THEATRE GOSSIP #464 - The All About Beanie (Plus Big Nips and Bigger Dicks) Edition

Previous thread:

I know Beanie will justifably get all the attention tonight, but I'd like it noted that Jesse Williams looks good naked.

Dangling dong

R2, As does Daniel Reichard, especially from the waist down.

Bringing this over from the other thread:

NYT: Review: Broadway’s First ‘Funny Girl’ Revival Shows Why It Took So Long

Beanie Feldstein stars as the comic Fanny Brice in the show’s return after almost 60 years.

[Quote] Karimloo also sings beautifully and, to the extent the new book tries to beef up the role, he’s got the beef to do it.

1 and a half stars (out of four)

Now Beanie Feldstein, who was a smash as Monica Lewinsky in “American Crime Story: Impeachment” last year, takes on the Brooklyn comic legend who sings classic hits like “People” and “Don’t Rain On My Parade.” She is supposed to steal our hearts and sprain our funny bones. No dice.

Ticket-buyers are walking in forgivingly, with an understanding that we don’t expect any Broadway performer to match up to one of the greatest American vocalists of all time. Feldstein, however, barely muddles through the beloved songs. The best performed numbers (“Sadie, Sadie”) are merely capable; the worst (“People”) are awkward letdowns. In the spoken scenes, the jokes are pushed harder than a broken-down Hummer on a highway and few of them earn more than polite giggles. Feldstein is, I’m sorry to say, not giving a Broadway-caliber performance.

Daily Beast:

Broadway’s ‘Funny Girl’ Revival Rains on Its Own Parade

One of the most anticipated shows of the Broadway season, the revival of “Funny Girl” has pizazz and celebrity power but falls very short in its sketching of story and character.

What an embarrassment for everyone involved.

Even Ramin is only being complemented for his “beef”

Ouch

So no Tony nom for beanie? Sharon Sutton Joaquina Katrina

A nomination for Beanie would be the death knell of the Tonys.

The Times is nor great for Beanie but it doesn't flat-out say she stinks. It says she stinks in a roundabout way.

"To rip the bandage off quickly: Feldstein is not stupendous. She’s good. She’s funny enough in places, and immensely likable always, as was already evident from her performances in the movies “Booksmart” and “Lady Bird” and, on Broadway, in “Hello, Dolly!” You root for her to raise the roof, but she only bumps against it a little. Her voice, though solid and sweet and clear, is not well suited to the music, and you feel her working as hard as she can to power through the gap. But working hard at what should be naturally extraordinary is not in Fanny’s DNA".

Lynch is getting praised, so she will likely get a nom.

Thanks for posting the reviews here.

The best Birthday present Babra has ever received.

This whole thing reminds me of Florence Jenkins where a bad performer’s family buys her roles and she fails at them

Vulture is absolutely brutal to Beanie:

"Some of Feldstein’s assets do make the trip over from film: She’s winningly fresh; she gives great “bumble;” she has beautiful eyes the size of hubcaps, which roll and twinkle and flirt. In the first act, when Brice is an inexperienced gal blustering her way into the big time, Feldstein exudes a nice mix of hard-charging ambition and surprised giddiness when she succeeds. But in song after song, Feldstein’s voice lets her down. Piercing and unpleasant when it gets any higher than her chest, fading and pitchy when it descends even a few steps, it’s simply not a sound you expect to hear on Broadway. Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill wrote some stunners for Funny Girl, including “People” and “Don’t Rain on my Parade.” The latter song sits in Feldstein’s narrow comfort range, and so she blasts it out — particularly its final note — with foghorn force (if not phrasing). Everything else, though, goes sour."

They should have a new Tony category for BEEF. Jesse vs Ramin.

More Vulture. Helen Shaw is blunt AF:

"When it comes to function, Fanny’s songs are the whole caboodle: They must explain Brice’s titanic success, they should carry the narrative forward, and they need to do something painful to our hearts. Feldstein cannot sing them. It seems brutal to place a woman in such an exposed position, where a whole Broadway production rests on notes she can’t sustain. Though, you know, I don’t think it’s inevitable that a strained, everyday voice would necessarily ruin the calculation at the heart of the musical. Funny Girl is itself preoccupied with celebrity, and the mechanisms of fan-love are an un-extractible part of the experience. Why was Brice such an immense star? Watching clips of her work, it seems a mystery; some alchemy must have taken place, and we in the future are missing the chemical ingredients. I can picture a version of Funny Girl that makes that case — that an odd lady with an odd voice nevertheless had it. But Feldstein doesn’t give us that, either. Vocal issues, you can work around. But presence? That one, you gotta have."

Included in Barbra's note to Beanie:

"Have fun at the recording session!"

I’m available!

I think it’s funny that they opened on Barbra’s birthday and not only did she not attend, but she’s getting rave reviews for a role she stopped performing 50 years ago and trashing the star of said revival

The last line of this paragraph by Windman in NYAM

"Without an extraordinary lead performance, “Funny Girl” doesn’t work – which is unfortunately the case here. Vocally, Feldstein is strained and nasal and unable to handle power solos like “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance.” She also overplays the comedy and resorts to mugging. (I question how Feldstein could even be cast as Fanny in a high school or theater camp production.)"

Without an extraordinary lead performance, “Funny Girl” doesn’t work – which is unfortunately the case here. Vocally, Feldstein is strained and nasal and unable to handle power solos like “I’m the Greatest Star,” “People,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “The Music That Makes Me Dance.” She also overplays the comedy and resorts to mugging. (I question how Feldstein could even be cast as Fanny in a high school or theater camp production.)

Tomorrow chez Feldstein.

Washington Post:

"Rather than incandescent, though, Feldstein’s star turn is an earthbound achievement, best when she’s executing the comedy aspect of musical comedy, and less compelling at the music part. A better fit was her Minnie Fay in the “Hello, Dolly!” revival that starred Bette Midler.

Not bad by any measure, I must add: Her vocal skills are adequate. In a workmanlike vehicle built as a galvanizing showcase for its title character, though, you want to be taken for a ride that leaves you dizzy with the acceleration of such songs as “People” and “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” That’s simply the expectation “Funny Girl” sets up, and it’s also simply the case that, no matter how ardently we root for the endearing Feldstein — and we certainly do — that ignition never fully occurs."

Harvey is on WWHL with Andy Cohen plugging his book tonite. Barely a mention of FG.

Is "Cornet Man" still in the show? No one mentions it. How does she manage that?

[quote] The Lyceum is not known for being a musical house. In 35 years of theatergoing, I don't think I've ever seen a musical there.

[quote] You missed seeing us? —Title of Show

You're speaking to the entire world, right?

Relax, Beanie. It’s only a play!

The Variety review from the last thread. r603 there said it's "the most articulate in criticizing the show's problems."

‘Funny Girl’ Review: An Underpowered Revival Brings Fanny Brice Back to Broadway

Will anyone cover the understudy’s performance. It seems like a setup for a Shirley MacLainie Kazan moment.

That Streisand girl didn't win The Tony so why should this pisher named Beanie win it?

