Beanie Feldstein/Jonah Hill in a wig *IS* 'Funny Girl'!

Oh for fuck's sake it even walks fat.

I know it is abhorrent to remark or observe that for Jewish people, waltzing into a bespoke showbiz career seems to have a lower bar of entry requiring none of the usual demands of a beautiful face, or lovely figure.

It does seem odd that schlubby overweight performers, even younger ones are so happily accommodated and defended if they're members of the Tribe.

Babs should sue. She (nor Fanny Brice herself) was ever this, uh, zaftig.

OP here...I need to pardon myself for not explaining in my post that a certain Mea Lichele wants to shit in Jonah/Beanie/anyone's wig involved with this project. Darren Criss is also not especially happy to not get the co-starring role Mea promised him a decade ago.

R2 Is the little goy jealous?

She looks like Mrs. Strakosh!!

"If A Girl Isn't Pretty" is going to really connect with the audience this time.

"Fattie, Fattie."

"I'm the Biggest Star."

"If a Girl Isn't Skinny."

"His Love Makes Me Thinner."

"Don't Rain on Me, a Parade Float."

Word on the street is she'll lip-sync My Man

Did you really think we hadn't discussed this at length over two months ago when the news first came out?

Yes....but to see a real life ad for it is...HORRIFYING!

r10 WILL rain on our parade!

If a girl isn't a looker like a Tijuana hooker

All she gets from life is mouthfuls of cum

Kindly name a tramp who hasn’t blown a baseball team

If she hasn't, she just never gets to bat

She must swallow each salty load

French kiss each rich old toad

I bet Barbra is *delighted* with this casting.

There is nothing threatening about Beanie that will overshadow Barbra's performance.

Jonie Hill

R10 can kindly fuck off because I not only already had them blocked, but this trailer was just released. Go back to your basement, sad sap.

This trailer was not just released. It was released two weeks ago and there was a thread on it.

Are they using the original score? CORNET MAN? RAT TAT TAT TAT? HIS IS THE ONLY MUSIC THAT MAKES ME DANCE?

SURELY they won't stuff this chubette into roller skates!!!

"Private Schwartz from Rockaway" is OFFENSIVE!

The only way this ox should wear roller skates on a Broadway stage is if she gets in a gorilla suit and has the Emcee sing "If You Could See Her Through My Eyes" to her.

She's bigger than a house. Should have been cast as Fanny's mother's neighbor, never as Fanny. Is this all happening because of the Jonah Hill connection?

Was a revival of Funny Girl really necessary? It's such a creaky old relic of a show.

[quote]Should have been cast as Fanny's mother's neighbor

Should have been cast as Fanny's mother's neighborhood.

Is this going to have the songs from Broadway or the movie?

I think they'll have to use songs from Broadway to give Beanie time to do costume changes and scarf down a buffet.

You don't need others to sing in movies so you can change/rest, but you do on Broadway.

I'd see this just for Ramin Karimloo. He is so hot and has a fine voice.

Beanie can sing, but she has a super-annoying nasal voice.

Here, DOUBLE your irritation by hearing her sing a Sondheim duet with Ben platt.

Broadway fell apart with non-traditional casting. Sometimes it works, granted. But now that it's no longer important to have an actor fit the description of a role in any way (even in a biographical show like this), it's a free-for-all.

She's okay, but quite honestly the girl who starred in my high school's musicals ("The Music Man," :Guys and Dolls," and "Carnival") had a much bigger and more compelling voice.

R28 Is she still available? Maybe there's time.

Beanie and Ben Platt singing together represent the triumph of show-business nepotism.

R30 Both can act and both can sing, not every son and daughter of known actors can say the same.

Lea Michele lost a role that was clearly for her for being a bitch

[quote]Lea Michele lost a role that was clearly for her for being a bitch

I don't know if that is true. I didn't think Michele brought anything new or great to "Don't Rain on My Parade" when I saw her sing it in front of an audience.

Now, granted, I fucking hate that song, but I still wasn't impressed with her ability to put it over.

Funny Girl is a star vehicle, so unless you have a STAR in the lead, it's going to flop. Just like Hello Dolly needed Bette Midler, Funny Girl needs a big star too. I doubt flyover tourists have even heard of Beanie Feldstein.

Lea Michele isn't a big enough star to carry Funny Girl, either.

Funny Girl needed Lady Gaga.

Please don’t eat me, but I can’t for the life of me remember who Lynch would be playing.

Makes me year for Lea Michelle.

Fanny Brice was a skinny wisecracker.

Beanie...blech

[quote]Funny Girl needed Lady Gaga.

It's called Funny Girl. Fanny Brice was a comedian. When has Lady Gaga been known for her comedic ability? Barbra and Lainie Kazan I can understand.

Lea Michelle - another comic genius.

She really does look so much like her brother, sadly.

Anyway, at least the man is very nice to look at.

Any guy who pays a quarter

For a blow job thinks he oughtta

Be allowed to grab your boobies or your gash;

So a gal should be a Hoover

And offer him a two-fer

And that lady will become a smash!

"Hello gorgeous!"

Who's she talking to?

How lucky they aren't releasing grosses this season.

How many weeks after opening until it's announced La Feldstein has swallowed a feather and will be out?

Wow -- they're really going ahead with this.

Wasn't it time for a Black version of Funny Girl?

Feldsteins wobble but they don’t fall down.

In what world does tall, lanky blond Jane Lynch even begin to approximate a card playing Jewish mother to this um....zaftig little matzo ball?

FUNNY GIRL is a LONG musical - the film cut EIGHT songs from the Broadway show and it STILL ran 149 minutes!! (155 in the restored 2002 version) - so even without "Henry Street", "Who Taught Her Everything She Knows", "Find Yourself a Man" , etc, it's going to run LONG. The 1964 audience ate it up because Streisand was such a sensation.

Audiences tend to get restless at the two hour mark, even with an intermission - there are going to be some NUMB asses in the seats by the time old Beanie limps out to warble MY MAN.

Who taught her everything she knows?

I taught her how to blow every Joe in Queens boro.

I taught her sodomy, and how to golden showers with her pee,

I taught her everything she knows!

I think this is why Gen Z has become so disconnected from actors and singers. It’s like a freak show circus with Cardi B and Lizzo and Billy Porter and just all these fat and awkward or ugly people being championed as progressives.

And it’s why YouTube and TikTok and Instagram is so popular among Gen Z. The big stars of social media are skinny and fit and pretty and hot and fit more to the traditional standards of popularity.

[quote] FUNNY GIRL is a LONG musical - the film cut EIGHT songs from the Broadway show and it STILL ran 149 minutes!!

Well, don't forget that they then ADDED six musical numbers too: "Rollerskate Rag," "The Swan," the title number, "Second-Hand Rose," "I'd Rather Be Blue," and "My Man."

She will get a Tony nomination.

Can’t stand her or her brother.

“They said she’d never be a star”…

[quote]Funny Girl needs a big star

Well, they got a HUGE one!

Just stick a bevy of scantily clad chorus girls behind Beanie in every number.

That's the most ridiculous number I've seen in a long time.

Lillias White IS better than Barbra.

Anna Kendrick would be cute too. Or Cheneweth.

Why does Fanny Brice have to be Jewish?

[quote]Or Cheneweth.

"Funny Crone"?

But you have to admit, r56, they're really givin' it their *all*!

[quote] Why does Fanny Brice have to be Jewish?

Originally the producers of the Merrill/Styne musical wanted Carol Burnett (who is not a Jewess) to play her on Broadway--Streisand was the second choice (Burnett turned it down to do another musical). And Anthony Sher tried to mount a revival ten years ago in NYC (which almost happened) starring Lauren Ambrose (who is also not a Jewess).

R60. Bartlett. Antony (not Anthony) is too busy dying to do much else.

That's interesting r49. I've never thought of that but you're right. Most people, regardless of generation, want to see celebrities who are thin and gorgeous.

Carol turned it down because she knew she wasn't right for it, r60. She told them they needed to get a Jewish girl.

First we are supposed to buy her playing a woman with a sexual potency that would make a president risk the Oval Office for a BJ from her. Next we are meant to think she can come close to filling Barbra’s shoes? I like Beanie fine, but the Impeachment / Funny Girl one-two punch tells me she has the best agent or manager in the business. What the fuck!

Oops, r61. you're right and I'm wrong. Thanks for the correction.

They should of casted Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga doesn't do Broadway. You have to show up every day and stay off the junk. Though she is a Jewess, her voice is much better suited to the score of EVITA. Gaga really would have made the best film of Evita. She was born too late.

Lady Gaga is not Jewish.

She's a Jewess, R68.

Lady Gaga (Stephanie Germanotta) is of mostly Italian heritage with some French, and her family is Catholic.

That doesn't stop her from being a Jewess R70.

"But you have to admit, [R56], they're really givin' it their *all*!"

I admire the kids, but the director who thought it was a great idea to upstage the soloist with what looks like the school dance team did her a disservice.

You're odd r71

Don't cry for me argentina @ R73. Shalom.☮️

[quote]Why does Fanny Brice have to be Jewish?

Same reason Miss Jane Pittman is a schvartze.

"I admire the kids, but the director who thought it was a great idea to upstage the soloist with what looks like the school dance team did her a disservice."

Ya think, r72?

She's such a fat ugly pig, all I can see is her brother in a wig.

That's not a nice thing to say about Sheldon Streizand R77.

Was there any great demand for a revival of Funny Girl? Barbra is the only reason why it's still even known.

Ms. Linda Eder is ready. She's been ready. Give her a call.

She's better than Barbaric OR Beaner.

No and exactly, r79.

Because...

If Barbra hadn't been the lead in Funny Girl, it would be long-forgotten.

R80. I love Linda Eder. Seen her many times in concert. Linda has one of the purest voices.

Miss Eydie Gorme would be a great replacement or road show Fanny. She and Beaner even resemble one another. Is Eydie available?

I didn't post Linda Eder ironically R84. What a spectacular voice. I worked with her once - people always say that here, but I did. Her voice is orgasmic and she's also a very fine singer. You seldom get both.

[quote]Why does Fanny Brice have to be Jewish?

She doesn't!

[quote]Same reason Miss Jane Pittman is a schvartze.

Schvartze. A Yiddish slur for against a black person. Something your aging racist Jewish grandparent might say. · Schvartze. 1. (derogatory)

If I'm not mistaken the role of Fanny in the original production was also offered to Anne Bancroft, no?

Anne, Eydie, Carol...Mary Martin.

But it's ok for you to use Beaner and Jewess r87.🙄

Beaner is her name and I use Jewess to draw attention to the fool who keeps using such antiquated old white nana terms here. See irony. I'm black. We love Jews. Old white RACIST GAY MEN - not so much.

YOUR racism is well known here R90 and R75. As is your name. Don't make me say it.

Enjoy the Linda Eder and Eydie Gorme songs that I posted. They are both talented Jewesses.💋

Say my name, "ancient white fags" troll. Go ahead. Mentally ill freak.

Beanie's name is Elizabeth Greer Feldstein. She does not go by "Beaner" which is a racist slur for a Mexican.

I don't use racial slurs so I've never heard of that, R93. I call her Beaner because I think Beanie is equally ridiculous. She is without vocal talent. That has nothing to do with being a Jewess or Mexican.

R92 seems to have called out HIS own name! That IS one sick old white man. RACIST. Famous on this site. F&F.

Muriel needs to take out this troll, r94 et. al. He's disgusting.

Say my name say my name!

Some people just never learn.

