences wondering how the multi-faceted star managed to stay on top despite decades of being sidelined by love.
Funny Girl plays at the August Wilson Theatre.
Diplomat
Why would anyone in their right mind cast a frumpy looking Fanny Brice who sings in a”flat voice”? With Streisand cementing Brice as her legendary Oscar winning role, it brings to mind why this miscast production would tempt a complete fail:
“don’t tamper with perfection”.
Jbaltes
I agree. She is minimally talented and certainly not up to this role! Poor choice!
Beachman
Have you followed it’s box office grosses? It’s selling out every show in the middle of a pandemic. I wouldn’t sit through it for free, but never underestimate how gullible and ignorant the American theater going audience is.
Troyfight
With all the talent in New York….sad they didn’t improve casting F Brice beyond Feldstein.
Paulie P
A week or two after the show opened to HORRENDOUS reviews why do you feel to write an attempted review of that was torn apart from legit critics?
RAR
I just saw it over the weekend with the understudy, Julie Benko. It is an entirely different show with her. She looks like Fanny Brice, and hits every note. With her voice, the showstoppers became showstoppers again. If you want to see it, I would wait until Aug when she is stepping into the role again, while Beanie is taking a break.
Diplomat
Thanks for that update about the understudy. Good to know. I just read they slashed the song My Man from the show. Was it obvious and do you think it was missed? It closed the film version and was surprised it went on the cutting room fioor. But then the play is 3 hours long.
I read several reviews from people who actually saw the show who were mostly disappointed but also said there were standing ovations they didn’t understand. But then I guess anything Funny Girl is going to be loved to some degree even if it’s a high school play.
bdwydramaturg
“My Man” wasn’t slashed- because it’s not part of the play- and the song ‘My Man’ at the end of the movie, actually ruins the arc of the play- which is that Fanny always has the theatre – which is what makes her a Funny Girl – and the one thing no one can take away from her,
Diplomat
I found My Man to fit perfectly in framing Fanny’s undying love for Nick, an undeniable full arc throughout the film and play.
Plays change all the time as did this one with Feinstein rewrites. I find it odd they would leave out not only a full on heavy hitter of an incredible song, but in what I find, is the desperate heart felt completion of the love arc at the end of the show.
LunaSol2010
Well the critics hates Mary Poppins and Sound of Music.
So critics don’t have the weight to close a show, ticket sales keep a show going.
Jaquelope
I’ve noticed that, very often, when critics pan a show, it’s one you should see. Movies, also.
Donston
When it comes to “legend” projects like this theater critics matter less to the box office. With shows like this it’s more about needing the critics (or at least a solid reception) for Tony’s. However, it’s barely been open for weeks. So, it’s impossible to say it’s a definite hit with audiences.
Joshooeerr
The thing is: “she-who-must-not-be-named” is “she-who-doesn’t-need-to-be-named”. Her legend casts a very long shadow and she forever owns the role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl. The role was finely tuned to her charisma, personality, comic genius and phenomenal voice, and the movie exists as a permanent record of her brilliance. Beanie seems like a nice girl, and she’s been cute in a few roles on screen. But she didn’t manage to make Monica Lewinsky entirely sympathetic in American Crime Story (which should have been a cinch). She has neither the acting chops, nor the voice to take on a legend like The One and Only, and her management really should have known better.
Kangol2
Whenever I see Beanie Feldstein, I also see her brother Jonah Hill. She might be right for quite a few roles but not this one. As others have said, critics tore this show to shreds, but theatergoers seem to be loving it. I’d see it with a free ticket but short of that, no thanks.
skyboy63
I enjoyed Beanie in Funny Girl and purchased a second ticket for the fall. Contrary to what Beachman said I am neither gullible nor stupid. I have been a Broadway theater fan for over 40 years. Everything isn’t for everyone. It’s a free world and no one is making you go see the show.
humble charlie
People (who need people) are dying to hear a musical with a big collection of heartfelt, full-bodied melodies, and not the scrawny, clotted collections of musical notes contained in most modern musicals written by the second-rate imitators of Sondheim. Now that Sondheim is dead let’s hope musical theater goes in a new direction.
bdwydramaturg
It’s comical to me that people think the sun rises and sets on Sondheim- because there would be no Sondheim or Broadway without Jule Styne, Rogders & Hammerstein, Bob Merril, Harold Arlen, Truman Capote, Jerry Herman… I mean honestly- the list is endless.
bdwydramaturg
Image- a major Broadway show with a curvy Jewish actress not playing camp Barbra Streisand (go watch Idina sing ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’ at the Kennedy Center Honors- and look at Barbra Streisand’s face.) Imagine choosing NOT to belt songs and breaking a mold. Imagine a show that casts a lesbian, essentially playing a lesbian mother- a Black man playing a dejected love to a white Jewish girl, and the hottest guy on Broadway who is essentially eye candy.
Funny Girl is a bad play, that simply was a concert for Barbra to sing. The movie the same.
This play is great. And for the record- Fanny Brice wasn’t a great singer- she was a comedian- a Funny Girl.