R31, Beanie might not return.

What could they possibly pull for a quote from the NYT review?

"She's good"?

And poor dead Isobel Lennart.....gettin' dragged through the mud 68 years later!

[r34] the pull quote is

“Beanie is not stupendous but Ramin has the beef”

Yeah, I've been trying to pull rave or even positive quotes from these reviews all night and it ain't easy......

"IMMENSELY LIKABLE ALWAYS."

Jesse Green

?

I admire Helen Shaw’s review for actually pointing out the mystery of Fanny Brice being a great performer. In all the clips I’ve seen she just comes off as a shameless hambone.

R38, Maybe he meant lickable.

Took less than a half hour after the NYT review was posted for Beanie's first defender to post in the comments:

"I saw the show in previews, and something the critic fails to mention: Not since The Producers and Spam-a-Lot have I seen an audience so engaged with a performer and a show. They were with Ms. Feldstein the whole way. There was even a standing ovation at the end of Act One up in the balcony. That has to count for something."

...does it?

Elisabeth Vincentelli meant lickable...

What irks me more than anything is the revisionism going on in multiple reviews that Beanie was sensational in Hello, Dolly, as if she A- had a role that allowed her to be sensational, and B- Wasn't execrable and annoying and punchable in a role that shouldn't have left much of an impression on anyone either way.

So with the reviews it seems lead actress is down to Foster vs Clarke with Winnigham as a spoiler.

Can Ramin win for best beef?

I was more impressed by Irene Molloy and Cornelius Hackl in that production than the Minnie and Barnaby.

There's plenty of beef over at "Take Me Out" as well.

Does anyone thing that Toni DuBuono could get in for Feature Actress or is there not enough to the role?

Yes I know

I don't blame Beanie. If she had a sense of entitlement or an unrealistic view of her abilities, her ego is getting chopped to pieces right now. The blame belongs to the experienced theater professionals who should have...known...better. Beanie thought she'd be able to carry an expensive Broadway musical on her shoulders. It should have been crystal clear to the adults in the room that she couldn't.

Will the nominators leave it out for Best Revival even if they don’t complete the category like they did to Lightning Thief

Helen Shaw has become my favorite NY theater critic.

When do we hear the bitchery from Charles Isherwood?

r51, I really like Shaw too. She's such a good writer.

Too bad Tim Curry had his stroke. He could take over as Frank-N-Beanie

So far, 3 positive, 8 mixed, 6 negative.

which were the positive??

[quote]I was more impressed by Irene Molloy and Cornelius Hackl in that production than the Minnie and Barnaby.

The replacement Barnaby was a stellar replacement, as will whomever succeeds Beanie next week..

I'm sorry, R54, I didn't realize that site actually said which were which. I was thinking it was the Playbill page that tells "What did they think" and just posted links to the reviews. My apologies.

What a glorious day!!!

[r55] I think in today’s woke crowd, a review that says “she was good but not stupendous” counts as a positive review

Nuveen Kumar r55. Remember that name. It’s going to be plastered all over the theater

Christ! Pretty much all of these reviews are brutal. It does make you wonder what the future of this production will be. Could a great understudy come in and make it worth seeing?

r57, no problem. And worth noting none of the positive reviews so far have been from major publications.

I mean, imagine if Walter Kerr was around, who loved "Cabaret" except for Jill Haworth ( who most people thought was superb!) and gave her a dreadful review. Would he have minced words to coddle and avoid being a Beanie Meanie?

I’m already off book, R61.

I predict beanie gets COVID asap

r61, we may find out this weekend when Beanie's understudy has her first scheduled dates.

I still think the majority of the reviews were softballs, especially for Beanie. Not a one of them (well, maybe ONE of them) said anything negative without making sure to say something positive, either about her in this or her in something else. Did anyone else notice that?

The movie star isn't up to the demands of the role? Get Judy Kaye...stat!

R67 yes I know what you mean. But still, none of the reviews from major publications are the kind of reviews you hope for

R59, "She was good" is how I praise my dog when she doesn't pee in the house.

Yes, for sure, r66. It's truly the fear in these times of being called a bully.

The tone at the opening night party should be awkward.

[Quote] The movie star

r68 you’re kidding right?

[quote] [R67] yes I know what you mean. But still, none of the reviews from major publications are the kind of reviews you hope for

No, for sure not. But let's face it, she should have been getting Moose Murder level reviews. And she really didn't.

R74 I was hoping for Moose Murders style reviews! I can only guess it will close in a month or two

Yes, r73...

Breaking News: Sheridan Smith spotted arriving at Kennedy.

Bitchy cunty reviews are no more. That may not be a bad thing.

Bottom line, the reviews were beyond disappointing.

How long til Jonah Hill lashes out at the critics in a “brave” Instagram post?

There won't be a line outside the August Wilson Theatre tomorrow to purchase tickets.

What's up with all the photos of Beanie in the reviews? There are a variety of them and she's mugging shamelessly in every one, eyes popping out, mouth in a big O. If she was black, you would think Buckwheat was playing Fanny Brice.

Any idea on the advance for FG? Of course deep pockets may let it run longer than it deserves

If they try to put Beanie on instead of the understudy's schedule performance, do ticketholders get their money back?

R81, They were lined up outside the Winter Garden in '64.

There will be a line tomorrow. For returns.

Minority opinion: I don't think these mixed-to-negative reviews matter. Not really.

The title, the legacy of the show and the movie, and Beanie's name (particularly among younger women, who are a huge demo for Bway) will sell the show. Not any reviews.

This production is not closing up shop any time soon.

r64, why didn't they cast you in the first place?

Poor Beanie...

I told you whores! Worst performance I’ve seen since the dead kid in In My Life!

"Beanie? My name is Elizabeth. It's always been Elizabeth. Eliza-beth. Elizabeth."

Brutal reviews… Lea would have probably been fantastic (vocally) but also get tortured by the critics for other reasons, little did they know the (actual) alternative…

Appoarently Beanie is the worst thing to happen to American theatre since John Wilkes Booth.

Maybe this will send Miss Feldstein permanently back to where she really belongs, supporting casts, and spare us the unpleasantness of her neckless self.

The reviews matter r87 in insofar as they won’t help. The show may do fine but it won’t be the blockbuster it could have been.

“It’ll do well with summer tourists”

“No one reads reviews anymore.”

“The reviews will be forgotten by Wednesday.”

“Wicked got bad reviews.”

“It’s an audience show.”

“We just have to act like a hit”

All these things will be said in tomorrow’s meetings. And they’ll wrap over $100 K and feel ok. If they get truly snubbed with nominations that could hurt more.

Beanie will be doing Sondheim, bitches, along with DL favorite Ben Platt. BWAAAAH! Sondheimites, don't jump.

R94, Neckless self?

Too bad beanie likes the puss or Daniel R could console her with his big dick and magically shape shifting nipples.

She sucks, the production is ugly as sin and the direction. is appalling.

She looks like Jonah HIll in a wig.