[quote]At the same time, the buzz among Broadway ticket agents and other producers was that the star of “Funny Girl,” the television actress Lauren Ambrose (“Six Feet Under”), might end up giving a brilliant performance, but she was unlikely to sell many tickets on her name. Most musical revivals are star-dependent, since theatergoers tend to be familiar with the music; hence the casting of stars in current Broadway hits like “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” (Daniel Radcliffe), “Anything Goes” (Sutton Foster), and “Follies” (Bernadette Peters).

[quote]And “Funny Girl” was a star vehicle if there ever was one, with the original production making Barbra Streisand’s reputation for her performance as the comedian Fanny Brice — a legendary run that is one reason the musical has not been staged on Broadway since then.

R94 tells the truth. The disgusting one is protesting at R92 & R95. Very strange person. He posts all day and night! Isolate him and you'll see. Unhinged man who uses more than one IP. Is his name Muriel? Or just part of the crazy...

The voice at R80 is the most perfect Broadway voice I have ever heard. Thank you. I've never been to New York. We live in another part of a great big world. We speak Spanish. Only low class american MAGATS call people beaners. I've only ever heard it on the internet. DL. R93. DL is a very racist site. Old white gay men are racists. Most all of them.

We are many new voices here now. Thank you R94, et all.

R95 stocks good mens posts. He's done this with me too. F&F.

r98/r94 are the same troll. Get a fucking hobby, you diseased freak.

[quote] Old white gay men are racists. Most all of them.

No, it's just you

Has anyone actually listened to that Meadowlark posted above? She sings flat a good 20 percent of the time. There is some power to the voice, but when she belts, its a completely uninteresting sound. This should be interesting.

I am not old or white. Your thousands of posts represent you clearly R100. You're INSANE and RACIST and OLD and WHITE. You try to get rid of posters here who draw attention to your ugliness. Your own words define you. Hundreds of obsessive and hateful posts. So many of them racist. F&F. Doesn't matter. There is no Karma, but you'll soon be dead.

Invite people to have a look at your posting history. We have collected it before and presented some to the website and lawyers. We wear a mask to help with the smell of you.

You are a disgust.

^^Die in a greasefire you fucking mental case

And posting shit you don't like on an internet forum is not illegal, dipshit.

If you really are 38 as you claim I'm actually younger than you, bubbe.

[quote]We have collected it before and presented some to the website and lawyers.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Don't show your hand R102. All in good time. We see you.

See all you want. Who fucking cares.

I wonder why Rosie isn't in it. She said she would be.

Beaners & Jewesses & Black MEN care. That's what. You're a fucking ugly ancient white rampant racist FAG, R107. Grown people are tired of your accusations and relentless posts. We can't wait for you to die in your sleep - so we apply pressure for your removal from this site. NOW.

May jesus visit healing to your troubled mind this night. In your sleep. 🪅☮️🙌🏾♀️

Jane Lynch gave such a strange performance when she took over Annie.

It was like she was looking for her mark all the time and worrying about if she was standing in the right place.

That's all I really remember except for my parents saying they thought she gave a poor performance.

I didn't even know Jane Lynch could sing.

And I like her, but god does she come off as a diesel in everything she does.

r109's addled mind is really going off tonight.

It would be nice if someone occasionally turned down a part and said, I'm not good enough for this. Jane Lynch is a very limited talent. Specific kind of funny. Not a professional singer. She's not the showstopper of a Broadway Show. Miss Hannigan is meant to be.

Same with Beaner. She's homely enough to play homely. But she can't win people over that hump. She's virtually talentless as an actress. With autotune she can sing some songs - even then the pitch correction is not all the way there. Which means she's a really BAD singer. She sounds like Anna Kendrick on helium + ketamine.

Jane Lynch has done some drama, and she's been good in it.

Beanie has surprised me on Impeachment. She's pretty good.

Maybe Rosie backed out because she isn't Jewish.

There has been that uproar from Sarah Silverman and all.

Fannie Brice wasn't fat

Was Kay Medford a professional singer?

She might be the appropriate body type by the end of the run. MAYBE.

Barb played Barb, so Beanie can play Beanie.

Beaner can't sing though.

Harvey Fierstein is adapting (reviving) the book for this production, according to playbill.com. Did not know that. Maybe he'll adapt it so that it works for her.

She. Can't. Fucking. Sing.

Harvey already adapted it for London. I doubt New York will be much different.

It was tailored for Barbra. When it was bombing in Philadelphia somebody (Garson Kanin?) came in and said the audience hates the show but likes her. Put her in every scene.

You have to wear a mask, trudge through the newly dangerous Times Square and all for Beanie Feldstein? This will end in tears and a big loss of money.

Sigh. I really do believe that actors should come in a variety of sizes, shapes and facial features and I frequently mourn the fact we don't have as many great homely faced character actors as we used to have "back in the day" but...

She really is very unattractive. So is Jonah, but on men, they can get away with it a bit better but she's really does repel me.

I feel bad about saying that but...she makes Margaret Hamilton look pretty and appealing.

She's such an egregious case of nepotism. Nobody ever heard of her and all of a sudden she's starring in a series and the lead in a famous musical.

Of course, not really being able to sing isn't a detriment to stardom these days.

[quote]It was tailored for Barbra. When it was bombing in Philadelphia somebody (Garson Kanin?) came in and said the audience hates the show but likes her. Put her in every scene.

Kanin was the director of record, but after weeks of book edits and rewrites, Jerome Robbins, who had earlier quit the creative team before rehearsals came back to doctor the show in Philadelphia.

If this is their Fanny, it's gonna be a LONG night...

And she can't tap either...

She taps the table when the waitress is too slow bringing her third dinner.

Why do Beanie and Jonah have different last names?

Did he take on a less Jewish last name to be in movies?

Whenever even the least of movie stars come to Bway, people treat it like a huge deal!!

Beanie is coming to Bway!!!

You'd think the private school at R55's link could've afforded a couple of dozen yellow roses and a tug boat to push on stage.

JONI mitcHILL

Fanny J. Block

Heather in high school...

How deluded is she that she thinks she can do this?

I have three things to say: 1. Ramin Karimloo should get top billing since he I think he is too talented and good looking to be doing this kind of show. 2. Can she sing? 3. What the hell kind of name is "Beanie?" Hard to take you seriously in any profession with a stupid name like that.

Who's this Ramen Kimono guy? Sorry, I'm not a NYC theater maven.

She can sing, r139, but she doesn't have a Broadway Star voice and it's the wrong voice for Fanny's songs.

Ramin is best known for playing the Phantom in Paint Never Dries. He's not a star - some (enough) people want to fuck him but he's not a noteworthy performer - so he should never receive star billing in anything.

The only showbiz Beany I know spelled it with a "Y"

I bet Ricky Martin turned them down.

How far away have we gotten from the real Fanny and Nick?

Can Jenny Slate sing?

I agree. They shoulda The Wizzed this thang, renamed it Funky Girl and done a Hamilton type book featuring a binary Fanny who raps for three hours.

Am I wrong to find this slow motion car crash amusing?

It hasn't started yet.

A merely decent singer in a big role can work if it's something like a Sondheim show or Gypsy where the material and acting do most of the heavy lifting, but the book of Funny Girl is awful and the only thing to look forward to are the songs. It might as well be a concert. If the person in that role can't blow the roof off the place with their voice, it's useless. For a show called Funny Girl, it's not really funny either.

If I buy tickets for a musical, I want to hear amazing singing, not an actress who is only a passable singer. I didn't enjoy Glenn in SB for this very reason. I also wouldn't have enjoyed Tyne Daly in Gypsy. Not sure about Bette Midler in Dolly.

If I want to see great acting, then I'll buy tickets for a play.

Sheridan Smith succeeded in the role FOR British audiences, presumably because New York Jews aren't really part of the cultural landscape of the UK. Anyway, Smith sang the score decently, when I saw her at the Menier. Not thrillingly, not one-of-a-kind. But she was winning and she held the evening together.

It will be interesting to see if Feldstein has the necessary force of personality.

Her Private Schwartz from Rockaway will be one to behold...

I remember in the early 90s Julie Styne was trying to put together a revival of funny girl with Taylor Dayne as Fanny.

Wasn't Sandra Bernhard also attached at one point?

[quote]When has Lady Gaga been known for her comedic ability?

Even the RuGirls know now that doing Gaga for Snatch Game is a one-way ticket to LSFYL.

I find Beanie and Jonah the new Shirley MacLaine &warren Beatty.

[quote]For a show called Funny Girl, it's not really funny either.

In the film, that "funny" Swan Lake scene is excruciating.

R158 Fanny Brice was a singer and a comedienne. Streisand is a singer who thinks she's funny.

[quote]What the hell kind of name is "Beanie?"

ExACTly!

[quote] Did he take on a less Jewish last name to be in movies?

Everything would appear to indicate that.

r158...

But Brice was homely, so a win for Beanie.

Tyne Daly was probably the best acted Rose I've ever seen and knew when to hold notes and when to let them go because she couldn't sustain them. She didn't make a fool of herself. I wouldn't pay to listen to her simply sing the score, but the way she played her, you forgot any vocal shortcomings fairly quickly.

[quote]Streisand is a singer who thinks she's funny.

Barbra can be funny with the right material. Especially when she was younger and didn't take herself so seriously.

R162 Fanny Brice was rather low-brow.

Babs' best movie is What's Up, Doc? She was definitely a comedienne.

Only onstage, r166. Off-stage she was an elegant clothes horse and had a certain sex appeal (despite her looks).

Tell me about it R150.

I skimmed through the production with Block at r136 at she sounds terrific, but funny she ain’t. If the book was better, she could have pulled it off, but it’s a slog.

The only person who can make not particularly funny things funny the way that’s required in Funny Girl (in my ‘recent’ memory) is Valerie Harper as Rhoda. If you binge the MTM show again, the comedy wasn’t a knee-slapper, it was a low-key take on the mundane, everyday happenings around Rhoda that Harper breathed life into making the character so damn likable, you actually wanted to know what Rhoda thought of anyone and everything.

If Harper could sing like Block (or Streisand, obviously) she would have slayed as Fanny.

Trying to be funny as Fanny just does not work.

The person has to be innately funny without even trying, otherwise as stated upthread, you’re just biding time until the songs come.

A lesbian sex appeal?

I believe the word is “shvartze,” not “schvartze.”

[quote]I remember in the early 90s Julie Styne was trying to put together a revival of funny girl with Taylor Dayne as Fanny.

That sounds like a total nightmare.

[quote]I believe the word is “shvartze,” not “schvartze.”

You can spell it either way, darling.

Are they going to get Lainie for U/S?

That fat little mieskeit is taking on Barbra's role in Funny Girl? Oy Vey! What a shonda! No way am I schlepping into the city to see that mishega.

What's scary is how this young girl seems to think this is her destiny and therefore her right. "I've been singing this since I was 5!" The Platt family obviously sharing some heavy (get it) helpings of narcissism pudding with her.

What happened to Lea Michelle, thought she was going to star in this?

Lea has been banned from show business by every stagehand who has ever worked with her.

Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice sounds like a long fucking evening.

WHO Iis Jane Lynch playing? Other than Jane Lynch? Is she doing the Kay Medford role? Or Florence Ziegfeld? The casting people on this have lost their minds.

You could say Ramin is good casting for Nicky Arnstein but who the fuck is ever going to believe he’d go for Beanie Feldstein?

I would never see the show with Lea. I detest her voice

I would love to see Jonah Hill in a Broadway revival of “Fiorello!”