[quote]A better fit was her Minnie Fay in the “Hello, Dolly!” revival that starred Bette Midler.

Bizarre.

Minnie Fay is a [italic]tertiary[/italic] role without a solo, or really any main part of a song to sing alone and shine! It is a fun little role they gave to a lively fat girl. Acting as if this was a logical on-ramp to starring in Barbra's massive shadow as Fanny Brice in the first ever revival of "Funny Girl" since it opened in 1964 is an inexplicable leap of logic!

Someone recorded Henry Street and posted it.

I thought the same thing. Barbra only had 2 roles on Broadway...a small role in I Can Get It For You Wholesale, then lead in Funny Girl. Its almost like all the critics recieved a bio sheet prior to the reviews so they can make a similar connection with Beanie...on 2 roles and a STAR !

r103 here...I forgot to add that BS stole the show in her small role in ICGIFYW, something Beanie DID NOT do in Dolly.

Streisand's "small role" had a solo comic song.

Was Ben Platt there tonite?

To be honest, Jonah Hill is no great shakes as an actor either. Hes adequate, but nothing special...and to receive Oscar noms ?

Mary isn't Fanny, r96.

The must be a lot of smiles tonight in the Streisand/Brolin house... and not because of the birthday.

Lea Michele must be doing a lot of smiling tonight too. You know she’s been praying for Beanie to fail.

Ben Platt gave an astonishingly bad performance in the Dear Evan Hansen film, Beanie is giving an astonishingly bad performance in Funny Girl, but they’ll just muddle through to the next bad ambition benchmark while counting their daddy lottery accounts. Two fiends who know exactly who they are…

Vulture not nice:

"But in song after song, Feldstein's voice lets her down. Piercing and unpleasant when it gets any higher than her chest, fading and pitchy when it descends even a few steps, it's simply not a sound you expect to hear on Broadway. Styne and lyricist Bob Merrill wrote some stunners for Funny Girl, including "People" and "Don't Rain on my Parade." The latter song sits in Feldstein's narrow comfort range, and so she blasts it out - particularly its final note - with foghorn force (if not phrasing). Everything else, though, goes sour."

"When it comes to function, Fanny’s songs are the whole caboodle: They must explain Brice’s titanic success, they should carry the narrative forward, and they need to do something painful to our hearts. Feldstein cannot sing them. It seems brutal to place a woman in such an exposed position, where a whole Broadway production rests on notes she can’t sustain."

That element of audience expectation, based on experience of the material, especially its songs; it can't erased with good will.

Miss Marmelstein had other scenes in ICGIFYW besides her solo song. It was a supporting part; I think she takes part in another number or two. But Barbra's performance of "Miss Marmelstein" stopped the show. Plus she was in a show with a lot of well-known actors and pros -- Lilian Roth, Harold Lang, Sheree North, Marilyn Cooper, Elliott Gould, etc. made it even more impressive.

One positive about the show: It's hs musical season. So, when the fawning relatives meet their ingenue niece and say," It was better than Broadway," they might be correct.

Can "Merrily" still roll along?

I could be wrong, but I think Funny Girl's next performance is Tuesday. Wonder what those folks are in for.

r88, they didn't have the wig budget for all the ones Lea would shit in.

Are there enough Hillary Clinton voters to keep Funny Girl open till Beanie's contract expires?

Jesse Green shows what a sniveling hack he is.

Beanie's understudy.

More Benko

Beanie could play Totie Fields.

If it's Tuesday this must be Benko...

I don't think Funny Girl will be posting closing notices tomorrow but it's also not going to run for months and months.

Even without Tony love I bet it'll last through summer.

[quote] Can "Merrily" still roll along?

I too wonder if that film will make it. Truly horrible choices in casting were made: two nepotism babies, one of which arguably has tepid vocal abilities, and a D-lister who’s best known at this point for almost blinding his ex-wife by slamming her head into a wall. This project just feels like a mistake.

Liberal press loved it.

Very weird line in Jesse Green's NY Times review of FG:

[quote]A bit later, Nick gets a version of the title song, which though shot for the 1968 film, starring Streisand and Omar Sharif, was cut for good cause.

A song titled "Funny Girl" was written especially for the film, and was certainly NOT cut from it. There was apparently a previous, different song titled "Funny Girl" written for the Broadway show but cut from it, so maybe that's what Green was referring to, but he seems very confused.

In case it hasn't already been posted, here is Deadline's review:

I liked the big Broadway dicks chat better.

Does ATC = All That Cock?

Love, love the show and Beanie.

Loved, loved the show and Beanie.

Loved, loved the show and Beanie.

Loved, loved the show and the second act

All those second string shit outlets mean zero, the big ones panned it. It’s toast, will run maybe to mid June. Beanie will have a breakdown next week, she’s been overwhelmed backstage since first preview.

The Deadline review does the same damning-with-faint-praise thing most of the others does. What really stands out from it is the way the critic slams Lynch:

"The egregious miscasting of Jane Lynch as Fanny’s mother Mrs. Brice does neither the show nor the actor any favors. Her Brooklyn-Yiddish accent comes and goes (so does Feldstein’s for that matter), she bears no resemblance in appearance or personality to the woman playing her daughter, and a curiously restrained delivery during what’s meant to be some of the musical’s most dramatic revelations provides her co-stars with little to play off. When Mrs. Brice breaks some very bad news to Fanny in the second act, she may as well be relaying word of lost luggage."

YOU are the weakest link, Jane!

I want Ramin to be the only nominee.

Wow, they couldn't even get a revival of Funny Girl right...? What a way to blow it. Shame.

This means clear sailing for more musicals based on movies or black people. Great for the woke crowd.

Some of the bitchiest lines are reserved for Jane Lynch! I love the critic who said something like, “…in her cardigan, she looks like she should be in a lighthouse in Maine.”

Beanie seems to be very adept at mugging. Is there a Tony category for that?

[quote]There was even a standing ovation at the end of Act One up in the balcony. That has to count for something." ...does it?

Yes, no leg room.

What kills me about these reviews is we will never see Funny Girl on Broadway again. They totally blew it. There are female performers (Annaleigh Ashford, Stephanie J Block…he’ll even Heather Headley) who would have sung the score thrillingly and made it a smash. By casting Beanie in an I’ll-fated vanity piece, they ruined the legacy.

I hope the rights-holders are fucking proud of themselves.

No opening night flowers at the curtain call? The actors all look embarrassed.

Fuck it. I quit.

As others have said, you can tell many of the critics are trying to be kind to Beanie - though the lack of good things they have to say actually ends up making them crueller than an outright negative review. And it's fucking hilarious.

Now we know why she was having crying fits during rehearsals. If that poster is still around - any news from your friend?

I feel sorry for the understudy. On so soon, and now with a huge amount of attention focussed on her. I hope she pulls it off. Sounds like she couldn't do worse than Beanie.

r49 I think it all adds credence to the story that her family/friends invested in and pulled strings to get her cast. Though I dare say they probably had to invest in a few other shows too.

Alas, she does not suffice.

A TRIUMPH!!!

And yet Feldstein stays strong, letting the pressure drop like one of her fabulous coats slipping off her back onto the floor. Almost three hours after that scene, she's completely won the audience over. No shadows are holding her down.

Feldstein's Brice is earthy, saucy, physical — a lovable underdog. She may not posses Bab's vocal prowess, but she radiates the hunger, wry humor and fragility to be an unlikely heroine for a new generation. Her opening line is a classic and she owns it: “Hello, gorgeous,” she says to the mirror.

She’s a dolt for continuing with the production for this long knowing full-well she was inadequate every day of rehearsal.

(Associated Press, not ABC News)

At least NYTimes was a Rave. That's the paper people read any way

Was Barbra miked when she sang the role?

I feel like celebrating. Quick, someone give me a wig to shit in!

R151, Which institution are you posting from?

Wow, these reviews are unintentionally providing a quick and easy way to separate the honest theater critics from the whores.

Some of these theater writers have relieved us all of the burden of ever having to take them seriously again.

r153 it wasn’t even funny when r117 said it

From NY Times:

[quote] wan new orchestrations for 14 players, based on the glorious originals by Ralph Burns for 25. (You’re going to sell me “People” with two violins?)

Deserves to fail. Honestly.

I’m not gleeful about these reviews but lbh these producers were trying to gaslight us into thinking the very opposite of which was obvious to EVERYBODY - this is a terrible piece of casting.

As a show, FG doesn’t have much of a legacy anyway. The best version of it is the film and even that’s aging badly. There’s no reason to put this on stage. The songs are fine in concert but the show was never that good anyway.

I want to know more about the stunt that Ramin does bouncing from the floor to a chaise in a horizontal position. Why is he in a horizontal position on the floor anyway?

Ramin’s sculpted torso and a raging hard-on couldn’t save this dumpster fire. Emphasis on the dump part, Fatty Girl.

They should sell tickets to today’s marketing meeting instead of the show itself. WAY more hilarity - and dozens more people than the orchestra pit apparently

When is the #JusticeForBeanie March scheduled?

So what do you singing pros think of her ability to conquer the vocal challenges of the role 8 times a week? Will there be frequent absences?

Don’t Bean On My Parade

But where are all the photos from Take Me Out?

Probably coming after the show closes R165.

"In all the clips I’ve seen she just comes off as a shameless hambone."

Please, she was a hilarious farceur.

I was at the opening last evening. You could feel the audience's expectations deflate during I'm The Greatest Star. At best it was earnest and likeable, but I've seen more charismatic performances in high schools. Did Mr. K attempt a characterization? Cuz if he did, I didn't see it.

"Why is he in a horizontal position on the floor anyway?" While trying to seduce Fanny on a chaise lounge in the You Are Woman scene, she suddenly eludes his embrace, sending him to the floor.

R152, yes, Streisand wore a body mic.

I didn't watch Glee, so I never saw Lea Michele's Don't Rain on My Parade until this thread. (Though I did see the car crash on the Tonys.) Vocally she's 100% up to it, but it is also 100% Streisand's interpretation of the song. There is nothing to indicate that if she did the show her performance would be anything but an impersonation, not of Brice but of Streisand. (Second-hand Rose indeed.) Granted, that would still be way better than what they've actually got, but the point we made threads ago is that (in one respect) this is a show like Hamlet, in that if you haven't got a performer of breathtaking talent and a director with a whole new take on it, DON'T DO IT.

It also seems very unwise of the director to have had the ghosts of Fanny's Follies past onstage: it was only ever going to evoke a show that was a hundred times better written in all its aspects and tempt every critic with any kind of theatrical education to mention this.

Will the reception to FUNNY GIRL finally end the career of Michael Mayer, the most overrated, uninspired hack director currently working in theatre?

Frankly, I suspect not. He's too good at toadying up to the rich powers that be.

Thanks R167, and then how does he bounce onto the chaise lounge?

I'm very curious why none of the reviews or chat room posts I've read ever mention how Beanie fares with the song Cornet Man. On the OBC, it's a major vocal sensation for Fanny and Barbra, of course, knocks it out of the park.

But, while everything I've read is very critical of Beanie's renditions, of People, I'm the Greatest Star, Don't Rain on My Parade and Music That Makes Me Dance......none mention Cornet Man.

FUNNY GUUURRRRRL!

Michael Mayer is Gadge Kazan next to me!

Though I haven't seen this version of FB, (and won't!) I did see it at the Menier with, I presume, a similar book by Fierstein and I hated that he turned Eddie, who in the original was her best friend, into another doting, (unrequited) suitor. Ugh.

The relatively tame and brief mentions of Mayer in the reviews proves yet again that the critics do not know who does what on a production. The look, the book, the “take,” the tone etc etc. and yes the success of the performances was as much in his hands as in the designers’ writers‘ and performers’. Sure he can’t make up for sheer lack of ability but a great director can work wonders and a bad one deserves more blame than MM is getting

What quotes from reviews will go on the marquis? “It’s Okay!”

"Beanie ... good."

[quote]What quotes from reviews will go on the marquis?

AIR-CONDITIONED THEATER

If only Beanie's family had agreed to the scene Harvey wrote for the opening of act II where Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes showered after spending time in at a Russian bathhouse... where they sang bout Fanny...

That’s more than half the job R170.

Whose fanny would the sing about?

Well the Post is definitely the most brutal. And the most honest.

[quote]What quotes from reviews will go on the marquis?

I believe it's marquee, R179. Yours is Oscar Wilde's nemesis.

Having seen Julie Benko in a few things I can safely say she’s going to be very well in the Brice role, there’s every possibility it’s going to actually be a “star is born” moment. Unfortunately since this production is 1000 percent a desperate nepotistic shit show, it might not lead to much of anything, this is Beanie’s Titanic alone. It’s sad, the long wait for a Broadway revival and it ended up being an inept, yet ego driven young woman’s hill to cry on, Fuck off fake Hollywood royalty!

From the NY Post:

"In the spoken scenes, the jokes are pushed harder than a broken-down Hummer on a highway"

Does anyone ancient here know if the original ran almost 3 hours?!

Check out FG’s Twitter account to see what they’ll push as pull quotes. So far they are highlighting the kiss-ass AP and Newsweek reviews.

Honestly, the "Everyone gets a trophy" generation got the Fanny they deserved.

[quote]It also seems very unwise of the director to have had the ghosts of Fanny's Follies past onstage: it was only ever going to evoke a show that was a hundred times better written in all its aspects and tempt every critic with any kind of theatrical education to mention this.

What show is that? Perhaps we should discuss it here.

Who are the “Follies” ghosts in this production of “Funny Girl”? Are they characters who are dead? What a rip-off of Follies.

I forgot Mrs. Van Simon was in the movie...

A friend of mine said “I don’t think the reviews will really matter, Beanie has enough fans to make this show last at least through the summer”.

Am I missing something here? Is he delusional or what? Does the general public (non-Broadway fans) care about Beanie that much?

LOL, R191. High time we got back to it.