R157, they're the anti-Warren Beatty and Shirley McLaine. He is hideously ugly and constantly overacts (as opposed to Warren, who was spectacularly beautiful but mostly inexpressive), and she is a horrid troll with a barely mediocre talent (as opposed to Shirley, who was very pretty when young and has always had talent in spades).

I also disagree with the poster who has said that the public wants gorgeous celebrities. What the public wants are celebrities who have something impressive to offer: either talent, intelligence, charisma or beauty. Some celebrities, in fact, often possessed EVERYTHING, but the unattractive ones who were character actors used to have three out of four. Conversely, nowadays we mostly have the ugly and mediocre children of producers or millionaires with many contacts in the film industry, or else marginally talented and somewhat good-looking people who can't really overshadow the products of nepotism (I'm looking at you, Channing Tatum).

If we compare this greasy Feldstein dumpling with Barbra Streisand, we'll see that Barbra was rather ugly, but was very charismatic, had a spectacular voice and is still a good actress. The problem with Barbra is that she doesn't have any taste whatsoever and is incredibly arrogant and self-indulgent, which has ruined her career. However, when she was properly guided, she was a legend: her collaborations with the Bee Gees and Paul Jabara are above and beyond outstanding, and her turn in The Way We Were is also superb. Everything else is questionable, though.

Now, when will the greasy dumpling match Streisand's glorious heights with that tiny little whine of a voice, no charisma and a barely passable acting talent?

Barbra doesn't have a big voice either.

R180 It's Florenzzzz

[quote]her collaborations with the Bee Gees and Paul Jabara are above and beyond outstanding, and her turn in The Way We Were is also superb. Everything else is questionable, though.

I don't agree with any of this

Nor do I, r186. Silly comment.

There were no roller skates in the Broadway production. They took them out before opening because they were a nightmare to use on stage. But Beanie in roller skates would be a lot of fun to watch.

The score is pretty great. Maybe that's why people think they want to see the show. It's a classic Broadway musical title whether the show is any good or not. Outside of Streisand even the original Broadway cast was outstanding.

Babs

I loved some of the songs on [italic]Guilty[/italic].

Sutton

Bahahhahahahha! *inhale* bahahhahaha Jonah bahahhhahahha *inhale* bahahahhahahababababahaha! Hill *inhale* bahahahhaHahahahha! In a *inhale* bahahahahaHAHAHA WIG!!!! Babahahahahahaha!!!!

Ramin.

Beanie as Fanny Bris? Cut it off.

Didn't Charlie Chaplin get Barbra pregnant during the Funny Girl run?

It was

MY

roll.

I mean role!

Yes, r195, wearing only his derby.

Did no one use condoms, (Secondhand) Rose?

Barbaric Streusel miscarried nightly. She was too lazy to even sing the fucking score at full voice. Legend says they had to cut numbers and force attractive men to fuck her to keep her on stage.

^^put down the crack pipe and go to bed, dear.

Jesus is my portion.

Streisand does not have a small voice. I have been in a rehearsal room with her.

Why did she use a head mic?

Streisand had great vocal dynamics, breath control and a hummingbird fast vibrato. So she could spin notes into space. Giving the illusion of power. She was gifted with an unusual beautiful burr to her tone - but it IS a small voice. She sounds instantly harsh when she pushed to sound BIG. She's a recording artist, not a singer.

She could never in a million years sing Don't Rain on My Parade like Linda Eder.

^^You're a fucking idiot.

Linda Eder? I don't even know her!

No, R205. I am a professional. You are the CONSTANT idiot. You know nothing of music, singing or vocal production. Next time you get up - sit down.

A "professional" Well, smell you. You're still full of shit and most musicians/singers would disagree with you on Barbra Streisand's abilities.

Barbra has a full sound to her voice-it isn’t thin or sketchy as far as pitch. When she sings ballads, it’s beautiful. She’s a fine musician as far as interpretation and selling a song. Even now, she can still sing better than most younger singers.

For real?

Good ok Bonnie Franklin!

Barbra Streisand doesn't strain for pitch? Her voice is as weak as your ankles. She's a raspy old witch. With zero charisma. A studio singer, with bad taste.

^^Oy vey! What a mishiga this one is!

Streisand herself stated in a radio interview about 20 years ago"I don´t think i have that big of a voice, ore as Ethel Merman would have said am a belter". The interviewer disagreed and Babs finally said "Well i guess on occassion i belt"

By the way ;Ramin had a guest spot at Barbras Hyde Park Concert in 2019 and did a duet of Music Of The Nigth with her.

Facts are facts. If you know anything about singing - you would never say that Streisand has a BIG voice. She doesn't. She knows it.

She once had a very beautiful voice and wonderful natural technique. But she didn't value singing. And she didn't like to sing for people. Including herself. She's a recording artist. Not a singer.

Um, no. She's a singer. I'm not even a huge fan, but she's one of the greatest voices of all time. Pretty much everybody would agree on that, including people who matter. And you are not one of those people.

[quote]She’s a fine musician as far as interpretation and selling a song.

Barbra is a song [italic]stylist[/italic].

Judy is a song interpreter!

Her voice couldn’t have been that small on Broadway in Funny Girl. Did they even have body mics taped to their foreheads back in’65 like they do nowadays?

Puttin' on the Kritz

Isn't she a little fat for the show?

Michael Craig, her London Nicky, made a point of mentioning that Streisand used a mic in the show.

Someone always posts Leslie Kritzer. Is that you, Leslie?

No, r222, it's...me...

[quote]There were no roller skates in the Broadway production. They took them out before opening because they were a nightmare to use on stage.

I didn't know that. I always assumed the stage production included the roller skate number since the cast album included...roller skates on the cover.

Beanie would be great in a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS musical as the Great Big Fat Person.

I didn't realize footage existed of the original show. Even if it's very choppy. What a shame that shows weren't taped or filmed in their entirety then. It was possible so I don't get why no one thought of doing it.

[quote]But Beanie in roller skates would be a lot of fun to watch.

I see you're on castors these days darling, how cute. Y'know I think they're a great way for hauling around big large hefty objects.

[quote] but it IS a small voice. She sounds instantly harsh when she pushed to sound BIG. She's a recording artist, not a singer.

I'm not even a Streisand fan but if this isn't a singer I don't know who is, and in this show she wasn't a recording artist, now was she?

(My Man, live - final night of Funny Girl:)

Streisand was one of the first singers on Broadways to have her own body mic. That's a fact, hon. Post all the bootlegs you want.

So what r229?

It speaks to the size of her voice.

It means that new technology was coming in. Body mics quickly became standard. And of course Barbra has a big voice. She wasn't Merman, but her voice was more than adequate for a Broadway show.

Huh? Yes, Streisand was adequate. But her voice only shines on recordings. Unfortunately, most of her records are DRECK.

She's very good live.

[quote]Streisand was one of the first singers on Broadways to have her own body mic. That's a fact, hon. Post all the bootlegs you want.

A body mic wouldn't make her sound like she had a bigger voice, it would just amplify the voice she had. Which you can tell from the recording is powerful enough.

[quote]It speaks to the size of her voice.

All performers are miked, now. Does it speak to the size of their voices? If not, why do they need mics?

[Quote] All performers are miked, now. Does it speak to the size of their voices? If not, why do they need mics?

Babs Cook used to do a song in her concert set without a mic. Singers back then projected. Streisand didn't have that kind of voice. That's ok. Not everyone has to have a big voice.

Barbara Cook was the size of a whale. All that blubber helped to project.

[quote]All performers are miked, now. Does it speak to the size of their voices?

One of the biggest complaints people have about Broadway now vs then is there are no voices anymore, thanks to mics, so yes, very much so.

Broadway made the biggest mistake by not casting the greatest star.

DLers react to Lea not getting the role.

[quote]Babs Cook used to do a song in her concert set without a mic. Singers back then projected. Streisand didn't have that kind of voice. That's ok. Not everyone has to have a big voice.

In the 40s, before miking, there were people in Broadway shows like Betty Garrett in Something For The Boys, Betty Comden and Adolph Green in On The Town, Gene Kelly in Pal Joey, June Allyson in Best Foot Forward - so many others who were hardly bigger voices than Streisand. Even Mary Martin. My mom saw South Pacific from the back of the second balcony because those were the only tickets available. When I asked her what the show was like, she said, "I couldn't hear it." She was around 21. She always tried to get orchestra seats after that.

*I meant to write "back of the balcony". That's all she ever said. Second balcony was another theatre story about another show.

A DLer posted about how their mother used to sit outside a Broadway theater on her lunch breaks to listen to a matinee Merman performance.

That's a good story and I'm sure is true, but people here act like everyone on Broadway could sing as loud as Merman, and there were very few singers like Merman. And she wasn't in every show.

OMG, THANK YOU, R228! That "Auld Lang Syne" at the end! She was 23 years old at this point.

Beanie should be strapped to a chair and made to listen to this every single day!

R245 It was amazing - I never heard it before! I was just thinking - that was after she had just sang and acted the whole show, and her voice still sounded amazing. She was 23? I didn't know that. Glad someone else appreciated it.

By the way, that looks like Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker) in the photo at the beginning.

People forget what a sensation Streisand was in the early days.. No one (except maybe her audiences in those little NYC clubs) had ever seen anything like her. I remember a magazine described her unconventional looks as "a cross between a Babylonian queen and an anteater" - !! But it was her voice and the way she interpreted lyrics that was really dazzling: she could take a vintage song like HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN, starting slowly and deliberately, and then let it SOAR. Her enunciation was so precise at times, like in HE TOUCHED ME - she would sing/speak phrases at times, even laugh or giggle, and the audience would just be waiting for that power ending to be released.

The early/mid 60s was a good time for the public to accept her early look: the klutzy/kooky/thrift shop Second Hand Rose thing, and her FUNNY GIRL persona helped capitalize on that look. But those TV specials and her live concert got her glammed up but quick - the gowns, the nails, the elaborate piled up 60s hairdos, the eye makeup.

Here she is at 25, in my favorite performance, literally knocking it out of the park -

Because it is. Check your Playbill, r247.

Beanie Feldstein is such an egregious example of Hollywood nepotism it's almost offensive. It's like the Hollywood Establishment is just giving the finger to everybody and saying "suck it bitches, we'll make anyone a star if we want to."

OMG! BEANIE IS A LESBIAN?!?!?

How did I not know this?!?!?

Gag.

Lea Michelle will do the movie

Also, is Ramin getting hazard pay for making sweet sweet love to THAT 8 times a week?

How could Beanie NOT be a lesbian? She's the new ideal of central casting.

I want to see Ariana Grande as Fanny Brice! I'm not kidding either. She's lovely and sings like a dream. All muffled and hard to hear but with golden high notes - like Streizand.

[Quote] Lea Michelle will do the movie

Yes, she'll stream "Funny Girl" from iTunes. Yet Again.

Pia Zadora already did GIRL, r254.

[quote]I want to see Ariana Grande as Fanny Brice! I'm not kidding either. She's lovely and sings like a dream. All muffled and hard to hear but with golden high notes - like Streizand.

Fanny Brice wasn't a midget

Gaga and Ariana are the only ones who could pull it off. Ariana would come the closest to Streisand's performance.

In what universe do Gaga and Grande read as Jewish?

She might be a little too old for it now, but Anna Kendrick could nail this part.

Kendrick is a second lead.

Feldstein is a crowd scene extra, so it's a step up.

Has Jen 'Cuddles' Cody complained about Hollywood casting on Broadway again?