Beanie falls on her fanny.

R144 I can't believe they are STILL doing that lame schtick at curtain call where the cast pretends to be confused about which side of the stage Beanie will enter from. No wonder the show sucks.

All those publicity photos would be enough to keep me away. I don't recall seeing such obvious mugging in a professional show.

r171, I'm not quite sure how he did it, but, from his position on the floor, I think he used his arm and leg strength for velocity and bounced himself back onto the chaise lounge. It was a funny bit, but uncharacteristic, I think.

Cornet Man made little impression, at least on me. If memory serves, she's flanked by two dancers "playing" the instrument. She attempted the "gutbucket" vocal quality at the end but didn't really pull it off. No "chick-chick-scramble" that I recall.

I thought Nick was supposed to be handsome?

Further to R144's video, I loathe putting reprises of songs at the end of curtain calls.

I saw the Anyone Can Whistle currently running in London over the weekend, and they did the same with 'So Little to Be Sure Of' and it was cloying and awkward and unnecessary. Much like the rest of the preceding two and a half hours.

They chose the wrong actress from Impeachment, it should have been Annaleigh Ashford (Paula Jones)

Im starting to believe that some of the critics who wrote positive/semi-positive reviews did not attend a performance. Either that or they took a bribe to not be brutal (a real possibility)

Like the opening song in the score by Jule Styne and Bob Merrill says, “when a girl isn’t pretty like a Miss Atlantic City” she doesn’t always inspire the constant refrain of screaming applause you hear exploding nightly from the August Wilson Theatre like the eruption of Vesuvius. I’ve heard applause before, but not as loud or as often as the end of every song Beanie Feldstein sings in Funny Girl. Not, in other words, since Barbra Streisand launched the role in 1964 that led to more star-spangled fame, fortune and awards than anyone remembers. [bold] Move over, Barbra. Welcome, Beanie. A new star is born.[/bold]

—Rex Reed

R158, The film version is aging badly? Seriously?

Somebody bought Rex some really, really good drugs.

Beanie looks like a 10 year old and matronly at the same time. She is downright homely.

R203. Who cares what that tired old queen thinks. He did a hatchet job on Barbra in an interview and you know he’s been waiting sixty years to say someone else is brilliant in the role. Well, he can die happy now—deluded but happy.

Does Rex Reed not like Barbra so he is laying it on thick about Beanie’s performance as a dig at Barbra?

Well, consider how much weight Reed's opinion carries.

Rex Reed! Haven’t heard that name in a long time.

Please! Rex Reed can be bought for a burrito at Chipotle, that review is his revenge on Barbra, he’s hated her forever. There is a very interesting through line on all these “positive” reviews, they knew most would be fairly negative, so a few took the opposite take to make sure they’d be ripe for quote harvesting. And the hysterical talk of raucous applause always leaves out the fact it’s the SAME fourteen young paid shills, they cheer at the same time every fucking show. Just like the fake curtain call “comedy” bit, pathetic stuff to bolster bad Beanie. Tragic!

“Feldstein…barely muddles through the songs…”!

“…merely capable…” raves the NY Post!

[quote]No "chick-chick-scramble" that I recall.

I can’t believe they cut one of the show’s most iconic bits!

She a lez?

“It’s the stuff of coupons!”

- NY Post

Do you think Beanie was warned not to read any reviews and to just get on with the job?

Not usually overt as bribes, but what critics do receive are calls from press agents making gentle insinuation about why it would be to their benefit to be “fair” and “generous.” That’s why the purest takes always come from comments threads, random podcasts, and experienced theatre goers. All critics are somewhat corrupted by the relationships.

Would Rex Reed be saying that if it was Melissa McCarthy headlining in Funny Girl?

Rex also said that "A Little Night Music was the most stylish movie musical since Gigi".

R146 yes, Beanie was yelling at everyone at the cast party and blaming them for not supporting her. The cast predicts a bout with covid and the understudy being reviewed ala Pajama Game.

The Florence Foster Jenkins analogy is apt, this show was purchased for BF and as a result no one had their heart in it assuming a failure from day one.

So I guess this means we won’t finally get a stage version of Funny Lady co-starring Ben Platt as Billy Rose to coincide with the film release of Merrily We Roll Along in 2040?

Meanwhile, as expected, Lea Michele has already jumped on this as a shameless opportunity for self promotion, loudly declaring that she once asked Jonathan Groff to inspect her vagina with a desk lamp:

[quote] Beanie was yelling at everyone at the cast party and blaming them for not supporting her.

Are we supposed to believe you r221?

r200 i agree but it seems like every show does it

So what’s the deal with her understudy? Is she going on for Beanie or something for the next show?

If Beanie feigns illness to get out of the show she can kiss broadway goodbye.

R226. Beanie will be out this weekend. It was planned before they started rehearsals. She’ll also be out for a week in August if the show makes it that far.

Ramon’s manic press rep has waded into the dicey waters over on TimeOut critic Adam Feldman’s Facebook page under his review posting. She’s screeching about how unfair people are being critical of a show that employs “thousands” and that everyone needs to say nice things because we should try to be fucking human beings because of Covid. Let me tell you the PR teams are shutting themselves today, and Beanie is already having mental spasms. She and BFF Ben Platt are absolutely unhinged mental cases in private, not pretty, ask the stage management of DEH about Platt…spoiled and insane.

*shitting! ^ but they are probably shutting down too!

Beanie and FG nominated.

How long before Ben Platt posts a “brave” Instagram post about critics who “don’t understand” Beanie’s talent?

Only one more year until the CBS Sunday Morning segment, "Beanie Emerges From Isolation To Show Her Moxie".

Then she'll take over as Guinevere at the Beaumont.

Lord, all this talk makes me wish John Simon lived just long enough to review Beanie and Funny Girl but since he hated Streisand as well, he might have found something to praise.

Beanie Changes The Definition of the Word Talent!

I worked at the New York Observer 15 years ago, and everyone knew Rex Reed had long since stopped writing his own reviews. This was no doubt crapped out by a 24-year-old staffer who maybe, just maybe, actually saw the production.

r203, Hmmm...considering the Observer already posted a much less favorable review last night, it would be interesting to know if they always intended to post two reviews (as some sites do), or they wanted a more positive one in response, or Rex just wanted to grind his ax.

Saw this interesting question on ATC:

Because of the whole Jew-face issue, will every Fanny from now on be expected to be Jewish?

THAT would really limit the potential actors who could sing this role.

R237, remember that many critics hated Dancin' and they sent two reviewers from the Village Voice to review it. The first hated it but when the second critic hated it as well, they simply didn't run it.

[quote]Beanie Emerges From Isolation To Show Her Moxie

I ain't cleaning that up.

The Drama League didn't give Plaza Suite much love.

In a break from Beaniemania, a tidbit concerning DL fave and erstwhile ACL Zack, Mario Lopez

[quote] Back in 2018, she allegedly threatened former longtime Extra host Mario Lopez with pushing damaging personal stories about him if he did not re-sign with the show, multiple sources familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast. One former staffer likened Gregorisch-Dempsey’s threats to a “blackmail attempt,” noting that she told Lopez at the time she would “ruin” him if he didn’t return to the show. (Lopez ended up leaving for rival Access Hollywood.