Feldman. His name is Feldman damnit!

R247 R249

Jean about Barbra in FG: "She was in a snake pit"....."marvellous,brave and strong"

Barbra doing a medley of FG in her first TV special. She was still doing the show at the time,so this is the closest we have of a filmed document of the bravura,talent and personality of broadway Babs.

Is Linda Eder still married to that gay guy who writes shit musicals?

Barbara was in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, did the Miss Marmelstein number, and was funny. Laine Kazan was funny. Carol Burnett (who was considered) was funny, though wrong for it. Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga are pop singers. If they thought a pop singer was right for Funny Girl they would have cast Leslie Gore. I can't see Ariana Grane singing I'm The Greatest Star, or doing the Jewish comedy...Lady Gaga...no. It requires a Broadway-type talent. Not just a belter.

While Grande has a spectacular voice, it’s so pallid. I feel nothing when I hear her sing

Jennifer Hudson will star in the new film version and Jamie Foxx will be Nicky.

Well, to be fair to Grande, would you feel anything singing the shit songs she's given?

[quote]Jennifer Hudson will star in the new film version and Jamie Foxx will be Nicky.

No, at this point I'm sure they will give the lead to someone like Laverne Cox and rebrand it as "Funny Non-Binary Person".

I wish T obsessives could be cut out of DL, like Anne Francis in FG.

I wish people like R273 had a sense of humor.

FANNY! TRANS!

There's something...funny...about that girl.

Funny...You're a stranger who's come here, come here to enjoy the buffet

Have an egg roll, Beanie Feldstein

Have two.

Beaner has not shrimped on the eggrolls.

Streisand is a grotesque talent and woman. This Beanie seems unable to match that.

Put down your crack pipe and go to bed r281. Remember, you have to cover Janbot's shift at Popeye's tomorrow.

When you’re too fat to even play Monica Lewinsky, then maybe you shouldn’t play the very slender Fanny Brice.

Beanie does look a little like Mimi Hines here.

Poor thing has a face like Divine.

So theatergoers are meant to cough up hundreds of dollars to watch this hunk of man fall in love with Beenie? For that level of fantasy, I say fuck it and just go see Aladdin or Harry Potter.

As opposed to many of Babs' leading men?

In real life some handsome men have loved Streisand, though.

Beanie should star in a show based on the life of Sophie Tucker, or Kate Smith, not Fanny Brice.

There actually was a Sophie Tucker musical a year before Funny Girl (in the same theater). The words and music were by Steve Allen, all terrible--but they call for a belting lead woman just as Funny Girl does, so BF would still be boxing way above her weight class.

Also, this was about the young Sophie: trim and tight, so BF wouldn't suit that role, either.

She wouldn't be good as Kate Smith, either, because Smith could really sing, with a luxurious tone.

BF was fine in Hello, Dolly!, and that's the kind of thing she should stick to: sidekick parts. That YouTube video of her singing and dancing with the dog is embarrassingly terrible.

Well I was just talking...because she's heavy...I didn't really think she'd be right to play Sophie Tucker or Kate Smith.

The Six Feet Under actress surprised people with her singing.

[quote]Puttin' on the Kritz

She ain't no Stephanie J Block.

It's me, Stephanie J Block!

Barbra was never obviously "pretty" but she was very visually striking. She was still pretty gawky in the early/mid 60s but by the late 60s/early 70s she was sexy as hell and it was quite understandable that men wanted to have her. Ryan O'Neal and her made a gorgeous couple in "What's Up, Doc?"

But, poor Barb only had that brief moment when she looked great...she got that horrible perm for A Star Is Born and it was downhill from there.

Meanwhile, Beanie has NEVER had any moment when she looked sexy, alluring or anything other than..."plain" would be the nice word to use.

I disagree. Beanie can photograph well.

That's the only good photo of her I've ever seen. I hope she gave that photographer a tip.

Like most of us, within a certain BMI range, she looks fine.

The debate about the "size" of Streisand's voice is interesting to me. I would've assumed she had a huge voice, and that her performance in Funny Girl was near supernatural. BUT, coincidentally, my high school drama teacher recently mentioned having seen her in Funny Girl in 1964, and the only comment she made about the performance was "you could hardly hear her." After having read through this discussion just now, I've emailed her and asked her to elaborate. I asked where her seat was, how late in the run it was, if she knows if Babs was mic'd, and if she meant both the singing and the dialogue parts.

Given all I thought I knew about Barbra Streisand's legendary run in Funny Girl, her comment baffled me. But, then, it is interesting to note that she didn't win the Tony Award. Now, there may be political reasons for that, but it also could partly be because she wasn't as astounding as I've imagined her to be all these years.

Frankly, it shocks me that Beanie Feldstein is the best voice they can get for Funny Girl. Where ARE the voices today? I watched that Sutton Foster clip. Did nothing for me. Nor did Lea Michelle. I actually think Lady Gaga would've been excellent in it ten years ago.

When I remember seeing Patti LuPone in Anything Goes in 1988, my heart beating out of my chest from her singing (Mary!) It was maybe the single most thrilling performance I've ever seen. Where ARE the belters today?

Streisand is not a creature of the stage. She was known to lose interest and mark it.

R298 The 1964 Tony Awards were dominated by Hello Dolly, a popular and critical hit.

Funny Girl was nominated for 8 Tony Awards and won....none.

Hello Dolly was a show almost everyone loved...it had a charming book, and good songs and a talented and likeable cast.

Funny Girl had some good songs and Barbra Steisand in a star making role but the book is terrible and the songs that aren't the big hits from that show are...not that good.

I don't think it was political as it was a question of Tony voters really loving Hello Dolly and giving Carol Channing the award she deserved.

R300 I just meant political in the sense of Channing having paid her dues, and Barbra being a newcomer. Also, she sounds completely miserable in the interview here from opening night. Maybe this kind of thing rubbed Tony voters the wrong way. Also, maybe her habit of cutting some songs, and rushing though others got around.

I asked my drama teacher to elaborate on her comment that she could "hardly hear" Barbra when she saw Funny Girl. She said she saw it in previews. She says Streisand wasn't mic'd when she saw it. She said she was difficult to hear both with dialogue and when singing. She also told me she assumed that this was corrected by opening night.

Ultimately, I think you're right. Channing won the Tony because she deserved it.

Oy… 🙄

Hello Dolly! was a cultural phenomenon. While Babs was wonderful, of course, she wasn't going to beat that juggernaut.

R302 What?

No disrespect intended but can someone explain to me the rapid career rise of this woman? Does she have an amazing singing voice? Her appearance is unremarkable. She landed this huge role in the Ryan Murphy thing, but the performance doesn't give my any indication of the huge jobs thrown her way.

R305, which woman?

Beanie Feldstein, the subject of the thread r306

Nepotism r305. And being Jewish doesn't hurt either.

Indeed it was, r303!

MY question is- did losing the Tony to La Channing stick in Barbra's craw so much that it led her to usurp Channing for the movie role? Hmmmm? Tell me.

I know the movie isn't well regarded, but I think Fathom Events should run it one evening in the original 70mm with great sound ect. I'd totally go to see it.

From what I read, Streisand didn't want to do Dolly. She thought, correctly, that she wasn't right for the part.

Who did they cast in the Anne Francis part?

[quote]Who did they cast in the Anne Francis part?

They have an offer out to Lea Michelle. No word yet on if she's accepted.

The whereabouts of the person who delivered the offer is unknown, r313.

So Beanie doesn't like weanie?

In any other time, the best gig Beanie Feldstein could get would be 'singing' an Oscar Meyer weiner commercial.

[quote]But, then, it is interesting to note that she didn't win the Tony Award

No, just the Oscar. Lee J. Cobb didn't with the Tony for Death Of A Salesman. (Rex Harrison did, for Anne Of The Thousand Days). Does this mean Lee J. Cobb wasn't good in Death Of A Salesman? Or Garbo wasn't good in Camille, when she lost the Academy Award to Luise Rainer? Losing an award should never be taken as a sign of the quality of someone's performance.

Streisand ain't all that as a live performer. She doesn't even like singing.

I loved the movie Hello, Dolly! when I was a kid. Even though, as an adult, I know she's totally wrong for the role (mainly age wise), she sang the hell out of it and acted well too.

[quote]MY question is- did losing the Tony to La Channing stick in Barbra's craw so much that it led her to usurp Channing for the movie role? Hmmmm? Tell me.

Channing's turn as Muzzie in Thoroughly Modern Millie was a screentest of sorts to see if she could pull off Dolly.

Her performance was "razzberries."

Do you really think nobody heard Barbra in the unmiked I Can Get It For You Wholesale?

R317 I didn't say it was the end all be all. I said it was a factor that might be considered.

It is true. This fat ugly thing only gets work because she is Jewish. Let is not delude ourselves.

Ugh I really wish it was that wretched cunt Lea Michele now.

"Funny Girl" starring "Beanie" Feldstein

A Max Bialystock Production

Featuring all new songs, including "Springtime for Beanie."

They've Updated the Songs

Overweight

This Girl Isn't Pretty

Barbra Was a Greater Star!

Lots of Cornet Toilet Paper, Man!

Who Forget To Teach Her Anything Barbra Knows?

His Blindness Makes Me Beautiful

I Don't Want to Be Seen With You Tonight or Any Other Night

Porkchops

Don't Rain on my Buffet

Where Is the Audience Now?

Barbra has always had more of a studio voice. Even in her nightclub days, she was working with a microphone. Her voice is powerful when amplified correctly.

I think Channing winning the Tony over her was simply because Dolly really is a better role in a much better show. She's not on stage as much and doesn't have to sing as high, but Fanny doesn't get many dramatic moments. At least Dolly has those potentially moving moments where she talks to her dead husband. Plus, it was such a great fit for Channing to the point where she rarely played another role for the rest of her career. She was always touring with or reviving that show somewhere.

This is an outrage!

Everyone knows the role should have gone to a trans Asian American.

I doubt Carol Channing was the 2nd choice either for Dolly.

Where does Beanie sing? Is there a video or something? I still think this is going to seem VERY much like a high school performance.

"This is an outrage! Everyone knows the role should have gone to a trans Asian American."

Fuck that shit! I should have gotten the part!!!

Adding insult to injury, it’s opening on Broadway on April 24th, Barbra’s birthday.

[quote]Plus, it was such a great fit for Channing to the point where she rarely played another role for the rest of her career.

Sure, that’s why she rarely played other roles. It had nothing to do with the fact that she couldn’t act and had a singing voice that was so awful and grating on the nerves that if you closed your eyes you’d swear Harvey Fierstein was singing.

[quote]Adding insult to injury, it’s opening on Broadway on April 24th, Barbra’s birthday.

I wonder if Babs will be there on opening night?!

Laurie Beechman would have been a wonderful Fanny Brice. She was gritty, sexy and vulnerable. Such a pretty voice, piercing but never perfect. RIP.

Laurie Beechman lacked her own style or point of view.

You know nothing about her R337. Laurie was not only a better singer than Streisand, she had a better voice.

I've dipped into to Beechman's work. She's on a similar level to Debbie Shapiro.

Beechman was nowhere near Streisand, you troll.

Streisand should show up, r335, and leave at intermission.

Streisand ain't it. She's still alive and already forgotten. Unlike Dolly, Cher, Bette, Dionne, Patti, Gladys or even Nancy Sinatra - she is not held in high regard or followed with any affection. Her film work, her recordings and her alleged singing "style" are already anachronistic. The majority of people have never heard of her.

r342 shouldn't you be busy polishing your two Grammys and Glenn Gould Award?