One wonders what the "damagine personal stories" were.

Beanie and Jane Lynch nominated for “ DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD” …. But no nomination for Patti? Wtf?

Anyone know the email for the producer of A Strange Loop?

Patti’s exclusion (as well as Mary-Louise Parker’s) is explained if you scroll all the way down, R243.

Patti won it before. You can only win the sward once r243

R246 I just read that now

[quote]I didn't watch Glee, so I never saw Lea Michele's Don't Rain on My Parade until this thread. (Though I did see the car crash on the Tonys.) Vocally she's 100% up to it, but it is also 100% Streisand's interpretation of the song. There is nothing to indicate that if she did the show her performance would be anything but an impersonation, not of Brice but of Streisand.

Whenever Lea sang from "Funny Girl" she was singing as her character who worshiped Streisand. Even in the live "Glee" tour, they all appeared as their "Glee" characters on stage. She can handle a new production's version.

R227, That is so unprofessional.

R227, Beanie could always fake a pregnancy like I did to get out of Woman of the Year.

Then I announced a convenient miscarriage a few weeks later.

Ha!

R223, Did she provide a clothespin for his nose?

I couldn't agree more, r249.

[quote] Beanie and Jane Lynch nominated for “ DISTINGUISHED PERFORMANCE AWARD” …. But no nomination for Patti? Wtf?

You gals all need to take a breath before posting. I know you always came first when you used to have sex, but it's not a race here.

“The best show you can get same-day discount tickets to at the TKTS booth!”

They should put R189's comment on the marquee.

Same with Mathew Broderick. You can only win it once. Sarah was nominated, however. Guess she didn't win it for ANNIE back in the day

[quote]Somebody bought Rex some really, really good drugs.

You could have just inserted the period after "Rex."

R203, I am puzzled by Rex Reed's review, it just doesn't read like one of his reviews.

That said, he has never missed an opportunity to bash Streisand, or Patti for that matter.

By praising Beanie, is he dissing Streisand?

Also, by praising Beanie, he knows he'll see his name in the ads.

[quote]By praising Beanie, is he dissing Streisand?

"Move over, Barbra, a new star is born" is clearly a diss. Also one of the most moronic statements ever put into print.

But it will be on the marquee, R260. You can bet on that.

My favorite Rex Reed quote was from his description of the sets of the catastrophic remake of Lost Horizon: “Twelve million bucks and it still looks like it was catered by Trader Vics.” He also wrote it was “Brigadoon with chopsticks” and “should be frozen like a chow mein TV dinner.”

I LOVE BEANIE'S FANNY!

My TITS! Where are my TITS???

Tonight you will be applauding my Fanny! ...well....Tuesday night.....I'm giving my Fanny a few days' rest.

Sexy Rexy is now the lead quote on the FG homepage.

Yep, r266...

What email R244?

R267, 83-year-old Rex Reed trying to be relevant.

[quote]Sexy Rexy is now the lead quote on the FG homepage.

"Explosively entertaining!" makes me think of explosive diarrhea.

I noticed that the poster illustration of Beanie has been modified so that it no longer looks as though she's talking on a cellphone.

I so look forward to the day that we all stop talking about Beanie baby...Hopefully, Labor Day...But now she has to do 8 shows a week. Let's see how that goes...

Goodbye, cruel world!

I’m dreading seeing this in 2 weeks. You just know there will be relentless stan screaming / hurrahs! from the mezzanine every time le bean makes her entrance.

Funny Girl is so synonymous with Barbra Streisand it's impossible for any other actress in the world to attempt to play Fanny Brice because that really is Barbra's role, she was pure magic in it and no matter who played Brice she would of course be compared to Barbra's legendary performance and of course she would be considered as falling short of it. It's a no-win situation for any actress.

And it is just insane that the role was cast with Beanie Feldstein, actress who is 100% the product of nepotism and connections, who is uglier than a mud fence and fat as a blimp.

How long before they announce the standby will be MATINEE FANNY.

[quote] Funny Girl is so synonymous with Barbra Streisand it's impossible for any other actress in the world to attempt to play Fanny Brice because that really is Barbra's role, she was pure magic in it and no matter who played Brice she would of course be compared to Barbra's legendary performance and of course she would be considered as falling short of it.

mlop is that you?

[quote]I admire Helen Shaw’s review for actually pointing out the mystery of Fanny Brice being a great performer. In all the clips I’ve seen she just comes off as a shameless hambone.

Fanny Brice was one of those entertainers who was a huge star in her day but just didn't translate to later generations, like Al Jolson or Rudy Vallee. Audiences back then loved them, but when modern people just as us look at old footage, we're just like "I don't get this at all. Why were they so beloved?"

What nepotism? Her father is a rock tour accountant and her mother is a costume designer.

She's Jonah Hill's sister

R278 = Ben Platt

It's not just the performers, r277, it was the form. The vaudeville style died out.

[quote]Was Barbra miked when she sang the role?

There were no body microphones back in those days. That technology hadn't been invented yet.

Rex Reed can't wait to shop lift the Original Cast Recording!

r282...

"Funny Girl, which opened March 26, 1964, was the first Broadway show to use body mikes"

[quote]Jane Lynch is bizarrely cast as Fanny’s protective Jewish mother—in her knit woolen sweater, she looks like she should be running a lighthouse in Maine

GOLD!

[quote]Was Barbra miked when she sang the role?

If she wasn't personally miked, the front of the stage was.

[quote] she looks like she should be running a lighthouse in Maine

She looks like she IS a lighthouse in Maine

Will Funny Girl receive any acting Tony nods? Ramin and Jared seem to be getting the most consistently positive notices.

That “lighthouse in Maine” comment about Jane Lynch is hysterical. But I almost want her to get a nomination just to drive Lea insane. If you have told me ten years ago that it would be Jane who was closer to a FG Tony nod over Lea, I wouldn’t have believed you. Yet here we are.

I don’t think Beanie survives these reviews for a nomination this year. There are simply other, better options.

Why don't they just give her a special *Participation* Tony?

Nominations and even awards can be bought

R289 Can they nickname the special Tony a 'Beanie?'

R167, Brice was not a "farceur." She was more of a variety artist and did not appear much in regular scripted comedies.

As in, "I've got a Beanie, baby".

There was a segment with Fanny Brice in some late-1930s or 1940s film. I was amazed at how unfunny I found the whole thing.

Brice is actually quite wonderful in The Great Ziegfeld. Check it out sometime.

[quote]Brice is actually quite wonderful in The Great Ziegfeld. Check it out sometime.

Yes, that's pretty much the only film of her that I've seen. Obviously, it was very broad comedy with the Yiddish accent, and some people just don't like that, especially some people living today.

This is the movie I was talking about in R294

Fanny was a popular singer-comedienne, not a comic genius, r297. Again, the vaudeville style died out and her shtick doesn't hold up for a modern audience unless you put it in historical perspective. How much of the Carol Burnett Show still holds up? In the end, you may still not find it funny, but you understand why early audiences did. I've always liked Mrs. Cohen at the Beach.

Fanny was friends with Katharine Hepburn. She died while Hepburn was on location in the Belgian Congo filming "The African Queen".

Lauren Bacall, who was there, wrote in "By Myself" that Hepburn was bereft when word reached them that Fanny had died.

Beanie will be getting the special Tony "participation" sticker

The Carol Burnett Show humor holds up.

"I don't get this at all. Why were they so beloved?"

Because Brice's brand of burlesque humor was (and remains funny) , performed with affection (unlike the mean=spirited "comedy" of today), and, most important, done with elegance. Like all great clowns, her low-crotch comic antics were offset by her style, grace and patrician beauty.

I don’t think Beanie can be faulted for having an unrealistic view of her own abilities. She’s had people coddling her her whole life, and she’s had a handful of very well-received screen appearances.

But the “old pros” in the cast - Lynch, Ramin, Toni Dibuono, Marty Moran - they had to see what the truth was, that their leading lady was an empty vessel.

I’m surprised Rex Reed’s quote wasn’t, “Better than Barbra!”

She just bombed on the Broadway and she's unlikely to become a major film star so the next obvious step for the Bean would be a sitcom on Fox.

I"m thinking: "BEANIE!!!" for a title

Beanie, Beanie, Beanie Bum Bum

Beanie Bum Bum!

I LOVE BEANIE

I DREAM OF BEANIE

IT’S ME, BEANIE!

I MARRIED BEANIE

BEANIE’S ISLAND

We've got Beanie! *twirls*

"Patrician beauty" r302? Brice looked very Jewish.

Not all of it, r301, and Carol admits that herself. Why do you think the complete full hour shows aren't aired? They're 30 minutes of "Carol & Friends".

I wonder who decides which skits are cut, R310?

Beanie isn’t even doing broad vaudeville in FG, she’s doing Lon Chaney getting his mask ripped off in the silent Phantom of the Opera. She is mugging in such a wild way it’s uncomfortable, there isn’t any comic impulses in it, it’s just this weird energy that a any moment she’s going to start screaming and not stop. Jane Lynch goes between that level of mugging and then a serious “nothing” she just stands still and says a line a room temperature. Really bad stuff.

The 30 minute Carol & Friends syndicated show mostly cut all the musical numbers because of right's issues....plus, the musical numbers tend to feel very dated.

And, other than the great Mackie costumes, they're boring as hell.

[quote]Beanie isn’t even doing broad vaudeville in FG, she’s doing Lon Chaney getting his mask ripped off in the silent Phantom of the Opera. She is mugging in such a wild way it’s uncomfortable, there isn’t any comic impulses in it, it’s just this weird energy that a any moment she’s going to start screaming and not stop.

Just as she did in HELLO, DOLLY!, and unaccountably received some good reviews for it. Even in some of the FUNNY GIRL pans, some of the critics said she was a "delight" in DOLLY!, whereas I for one found her performance annoying, insufferable, and tremendously off-putting. But at least, in that show, the negative effect was nowhere near as great as it must be in FG, because the role of Minnie Fay is minuscule compared to Fanny Brice.

R267, Rex Reed also gave "House of Gucci" a rave review.

[quote]Beanie isn’t even doing broad vaudeville in FG, she’s doing Lon Chaney getting his mask ripped off in the silent Phantom of the Opera.

Beanie, darling, call me. I’ve got the perfect role for you. And half of it’s even pre-recorded.

I hated those stupid Mrs. A-Wiggins sketches. And Harvey breaking up so much by Tim Conway should have gotten Harvey his almost-fired note from Carol years before she first fired and then re-hired him. Very unprofessional and not that funny, other than being built up to a running joke in itself.

Here's Fanny Brice as Baby Snooks, with no less than Judy Garland as her straight man.

Fellow Dakota resident Lauren Bacall nearly tore Rex Reed's head off when he wrote a thoroughly vicious review of Woman of the Year in 1981.

R319. Well, I guess sometimes Rex gets it right because WOTH was a giant turd.

By a miracle of critical revisionism, Beanie's Minnie Fay in "Hello Dolly" has suddenly become one of the most hilarious and beloved performances in recent Broadway history (never mind what was, or wasn't, said at the time). It's clear that her upcoming sitcom has to be "Minnie Fay," the side-splitting misadventures of a hat shop clerk in old-time New York; each episode will end with a rousing iteration of Minnie Fay's catchphrase, "I'm nobody's second banana!"

Here's a lot of the backstage details on the original Funny Girl and its run. The impressive Barbra quote ad from Broadway is here (scroll down the page). You can tell even then that the majority didn't think FG was a great show, but that Barbra certainly 'arrived' as a big star in it.

R282 and R286, Barbra Streisand wore a body mic and there were floor mics as well. Body mics were in use on Broadway at least as early as 1961 when Anna Maria Alberghetti wore one in CARNIVAL!.

Was Rex Reed behind in his Dakota HOA fees and Marc Platt took care of them?

If it weren't for the family segments which spun off Mamas Family, Carol's show would likely be as remembered as Laugh In. They tried forever to make her trademark the charwoman. If you ever saw those skits, its amazing they thought that character had any appeal, even originally.

The charwoman was a fucking pox on that hilarious show.

I think the Rex Reed quote may also be making up for his criticism of overweight actresses. He got in a lot of trouble commenting on Melissa McCarthy’s weight. My bet is someone in Rex’s camp is trying to make amends.

Burnett's show lasted much longer and had a broader appeal than Laugh-In.

While it has not aged well, Burnett had the same cache that Saturday Night Live does today. (Maybe not Saturday Night in its first few seasons, but certainly the popularity it has now in the 2020s)

With her mugging and minimal or at least overextended talent, What is being perceived as progress for fat women actually seems like a step backwards.

R327, At 83?

Why everyone crucifyin Beany?

[quote] I hated those stupid Mrs. A-Wiggins sketches. And Harvey breaking up so much by Tim Conway should have gotten Harvey his almost-fired note from Carol years before she first fired and then re-hired him. Very unprofessional and not that funny, other than being built up to a running joke in itself.

mlop, is that you?

I think DL needs to prepare itself for the fact that Beanie will be nominated. She won’t win, but she will be nominated.

[quote] By a miracle of critical revisionism, Beanie's Minnie Fay in "Hello Dolly" has suddenly become one of the most hilarious and beloved performances in recent Broadway history (never mind what was, or wasn't, said at the time).

Listen, hon, no one responded when I posted this sentiment 18 hours before you did, so expect crickets.

I thought Beanir was fine in Hello Dolly, but she certainly didn't steal the show.

I responded with a WW, hon.

Don't let's ask for the moon...

[quote] mlop, is that you?

Don’t be silly. Everything is spelled correctly.

Beanie didn’t get nominated for anything for Hello, Dolly! Why would she get nominated for this?