I don't polish my own awards.

Because you don't have any, as has been proven in another thread. Lying little troll.

I'm not a Streisand fan but the anti-Streisand troll is a nutter.

He's a hideous troll who shits on any thread about a female singer. He needs to get banned. He's as batshit as that Anscher guy, who apparently Muriel finally did something about.

Streisand had a much much sweeter pussy, in her youth, than our zaftig dyke Beanie…

As if you're invested in pussy quality.

R330 It's well known that Jerry Herman wrote Hello Dolly with Ethel Merman in mind. When it was finished, David Merrick sent the script, with a recording of some of the songs, to the Merm via bonded courier. The courier was instructed to wait while Merman read the script and listened to the songs. He was then to get the script and recording back from Ethel, and deliver it to Merrick. It was all very top secret.

When Merman was done, she called in the courier. She flung the script at the man and exclaimed "Tell 'em to send it to Roz Russell!" and she slammed the door, both figuratively and literally on Hello Dolly. Until 1970, anyway.

Laurie Beechman is fucking FANTASTIC on the OBC of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Belts her ASS off. Did she ever do Evita? I know she did Cats for a few years.

Now, I'm not gonna say Elaine Paige was better than Barbra at singing On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, but she certainly did give her a run for her money in this live recording from June of 1987. I think this is one of the greatest female vocal performances I've ever heard. My eyes actually widen as she reaches those final notes.

I just happened across this recording one day years and years ago, and I remain astounded. Again I ask- who, under 35, can even approach a vocal performance like this today? The "big belters" and La Merman used to call them, are all but gone.

Even if Beanie has talent, somebody, more importantly several somebodies have gone out of their way to create a career for her that would be the envy of any actress in her type/age group. I'm not saying she doesn't have talent or isn't a lovely person. However, I can tell with 100% certainty that if she just got off a bus from the Midwest she wouldn't be able to get an agent or manager to see her, let alone represent her. There are many, many girls just like her and I'd go as far to say with more marketable looks and some with really great talent. The only thing really marketable about her is her name. Somebody pulled a whole bunch of strings to make this girl happen, but the question remains: Why?

I read that Broadway musicals are very expensive to produce, like somewhere between $8 million and $12 million dollars. This musical apparently has great music and a so-so story completely dependent on the charisma and vocal talent of the star. So the producers have to be deadly serious about this. Who has that much money to throw away if the key part of this musical is completely inadequate?

The New York Times in a recap of the upcoming Broadway season said, "To say this musical is highly anticipated is an understatement." So she has a real opportunity here in that she is so seriously underestimated, at least here on this forum. What do Broadway professionals say privately about this casting?

[quote]The only thing really marketable about her is her name.

I never heard of her until this thread. And her brother has a different name. So what's marketable about her name, just curious?

[quote]When Merman was done, she called in the courier. She flung the script at the man and exclaimed "Tell 'em to send it to Roz Russell!" and she slammed the door, both figuratively and literally on Hello Dolly. Until 1970, anyway.

And yet she accepted Happy Hunting.

Hello, Dolly was probably a hit, originaly, because Carol Channing understood the character better than Merman would have. It doesn't really seem like a character for Merman's sledgehammer approach. Dis she really have the personality of a matchmaker? Ruth Gordon played the part in the successful rewrite (The Matchmaker) by Thornton Wilder of his 1930s play, The Merchant Of Yonkers (that starred Jane Cowl). Dolly is probably supposed to be warm and charming, if wily. I saw Molly Picon in it and she was great.

I just...how is Beanie going to sing the score 8x a week? It's a lot of material. I still see "high school" all over this.

Has anyone ever even heard her sing anything like Don't Rain On My Parade?

Two of Broadway's biggest stars who got there due to their enormous talent, without help from anyone else. This is what Broadway theater has become - kids with a dream working hard to do it on their own. So New York!

Jane Fonda was Henry Fonda's daughter. The Barrymores were from a theatrical family. Broadway star Alice Brady was the daughter of a big theater producer. I usually discount the complaints about people being related to someone. If they're good, they're good, if they're not, they're not. Do they get breaks other people don't? Yes. But that's a fact of life, it's nothing new.

Many people who aren't related to anyone still use a friendship, a family friendship, or something like that, to get opportunities. A lot of the people you assume made it on talent alone, probably didn't.

Jane Fonda did not star in a Broadway musical at 28 years old. Jane Fonda didn't even give a decent performance until she was in her 30s. Beanie is the poor man's Anna Kendrick. Clear clean voice - very nasal and juvenile sounding.

I would give the Funny Girl lead to Celine Dion or Adele! And Dolly should be played by Dolly herself. Or Miss Reba.

The 11 O'Clock Number:

Gravy,

People who have gravy,

Are the luckiest people in the world.

Roast pig needing more roast chicken.

And then letting pizza pies

Hide all the fries inside.

Tasting more like suet than suet.

Hot dog eating contestants,

They're the luckiest people in the world!

With one sheet cake

One very special sheet cake

A feeling deep in your gullet

Says eat half, no, the whole!

Just when you think you’re full it

Never happens because you’re someone

Someone who needs more gravy

And people who have more gravy

Are the luckiest people in the world!

Beanie tells Kelly and Ryan that Barbra is her everything.

Just wait and see. That supreme ASSHOLE Barbra Streizand will have a NYC concert on Beanie's opening night, or better yet, drop the fuck dead on her 80th birthday.🤞

Can you imagine Beanie at the Bon Soir?

[quote] "Tell 'em to send it to Roz Russell!"

That wasn't bad advice. Why wasn't Roz Russell considered?

[quote]Jane Fonda did not star in a Broadway musical at 28 years old. Jane Fonda didn't even give a decent performance until she was in her 30s.

Jane debuted in 1960, at age 23, in a film comedy, Tall Story, and a Broadway drama about a girl who is raped, There Was a Little Girl. Both the film and the play were directed by Joshua Logan, who had originally directed her father with the University Players on the Cape in the 20's, and later in Mister Roberts on Broadway in the late 40s, and was a lifelong friend of the Fondas.

If she didn't give a decent performance until she was in her 30s, you're just proving my point.

Barbra is not generous when other women attempt to do her previous roles. She was supportive of Gaga when ASIB first came out, but she recently shaded it.

She was furious when Diana Ross released a Funny Girl album and even said in an interview: "I just don't like the idea of her [Ross] singing my songs and with my musical arranger."

I have to agree with Barbra on both of these fronts. The Cooper/Gaga ASIB was a direct rip-off of her version, and Diana Ross had no business releasing a Funny Girl album at that time. It was a bizarre move on Ross's part.

"While living with her father in Malibu in the summer of 1958, Jane Fonda befriends next door neighbor Susan Strasberg, daughter of Lee Strasberg, the influential founder of the Actors Studio. Jane has long worried about whether she’s pretty and talented enough to succeed as an actress. Lee Strasberg accepts Jane as a student after a long talk at the beach house. 'The only thing that made me take her in was her eyes,” he says later. 'There was such panic in her eyes.' "

Just guessing a different girl, from Topeka, who just moved to LA and is waiting tables, wouldn't have been living in Malibu and hanging around with Susan Stragberg, and auditioning for Lee Strasberg at his beach house.

*Susan Strasberg

[quote]The Cooper/Gaga ASIB was a direct rip-off of her version

Also known as a "remake".

My broadway queen husband has tickets. He can’t wait. I’ve posted before that we see everything & it’s not my thing. A good musical is a good musical but I still don’t really care. I’d rather Funny Girl then the Music Man (ugh) that hub is also excited for!

Is Jonah Hill going to be in The Music Man revival?

Beanie Feldstein/Jonah Hill needs to do Yentl/Yentoria

For you R351. The AMAZING Laurie Beechman. Her voice was made for BROADWAY. Like a comet and she sang with such joy.

It will always be Betty Buckley's song to many, but Laurie Beechman played Grizabella the longest. There's some distortion here. It's Merv! Laurie was a beautiful, singular talent.

Streisand has never sung Memory live - because she can't.

Word is that Glenn Close has realized that she's now too old for the film version of Sunset Blvd and has handed over the role to Beanie. Filming will begin as soon as she has completed her Broadway run in Funny Girl.

" Diana Ross had no business releasing a Funny Girl album at that time. It was a bizarre move on Ross's part."

Hardly, r368. That kind of thing was done to help a Broadway score enter the world of pop music. That's like saying it was bizarre of Eydie to record If He Walked Into My Life.

"And the minute I heard her voice, I said Barbra who?"

I don't think Beanie seems right for this at all, but does Funny Girl really require a belter? The original possibilty for the lead was Mary Martin.

[quote]After reading the screenplay, Mary Martin contacted Stark and proposed it be adapted for a stage musical. Stark discussed the possibility with producer David Merrick, who suggested Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim compose the score. Sondheim told Styne, "I don't want to do the life of Fanny Brice with Mary Martin. She's not Jewish. You need someone ethnic for the part." Shortly after, Martin lost interest in the project and backed out.

Sondheim was right. Then they considered Anne Bancroft (Italian), Eydie Gormet (Sephardic Jewish), and Carol Burnett (WASP, I guess?). Eydie and Carol were belters, but I think the part could be ok with just a good singer who can do comedy and who seems like a NY Jewish girl. A lot of people are ignoring that Fanny Brice was a comedianne and the show is called Funny Girl, not Belter Girl.

The score was written for Streisand's voice, r380.

And from what I've read, Eydie Gormet would have gotten the part had she not insisted that husband Steve Lawrence play Nick Arnstein.

Eydie Gormé is what I meant, of course.

Was the score really written for Streisand? I didn't think so.

Eydie Gorme had a much more thrilling voice than Barbra. Streisand's voice was pretty. And small. Harsh up top.

[quote]Just wait and see. That supreme ASSHOLE Barbra Streizand will have a NYC concert on Beanie's opening night

Barbra will do NOTHING to take attention away from this trainwreck.

She may even go so she can say afterward, "Well, it was a very different interpretation. It's fascinating to see such brave casting against type and to watch an inexperienced performer try with such extraordinary effort to overcome obstacles that aren't her fault to put on a very difficult show to pull off well."

[quote]Was the score really written for Streisand?

Not initially, but the score was changed many times during tryouts on the road, so by the time it reached Broadway it had been tailored to Streisand's strengths.

Bancroft dropped out because she knew she couldn't handle the score, r384. Streisand could. Whatever was added to the score after she was cast would have been written for her abilities.

[quote]it had been tailored to Streisand's strengths.

I won't even attempt to repeat those two wordsh on the end together.

Weekend already sold out. Looks like it's a hit.

[quote]She was furious when Diana Ross released a Funny Girl album and even said in an interview: "I just don't like the idea of her [Ross] singing my songs and with my musical arranger."

The thing that really infuriated Streisand was that Jule Styne gave Diana Ross the new song that had been written for the movie. So Ross released the new song before Streisand. I would have been pissed off about that, too.

And Ross recording an entire Funny Girl album was just odd. Ross was a big enough star that she shouldn't have been doing other people's material. I always read that she was obsessed with Streisand and wanted to be like her. Doing that album seemed like career stalking.

[quote]That kind of thing was done to help a Broadway score enter the world of pop music. That's like saying it was bizarre of Eydie to record If He Walked Into My Life.

People back then covered Broadway songs, but they didn't do an entire LP covering the songs of one musical made famous by a rival.

Did Streisand and Diana Ross ever meet?

[quote]Eydie Gorme had a much more thrilling voice than Barbra. Streisand

That must be why most people today would say, "Eydie who?" (In fairness, most young people would also say, "Streisand who?")

And why her most famous song, the gimmick song "Blame It On the Bossa Nova," had been offered to Barbra first.

[quote]Did Streisand and Diana Ross ever meet?

I read that they were at the same party, were acutely aware that that other was there, but never spoke.

R390 tickets are less than $40.

For DLers who have been around awhile.....what was the name of that unknown girl we were following for awhile who had moved to NYC and was determined to conquer Broadway? Her parents were bankrolling her and she had a pretty nice apartment - but she too was kind of chubby and schlumpy and obviously her "career" never took off?

We had photos and commentary, so maybe we were following her insta? Somebody should remember -

R390 Why does the art for the show make it look like Fanny Brice is talking on an iPhone?

[quote]Did Streisand and Diana Ross ever meet?

Yes they did! They met at a party around 1976. An argument between the two turned violent when Ross threw her drink at Streisand and completely drenched her, then pushed her into a lamp which shattered and electrocuted Streisand's wet body, instantly frizzing up her hair. It supposedly took about 7-8 years to straighten back out.

I love Beanie. I don’t get the hate.

R356 I believe, considering the time frame, that Merman turned Dolly down because she'd made the decision to semi-retire. She no longer wanted to take on a show for two years plus tour.

I think her comment to David Merrick may have had to do with lingering bitterness over not getting the movie version of Gypsy, though I don't think it was Merrick's fault.

In any case, I would agree that Channing was born to play the part. Though it was nice when Merman played it to end the run.

Rare pic of Streisand/Ross meeting.

[quote] People back then covered Broadway songs, but they didn't do an entire LP covering the songs of one musical made famous by a rival.

I'm going to guess they probably did. Doris Day and Robert Goulet did an Annie Get Your Gun album in 1963. It was made famous by Ethel Merman. I doubt Ethel was angry Doris did it. Those things were done all the time. Cover versions of any song or show were not uncommon. It's only in recent years that doing a cover of anythng had gotten a negative connotation. "Cover" was not even a term that was used back then, was it? If there were songs that existed, people sang them.

R397 Careful, mentions of her name (which I don't remember either) have gotten threads deleted before.

Really, R404? Now I am curious who it is.

Yeah, it's really weird, god knows how much her parents must be spending on a lawyer to threaten Muriel, but I've been in a few threads about her that got deleted pretty quickly.

CAREFUL! If the thread was deleted it would be a TRAGEDY!

CANCEL that art, r398!!!

Streisand looks like an uglier Harpo Marx in that pic @402. Looks just like her.

I understand why Barbra would be pissed that Diana got to release the new Funny Girl song first. But she had the right to be pissed by anybody who had done it. Beyond that, why would there be any sense of competition between the two?

Diana Ross is still a superstar. A lot more people are listening to her music than the B.S. catalogue.

Streisand is a rich old hag.

Jane Fonda was fucking drop dead gorgeous, had star quality and a lot of talent. She's one of the very few people who I believe would've succeeded in show business even if she'd been a plumber's daughter from Ohio. She just had "it." And as the above poster said, it still took her awhile to hit the big time. She toiled in shitty B movies for most of her twenties.

r402 that's Lena Horne you fucking moron

R413 I think you are the moron, as that was clearly a joke.

Babs was pissed off at Diana and yet went on to record the songs of "Sunset Boulevard" before the cast album with LuPone had time to do its thing.

Ben Platt's brother isn't a star... And Beanie has been playing supporting roles. Were some of you outraged at Mindy Cohn daring to appear on your screens back in the day?

"Cats" opened on Broadway in October 1982. The biggest song from that show was "Memory", sung by the character Grizabella. Barbra Streisand released her album "Memories" in November 1981, almost a full year before "Cats" opened on Broadway. The song "Memory" from the aforementioned Broadway musical, was released as a single in February 1982. The nerve of her!!!!

Has anyone actually watched the film version of Funny Girl recently? It's quite a dramatic performance.

Streisand totally buys into the perception of herself as an ugly duckling and you see how hurtful and awkward it is for her - and yet, she succeeds (to a point) despite that.

Not sure how Beanie is going to pull that off when the current climate won't even acknowledge her looks as a potential hindrance to success (personal and professional). Not sure how she is going to make this rather dreary show interesting.

The Funny Girl movie should have ended at the tugboat.

Sorry!! I didn't realize......

Sheridan Smith was plucky. If the audience roots for Fanny, most of the job is done.

[Quote] She no longer wanted to take on a show for two years plus tour.

Merman rarely toured her shows.

[quote]Sure, that’s why she rarely played other roles. It had nothing to do with the fact that she couldn’t act and had a singing voice that was so awful and grating on the nerves that if you closed your eyes you’d swear Harvey Fierstein was singing.

And yet, Channing originated both the role of Loreli Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly.

What have you done that compares?

It's rather idiotic to suggest that Channing kept doing musical theatre because of her awful, grating voice.

Carol got magazine covers...even for a flop.

Oh god, now we have an unhinged Carol Channing troll....

Right, r426, because for the past two hours, there's been nothing but Channing posts.

Raaaazzzzzzberries R426.

R422 She toured in Gypsy and Call Me Madam, honey chile.

That's two out of how many, r429?

R378, Diana Ross is amazing in that video!

[Quote] And Ross recording an entire Funny Girl album was just odd. Ross was a big enough star that she shouldn't have been doing other people's material. I always read that she was obsessed with Streisand and wanted to be like her. Doing that album seemed like career stalking.

It wasn’t Streisand’s song yet, was it?

[Quote] Weekend already sold out. Looks like it's a hit.

That’s not how hits work

Jane Fonda was fucking drop dead gorgeous, had star quality and a lot of talent. She's one of the very few people who I believe would've succeeded in show business even if she'd been a plumber's daughter from Ohio. She just had "it." And as the above poster said, it still took her awhile to hit the big time. She toiled in shitty B movies for most of her twenties.

You have no idea if she ever would have gotten the kinds of breaks she got. Maybe she would have quit before she got anywhere, because it was just too tough for a plumber's daughter from Ohio with no money or connections. It's absurd not to acknowledge that being Henry Fonda's daughter and having his name had nothing to do with her fame or professional breaks. What about Peter Fonda? Bridget Fonda? Emilio Estevez, Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Nicholas Cage, Jamie Lee Curtis? You think living in LA and being related to well known, sometimes very famous, industry people didn't have anything to do with their success?

(Top paragraph above should have been a quote)

Diana Ross had STAR quality - equal to anyone. She was nervous, but fearless. Her sound has proven to be signature. Recognized the world over, almost 60 years later. She was THE most alive performer from the very start. Streisand and Diana are alike in that they both truly became superstars. If Barbra had the historic voice, Diana has the songs people still love and a performance style that was both theatrical and welcoming. She was homegirl & glamorous. Fame made them both seem beautiful. Only one of them was.

It hurts some people on DL, but there are many singers as good as Streisand. Quite a few better. MANY more loved.

Those saying Barbra cant project....fuck you. Here she is live on tv.

r436...put down the pipe and back away

Babs singing on TV (while mic'd) has nothing to do with her audibility back when performers had to project on stage.

Move over Beanie. Diana Ross IS Fanny Brice! The Funny Girl songs are theatrical and mostly a bit goofy. Rodgers and Hammerstein or Lorenz and Hart they're not. Lots of people can sing them. What's amazing is that the Supremes like most of Motown were worked and recorded to death - this was just a weekend's work for Diana Ross. Ha. But we're supposed to think these songs are untouchable because Barbara Streusel touched them? Fuck that.

Beanie is not right for it, the show needs an actual star. There are always stars who can sing as well as Barabas Streizand. Her elongated notes, egotistical non musical ways with melody just to show off her voice and the spitting of words is no longer fashionable. Streizand wanted to be both conversational and GRANDE as a live performer. To cover her vocal limitations. Which she did beautifully.

Some girls just know how to sing. Linda Eder, Laurie Beechman, Eydie Gorme or Anna Kendrick would make a great Fannie Brice. Even Lea before the fallout. Not Beanie.

Barbra was in ONE good movie in her not very prolific and pretty embarrassing film career. It was Funny Girl. That she can keep. But because the bitch don't make money off of it - she doesn't care for it. Her life is tasteless, tacky schlock when it comes down to it.

Carrie Fisher, MIchael Douglas, Ben Stiller, Natasha Richardson, Hayley and Juliet Milles, The Redgrave sisters, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kiefer Sutherland, NIcole Richie, Drew Barrymore, Mariska Hargitay, Laura Dern, Elizabeth Montgomery, Angelina Jolie, Kate Hudson, Nicholas Cage, Amber Tamblyn, Matthew Broderick, Dinah Manoff, Jennifer Grey, and many, many more celebs (didn't even mention singers, rock stars, country stars, etc.) have been related to other people with established names in the business.

Wow. Barbara is really bad and shrill in that early performance @ R437. It's frantic and kind of ugly sounding. Her voice was very harsh and far too forward in the nasal mask for the first few years of her career. But at R437, she is also guttural and shrieking. It proves nothing except that she could hit *some* pretty notes. Not all of them. Sheesh.

Babs belonged in the studio. And even then....Celine's voice and range and abilities did come to surpass her.

The ancient white fags nutcase troll has a bizarre fixation on Barbra. He's not well. Hopefully the drugs and booze will do their work. Soon.

Wow R440. Diana Ross really can do it all! That's live, and a bit strange. Thank you. Your posts make me hard. I think you are informed and unique. Don't listen to this sad old man at R443. He is upset about John Mulaney. And incontinence. He's always being mean to people here. A sick old man.

r440/r444 = troll talking to himself with his sock puppets.

Yes, thanks. It's true, R444. Diana is way underrated. Some us know stuff. Here is Barbra actually singing. Well. And quite beautifully. She's trying hard and we can see it. To form her vowels, build the vocal and use her dynamics and phrasing in a meaningful way - without dismantling the song. She seldom achieved this in her long career. And the final mixed belt was prerecorded. That's her home.

r446 = ancient white fags troll sock puppet.

^is this poster stroking out?^

I'm watching an Ella documentary. When did Patti Austin lose all the weight? Dinah Washington was her godmother.

All this talk about Funny Girl made me feel like listening to the OBC recording, which I just did.

Oh my God. This revival is going to be a fucking disaster. Count on it.

Good luck Beanie...

I'm still trying to figure out how someone becomes a Laurie Beechman troll? That is some hardcore elder gay shit.

Laurie Beechman is not old FAG territory. That's Barbra, Joan and Judy. As you well know, R452.

Where is Muriel to get this putrid troll who keeps calling posters "fags" on a GLBT forum banned?

Joan Sutherland?

She's so bad at R437. Why post that to defend her?

^^ This thing at R454 needs to be removed. It has a sick intention and odour.

You rang, r455?

r457 = 💩

I really liked Barbra when I was a kid. She did stuff like at R437. She was a type, she had a personality, she sang classic songs, standards, show music. This was her original persona and it suited her. She had a comedic, self-deprecating, slightly kooky quality, but could also sing "serious" and emotional. But she was not a pop or rock singer. Or a Hollywood glamour star.

She became a movie star, started taking herself more and more seriously, trying to be a beauty. She became a rock singer (Stoney End) and a California blonde wearing hippie-ish fashions. She did the very La-70s A Star Is Born rock remake. And so on. She lost her eccentricites, her New York qualities, became bland, conventional, Hollywood Hills Barbra. And I lost interest in her.

R460 Well I liked her with when she had the Egyptian eyeliner and the page boy haircut, singing songs like "Free again, LUCKY, LUCKY me, I'm free again"

Then, as you say, she moved to Hollywood, and crimped her hair. She went down the stony end. She never wanted to go down the stony end.

Come back to the 5 and dime, Barbra Streisand, Barbra Streisand!

BTW Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Any Wednesday with Sandy Dennis?

I don't believe she was raised on the Good Book Jesus.

THE WAY SHE PLAYS MONICA LEWINSKY MAKES ME PUKE.....SUCH A VICTIM,,,, OY YEA, NOT

But isn't Lewinsky a producer on that show?

sow.....

Bill Clinton would not have had an affair with a woman who looked like Beanie Feldstein.

GOLD

Can a virgin like Beanie really give the role all it needs?

I like Linda Eder but she comes off like a Barbra imitator. If Linda had some first, maybe she would have been a bigger star

Two very different voices, r469. You think this sounds like Barbra?

Those gorgeous overtones Linda produces in the above performance are from outer space or heaven. Take your pick. Her voice is phenomenal.

[quote]All this talk about Funny Girl made me feel like listening to the OBC recording, which I just did.

I did, too. And I was struck by what a shitty recording it is. It's as if they placed one mic on one side of the stage and one mic on the other and told the performers to just walk around quietly.

On one song, Barbra sounds far away on the left. Then, she crosses to the right and becomes louder. Just a really shitty way to record the show.

It was in the early days of stereo where people didn't really know what to do with it, so they'd keep experimenting.

It's like those early Beatles recordings, where all the vocals come out of the left speaker.

Beanie is the modern day Florence Foster Jenkins. This is what happens when over-valued self worth+ middling talent+ money+ connections= legitimate career in show business

Nobody asked me but I prefer The Music That Makes Me Dance to My Man.

And I can't imagine Beanie singing it.

R476 - I agree. It's a much better song and actually written for the show.

I can't wait until this fiasco opens and we can REALLY TEAR IT TO PIECES!!!

Some song staging changes announced so far:

"You Are Woman, I Am Man" will be performed in a real restaurant with mountains of pate and a side of beef bordelaise.

"I Want to be See With You" will be performed with real macaroons from mother's salon.

"Sadie, Sadie" will be performed with a real icebox stocked with brownies and ice cream.

"Don't Rain on My Parade" will be performed with real candy and a real ball of butter.

It really needed to be My Man, r476 and r478.

^ She can't even bother to lip synch the song well. It's a big flaw in that film. Barbra is a cow. And yes I know she sings the last few notes of My Man, *LIVE*. There's nothing unbelievable about her voice. It's a good song. Fade to black. Diana Ross and Billie Holiday both sing the song better.

* first few notes are live.....Streizand was SO fucking overrated. As the world now knows.

^^kill yourself

[quote]It really needed to be My Man

More like My Ham.

Will Beanie sing Sam, you made the pants not wide enough?

She's okay. It's a drama. Barbra sort of invented oversinging. The endless modulations with end notes extended beyond taste or musical meaning. She's not the best at it. Or the best voice. Not at all.

Ohreally?

They cast a cis-female?

Give it a rest, T obsessive.

Is Billy Porter playing the mother?

Is R484 an older Trans female? s/he speaks the language. So nasty and angry. It's a threatening discourse.

Streisand is welcome to her 17,384 remaining fans. They are willing to drop a lot of money on her mean rasping old ass. STILL?

What a bitch she is. Barbaric is no longer overrated. More forgotten. But it was a pretty voice. Glenn Gould was obsessed with the buzzing burr tone and the golden vibrato that was Barbara. Mentally ill people hone into certain sounds and become obsessed with them. Glenn Gould didn't live to see what trash Streisand made of her talents. 🙏🏾

Will the lyrics of "My Man" be changed to "My Sperming Person"?

[quote] Glenn Gould was obsessed with the buzzing burr tone and the golden vibrato that was Barbara.

The one who gave you your award lol?

Christ jesus fuck you're dumb R494. Glenn Gould did not hand out Glenn Gould awards. They are named in his honour. It's a prize.

[quote] Mentally ill people hone into certain sounds and become obsessed with them.

Like R494? Over 85 posts on this thread are from him. From one of his accounts. He has other devices and fixations. Sick old man.

r495 we know. And you received one hahaha!

When she wins the Tony ( which is inevitable), will DLers disavow that show?

DL has never claimed that Funny Girl is a classic show.

It's MAME that some act as if it's a classic that deserves a first class revival.

No, It's...SKYSCRAPER!

MAME is DL's favorite horror movie.

[quote] When she wins the Tony ( which is inevitable), will DLers disavow that show?

Fat ass won't be the first "star" who won an undeserved Tony award.

See also: Tracy Turnblad.

I'll give Beanie a chance. She was kind of charming in that promo. I just hope she has the voice.

I can kid of see her pulling this off if she goes the buffoony-cutesie route

I’m not a musical theatre fan so I’m not familiar with this but I really liked her in Impeachment. The series wasn’t that great but I found her very likeable.

Let's just get ONE thing straight before another poster makes a fool of himself.

My Man is NOT, I repeat, NOT sung in the stage version of Funny Girl. There was talk of putting it in, but Jule Styne wouldn't have it. He wrote Music That Makes Me Dance to be the My Man stand in, and frankly, I like it better. When they made the movie, Ray Stark insisted it replace Music That Makes Me Dance. Styne was furious. I don't believe his estate would ever allow them to do the stage show with My Man.

As elder gays, you should've all known these things.

Wow this is a rare find. Thank God for YouTube.

Babs doing The Music That Makes Me Dance in Newport in 1966.

Not a great recording, but very rare. A special arrangement done for the London production. A new verse added with new lyrics.

It's VERY clear that this was an attempt to make it sound even more like My Man. It's quite lovely.

Sorry, but I like this version better than Barbra's, which is too affected and less sincere.

^ Sorry, didn't mean to put " less affected."

Andrew Rannells sings as plastic as he looks.

Would a Monroe type work in the role?

disgusting how they made lewinsky to be a dam victim, dint no one make her suk him off. good god! she is ridic and so is old beanie.

R509. Laurie Beechmans' version is still best. Streisand should learn to respect the melody of a song. She gets so guttural when she wants to add volume to her top notes. Screechy, to be honest. It has an exciting dynamic and subtle dramatic melody, that song. Barabara is too conversational and then too theatrical. Her BIG weaknesses as a singer. She dismantles the song to show off her "style" and voice.

She modified singing that way later - instead aiming for her pure, pear shaped perfection and perfect modulations. Big beautiful end notes WITH vibrato. In the studio. Not coincidentally, the same time she stopped singing LIVE.

Judy - still trying to compete.

Don't tell them about the King's Academy production, r508

She sings great, but doesn't look Jewish.

It's a Christian academy, r517, what do you expect?

Rannells has a very very nasal upper register. The song should have been transposed down a whole step.

Yeah r515 we get it. You have a pathological hatred of Barbra. Nobody gives a shit.

Beanie talks to Seth about auditioning for Funny Girl at 1:50

Huh? Stop being INSANE R520. That's right - you can't.

"It's a Christian academy, [R517], what do you expect?"

Isn't the premise of the show the fact that Fanny was plain and thought to be undesirable to affluent men? The girl looks like she's right out of The Disney Channel. Bu then. her [parents probably would have sued for not making their dear daughter look like the precious star that she is. Egad.

R523 That is a shockingly big production for a high school.

I guess the religious schools have big budgets, r524

[quote]Let's just get ONE thing straight before another poster makes a fool of himself. My Man is NOT, I repeat, NOT sung in the stage version of Funny Girl.

Of course not. It's from Mame, isn't it?

Babs probably would have won had they used Music, but using My Man clinched it for her.

My Man is too good of a song for Funny Girl to be honest. It was a great ending to the movie tho. A director's choice. Nothing to do with Streizand. She eats nuts but she couldn't screw up everything in her first movie. She's quite good in it. Not a bad actress. She has no emotional attachment to anything musical. She *thinks* she does to colors and flowers and ice cream. But she really is incapable of human feeling or emotion with music. She thinks about how to sing it, but not much about what it means. And when she claims too - it's fake. That's why her music is so lifeless. She can give impassioned speeches from Teleprompters and has donated to some good causes - but the woman shows no emotion when singing. She *thinks* feeling. Barbaric is both heavy handed and not too bright. She is, as she wanted to be - an actress. Not a bad one. Far from great. *

She had the every ability to be a GREAT singer, but she didn't want it.

Barbara's closest to evocative song - The Way We Were - is and always has been sung better by Gladys Knight.

Oh My Man - Like Streizand ever felt passion like that? Nope.

Funny Girl is no longer the story of Fanny Brice. It's all about Barbra Streisand. Streisand IS Funny Girl. So whoever gets the lead in the show is portraying Barbra, not Fanny. The fact is that no current or future actress/singer can meet that challenge.

I can't imagine that Barbra is too happy that this chubby, mediocre actress/singer has been chosen to play her. Frankly, it's an insult to Barbra and her legend.

Barbra ain't all there is was or ever will be. She's wallpaper as a performer.

Trust me, r529, Barbra isn't losing sleep over it.

Barbra doesn't lose sleep over anything but bagel belly and restless ego syndrome.

Gladys Knight ALWAYS sang this song, the best. She still does.

We get it ancient white fags troll r528, you have a pathological hatred of Barbra. Which is a pretty ancient white fag thing itself, BTW.

Forty years later and still golden. Gladys Knight.

Yeah, we're black. What's your problem old RACIST fag @ R533?

Streizand is not an old fag thing - she is one to be inventoried. Any day. Even Whitney said - "There will only be one Barbra, there is ONLY one Aretha and there will never be another me."

It's too bad that Streisand pissed on her only talent. But the quality of her voice was beautiful. Bad art makes people angry. Streisand could have at least done something worthwhile with her major talent.

Whitney and Aretha have the greatest recorded popular voices of the last 60 years. Barbra is forgotten now. But Whitney showed Barbra's voice and career respect. Because it was one of a kind.

I used to work with an older woman in an office furniture company. There was background music all day. Whenever Barbara Streisand came on, she always said the same thing: "What's that screeching?"

Clive Davis made Whitney record a lot of then-popular Adult Contemporary shit, which sounds really dated and lame now. Talk about a major talent who pissed it all away - that's Whitney. Her discography is pretty lacking for such a major talent.

[quote]Barbra is forgotten now.

You truly must be the stupidest person alive.

Barabaric Streizand IS forgotten. ^ This elderfag is stupefyingly out of touch with reality. Her style of singing and her bad movies and her obnoxious personality and constant disappointment when she did appear has made her a total anachronism. People changed the channel on Barabara long ago. Those recordings - sheesh. The Grammy Awards flat intonation warbling, terrible. The "concerts" - pay for each raspy note and lazy inflection.

Whitney was gracious to include her. They have once in a lifetime voices is what she meant. No one sounds like Aretha, Whitney or Barbra. Don't kill a kind messenger. Whitney and Aretha live forever. Streisand is the one reported to still be alive - but she is dead to most in the modern world. Y'all can't even get ironically propped up about her like people did for Dionne in the last year. Streisand thinks she is god's gift. Her music is DRECK. And she suffers from obnoxious personality disorder. She is at her very best when humming the intro to the way we were.

r538 you are quite stupid and delusional. People like you deserve as little attention as possible, which I’m more than sure you’re used to.

I blocked r538. Nutter.

Beanie is very charming in that Seth Meyers interview.

R540. OUCH you leaking bariatric POUCH. If you blocked me - then why do you keep harassing me? Day after day on all kinds of topics? A man needs room to spread his WORD. An expert will never apologize - I can only expand on my opinion. I was taught that at the Royal Conservatory. Every day, for 8 years. One doesn't cater their recital to the taste of their audience. Maybe that's why you like Barbaric so much? She's a condescending performer and a soulless singer. Tacky. Enjoy your memories from 1961 R540. The oldest Eldergays are what keep this site UGLY. Happy 82nd birthday!!

I gave Barbra her due. It was a modest offering. Please reward us both with your absence.

r542 every single person on DL either ignores you or mocks you. You are an insane loser and nobody ever, ever agrees with anything you say or compliments you in any way. You get nothing but cold indifference or ridicule. Much like your real life, I'm sure.

Ha. You're hilarious R543. How can I miss you if you never leave? You promised to go. I get BIG approval for everything about me here and in the greater world. I wish peace for your angry old face. It is reported to be most ugly. The smell of you can't be helped, but try to be a bit cooperative with the nurse sometimes. Shit is not the place to live. Cold indifference is redundant btw. No one ridicules me here. Just you, from multiple devices. I am often met with passion. You are mad for me yourself R543. And just mad in general. Of course you are many other posters here too. Not hard to track. Or expose.

Every single person on DL feels nothing in particular about me. What a ridiculous and desperate attempt on your part. Use "I" statements like they taught you back in group. With a failed mind, you must harness the power of your heart R540. Please try blocking me, again. For the greater good.

May Jesus visit healing to your troubled mind this night. ☮️

^^time to change your meds, dear. They're making you even more delusional.

Barabas StreiZand cannot sing. She's flat and raspy and performs like Bubbie at the Bar Mitzvah. What a graceless performer. Worried about parking. Tacky. Cover up the tit bags old woman. She looks like George Washington on a bad wig day. Moves from foot to foot....backs out the door. What did I sing tonight? Nothing. If she weren't so pathetic, she would be hated. The reviews are no longer kind to her. Time to stop lying about the alleged greatness of Barbaric Streusel.

word is her funny girl show is horrid.

I had an uncle that used to say "Barbra Streisand screams." I've always wondered if people who say that kind of thing are tone deaf. No, seriously- if they aren't able to distinguish keys, it makes sense that anyone belting out a song would sound like screaming to them.

MONICA LEWINSKY ON BWAY......FUK DAT SHIT

"word is her funny girl show is horrid."

Undoubtedly started by Babs.

Could "Buyer and Cellar" be turned into a vehicle for Beanie?

[quote]People like you deserve as little attention as possible

Is that why you've constantly been responding to that poster?

It's no wonder this site gets flooded by so many trolls given how many of you love to feed them.

I wonder, in a world where Instagram is being taken to task for making girls feel bad about their bodies, will the song "If A Girl Isn't Pretty" still sit well with an audience?

I think it is going to make the show's time of writing, not setting, seem very dated

Hopefully Beanie will be this light on her feet.

This is just beautiful. Who is she? Almost as good as Laurie Beechman.

Fannie Brice *is* black.

Why “Beanie”? Does she have Crohn’s disease? Is she gassy? Does she wear a yarmulke? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks to all who took the time to post the links in this thread. I’ve loved watching so many of these performances. Some really delicious Barbra nuggets — hugely appreciated. And the Barbra haters can fuck right off…

Nonsense. This wouldn't be DL without bitchery.

The "Barbra haters" are one disturbed troll with sock puppet accounts.

Barbra haters are a much larger group than Barbra lovers. In the real world.

[quote]Barbra haters are a much larger group than Barbra lovers. In the real world.

I don't think it breaks so evenly into two, strong-minded groups.

I used to be a Barbra Lover. Now, I'm pretty much indifferent to her.

I was using the lingo of the loon at R560. Most people don't even know who Barbra Striezand is, to be honest. Mass indifference.

^^moron

Beanie Feldstein?

OY! A shanda for the neighbors.

Lordy there are some screwed up people posting on this thread…

r557

She’s a crone, all right, but without Crohn’s!

Anastascia has Crohn's. Could she play Fanny?

Only *one* Crone will do!

When they adapted the movie into a Broadway musical, they shouldn't have messed with the songs.

My only surprise was that Barbra let ANYONE else sing in the movie after cutting the other character's songs.

She had most of Anne Francis's scenes cut - how she got that kind of power in her first film, I don't understand.

She didn't get Anne Francis' scenes cut, r572.

I am no particular fan of Barbra's (though I used to be from about 1963-1967) but to believe she had the power to have Anne Francis' scenes cut is pure insanity. Did you miss more Funny Girl screen time with Ms. Francis, r572?

What's odd about the character of Georgia in FG, is that it was initially a fairly big supporting role in the original Broadway show and the well-known character actress Allyn Ann McLerie was cast to play her. But the part was continuously dwindled down in out of town tryouts until they finally cut the role altogether before they arrived in NY and so McLerie left the show. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to reinstate the character for the film after that is beyond comprehension. Once again, Georgia could be entirely cut from the story of Fanny Brice without missing a beat.

Anne Francis herself admitted that the popular belief that Streisand had her work on Funny Girl sabotaged was false. This lie was started by Francis' PR rep, a close friend, and Francis didn't want to embarrass her..

Then, years later, the friend died, and Francis came out with the truth.

IN any case, it's absurd to think that Streisand had that kind of power on her first movie. She was actually quite vulnerable at that point, as no one knew how Funny Girl was going to go over. The suits at Columbia Pictures had wanted Shirley MacLaine.

Shirley MacLaine as Fanny Brice would've been excruciating.

Brabaras is excruciating. In everything. She's a grotesque human being. Talented at the start.

the Anne Francis letter to BS is in post R77

True, Barbra didn't have any power to change things on a movie at that time.

Anne Francis was quoted as saying this: "I have no feud with Barbra. But doing that film was like Gaslight. What infuriated me was the way they did things—never telling me, never talking to me, just cutting. I think they were afraid that if they were nice to me, Barbra would have been upset."

Anne Francis was lying. Who is Anne Francis?

Barbra had power once. People are ready to talk about her now. A monster of arrogance and narcissism. No one can stand her. Not a single collaborator or hired hand. Or family member. They choose their words very carefully.

And Arlene Francis was quoted as saying...

Thank goodness William Wyler and Ray Stark had the good sense to cut Anne Francis's scenes so we could get more Barbra. That's who everybody wanted to see, not a nobody like Anne C-list Francis.

Sondheim has been forced to say something approximating nice about Barbaric Streizand too. That proves nothing R582. He collaborated with her. She made him change the lyrics to his most famous song and repeat the bridge, with a modulation. Not his style at all. Sing the damn song and find the emotion within it. It's already there. Barabas destroyed a few of his other songs too. They made money. He LOATHES her. Everyone who has ever worked with her or for her - hates her.

Yes, Funny Girl wouldn't have been improved with more Anne Francis. It was all about Barbra.

Barbra's version of Somewhere was huge, and made that song more popular than it ever was. The Broadway Album was one of her best.

Where's that cut footage today?

Barbra's version of Somewhere is not good. The outer space synthesizers. THAT album is her last good one. 37 years ago. But she still robs lyrics of meaning and destroyed some great complex songs. She did better with the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. Sondheim to this day regrets helping her Barbrasize those renditions of his songs.

Of course she never managed to sing Somewhere live. Not well at all. It's not even that hard a song to sing. But it requires a leap of emotion and something more that $$$ to make the audience feel. She thought that taking deep breaths and flipping her hair were substitutes for power, emotion, or vocal dynamics? We can hear you bitch - no matter how much carpet you laid down. There are fifty better recorded renditions of "Somewhere."

Time travel to a piano bar or airport lounge. Any night. You'll hear it sung better, and the lyric will retain some meaning.

Barbra Streisand recordings are where showtunes go to die.

Barbra's Broadway album is wonderful. Her Somewhere is spacey and ethereal and quite different from the other versions, almost like Giorgio Moroder produced it. A nice change of pace for her.

I'm not a huge fan of Barbra's but the Broadway albums and her pop stuff from the late 70s/early 80s was good stuff.

Why don't they reinstate the songs for Ramin Karimloo? I saw the Fierstein script at the Menier. The second act is still a problem.

[Quote] Jule Styne told writer Donald Zec that, while in Boston, “We had the dénouement with the trial, the lawyers, the whole thing, even a scene in a hospital. That way the second act came on stronger because we showed Nicky's shortcomings, but Fran Stark did not want us to present her father in that light. We lost five songs that way, including a very moving lullaby Arnstein sings to his baby daughter. After a couple of tries the second act songs for Nicky Arnstein had to be discarded. I don't regret the loss because Chaplin couldn't sing them.”

Why didn't they dump Chaplin?

[Quote] I shall never understand why one of the new songs, “Come Along With Me,” was given to Sidney Chaplin, who makes every note sound like he needed to gargle. He still plays Arnstein with the same flare as if the character had been cut from cardboard.

[Quote] Isobel Lennart wrote a character named “Nora” who was a beautiful show girl and friend to Fanny Brice. The actress Allyn Ann McLerie was hired to play her, and she was given a song and dance number called "Baltimore" to perform in the show. The character of "Nora" also worked as a foil to Fanny, confronting her about the choices she was making with Nick. In “Baltimore" (also written as "Baltimore Sun”) the Ziegfeld girls lament arriving in Baltimore (“When the birds fly south to the Swanee star, they relieve themselves over Bal-ti-mar...”) According to Edwards' Streisand biography, the song was shifted to Barbra, then cut altogether.

Shifted to Barbra, huh...

If Sondheim detests Streisad so much why is he accommodating her asking for changes over and over again? Showing up to present her with the Grammy Legend Award.etc

Just to cash in and use her to familiarize millions of people who are not broadway aficionados with his work?

Hoping we finally see the purists ligth on a gay cruise when "Being Alive" is presented to us with the "broadway guts-vibrato" challening the eardrums and sloppy pronounced vowels?

I don't know if Sondheim detests Streisand but... he's a smart businessman.

Sondheim only told Betty Lynn that he hated her interpretations when she pressed him about it backstage at one of her concerts. It wouldn't surprise me if he holds Barbra's arrangements in similar contempt.

It will be interesting to have a Nick Arnstein actor (Ramin Karimloo) who actually has a great voice. Sydney Chaplin couldn't sing for shit, and Omar Sharif was a fucking disaster on screen.

[quote]She made him change the lyrics to his most famous song

She was right about the lyrics to "Send in the Clowns." It ends stronger with her change.

And if Sondheim resented Barbra so much for changing his lyrics why did he, years later, rewrite the lyrics to "I'm Still Here" for her concert?

Sondheim strikes me as someone who likes to avoid conflict and keep things pleasant unless someone persistently asks him what he thinks and then he'll drop a truth bomb like with Buckley and her horrible arrangements of his songs.

Sondheim threatened to sue Eartha Kitt for the unauthorised lyrics she sang to "I'm Still Here" in her club act. He obviously didn't hold a grudge as she later replaced as Carlotta (who sings "I'm Still Here") in the original London production of "Follies."

[Quote] why did he, years later, rewrite the lyrics to "I'm Still Here" for her concert?

$$$$

Streisand gave the single most lightweight and silly rendition of I'm Still Here of anyone who's ever performed it. She used it to brag and settle scores. Her specialties in life.