I’ll bet it gets complete snubbed.

From Broadway Remembered:

DO NOT FLAME BEANIE. PERIOD. EVER. YOU WILL BE BLOCKED IF YOU DO. WE HAVE MENTIONED THIS MULTIPLE TIMES. We do not tolerate bullying here.

Edit: Rumors that Beanie's father is financing this are FALSE. More people who flame her and continue so spread lies about her are being removed. She CAN sing. She CAN act. She does them well. Full stop.

Broadway Remembered had stated its boundaries.

While I find Shocktheatre annoying as hell, I AM enjoying how much he is making the insufferable Singapore/Fling reveal his true inner Gretchen Wieners

R242 Already it’s own thread:

I find shocktheatre kind of funny, and yes, it's great he's making SIngapore/Fling upset!

[quote]I don’t think Beanie survives these reviews for a nomination this year. There are simply other, better options.

Critics don't nominate or vote for The Tonys.

It is practically law that unappealing, overweight, or barely talented Jewish performers are to be treated as revelations because otherwise you're an anti-Semite. Period.

Plus, I read an Instagram post from some Millennial/Gen Z poster who brusquely stated, "A Broadway show opened last night. The reviews were not good. Now it is time to move on, not time to contribute anymore to this unproductive conversation!" Gawd, is anyone aware of how insulting virtue-signalling other adults is, how completely inappropriate it is to suggest and demand how others should think or comport themselves!? At $150 bucks a seat I imagine we can all say what we wish, as Broadway is not some non-profit institution devoted to the underprivileged, quite the opposite!

"I hated those stupid Mrs. A-Wiggins sketches. And Harvey breaking up so much by Tim Conway should have gotten Harvey his almost-fired note from Carol years before she first fired and then re-hired him. Very unprofessional and not that funny, other than being built up to a running joke in itself."

These were unbearable, as were the skits with Carol as Queen Elizabeth. Tim Conway pretty much ruined everything he was in. And Havey Korman's fake mugging was way tiresome.

Datalounge has no taste.

The Fanny Brice numbers/sketches from both "Everybody Sing" and "Ziegfeld Follies" are PAINFUL! I mean Ritz Brothers painful.

Fanny makes even Judy Garland look bad!

Mimi Hines doing Fanny as Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's

[quote] Plus, I read an Instagram post from some Millennial/Gen Z poster who brusquely stated, "A Broadway show opened last night. The reviews were not good. Now it is time to move on, not time to contribute anymore to this unproductive conversation!" Gawd, is anyone aware of how insulting virtue-signalling other adults is, how completely inappropriate it is to suggest and demand how others should think or comport themselves!? At $150 bucks a seat I imagine we can all say what we wish, as Broadway is not some non-profit institution devoted to the underprivileged, quite the opposite!

I saw that on Todd Buonopane's IG. I wasn't sure if he wrote it or just cut and pasted it from some viral kumbaya bullshit post that's making the rounds on "Everyone gets a gold star for trying" social media.

r350, to be fair, his Tweet--which varies slightly from what r345 posted--and the follow-up seemed aimed at industry folk, not general audiences. And frankly it makes a lot of sense. People within the business should probably keep their mouths shut on social media about other shows' failures for multiple reasons. It's smart not to make enemies with potential future collaborators and employers.

People outside the industry--especially paying customers--should be free to say whatever they want.

(Also I may be predisposed to give Jeffrey Weinerslav the benefit of the doubt. ¯_(ツ)_/¯ )

Wasn't Todd Buonopane publicly shitcanned from the Shrek tour for unprofessional conduct / diva tantrums?

How awful. He sounds like a nightmare!

When I think "Jewish mother" Jane Lynch immediately comes to mind!

How long was Streisand in the original run? It was on Broadway from 1964-1967 but she didn't stay for the entire run.

March 10, 1964 - December 25, 1965

Thank you r357. I knew a DLer would have an answer in two minutes! 😊

Why did Sydney Chaplin leave before Streisand and Johnny Desmond replaced him?

Was Sydney in demand?

[quote]The Carol Burnett Show humor holds up.

That's certainly a matter of opinion. I find many of her old sketches unwatchable. She also suffered from a bizarre notion that Tim Conway was the funniest man who ever lived, rather than the painfully unfunny hack that he actually was.

R359 The story is posted above on the FG fan page.

Mama was funny on Carol Burnett.

Note to Beanie’s and Ben’s daddies: when you buy the kid a career you gotta buy some good reviews, too.

They get what they pay for, r363.

No, r351 it matters not at all if you're "in the biz", nobody needs to be instructed how to think, speak, or act, we're not a football team.

I'm not a musical performer but still an actor and I am not attempting to be part of a fucking approved politeness club. I will have whatever opinion I like just as I had been doing before the virtue scolders decided it was their role to instruct the rest of us how to behave.

If a show stinks, it stinks and there's always been a lot to say about misguided shows that don't work. That's show biz baby, so get over it.

^Thank you, Miss Lawson

Broadway doesn’t go for booze and dope.

R367, don't look at us

r356...she did 18 months on Broadway, then 6 months in London.

But when you count how many shows she actually did on autopilot, cutting numbers because she wanted to get home or sleepwalking through the entire evening, then really she only did 20 weeks, tops.

If you're in the biz, I think it's fair to speak out for all the talented ladies who would have been better had they had to opportunity to win the role, rather than be born to someone to produce the show for them.

Unless you were part of the cast or crew, r370, you have NO idea how many she walked through.

I met Mimi briefly several years ago and she told me out of nowhere that she was the first (only) woman Wayland Flowers slept with.

Did he put his hand up her Hinesquarters?

[quote]If it weren't for the family segments which spun off Mamas Family, Carol's show would likely be as remembered as Laugh In.

For me the Family sketches are still as funny today as they were back during their original airings. The acting and writing were both top-notch (some were almost like mini-plays), so they hold up well.

Carol's Fanny...

[quote]For me the Family sketches are still as funny today as they were back during their original airings.

When people say things haven't aged well, they aren't talking about to people old enough to have seen/heard them the first time.

[quote]By a miracle of critical revisionism, Beanie's Minnie Fay in "Hello Dolly" has suddenly become one of the most hilarious and beloved performances in recent Broadway history (never mind what was, or wasn't, said at the time).

I too have certainly noticed this. I think maybe some of the critics and others have been retroactively over-praising Beanie as Minne Fay to a ridiculous degree as a way of justifying their drubbing of her performance as Fanny Brice -- you know, sort of, "We don't always hate her, but...."

Is it too late for Nikki Renee Daniels to go on as Fanny?

Many of the Carol sketches, especially the non-movie ones are just painful to watch. And much as I love Carol, there's an extremely limited range she operates from. And Jeez, I HATE her singing. That vibrato seems to veer into the Tarzan yell every time.

The Family sketches are simply brilliant. Carol said Eunice was based on her mother and that's why she never made her truly grotesque.

Beanie's no Anna Maria Alberghetti...

[quote][Streisand's] towering vibrato is the hill Beanie Feldstein has to climb in the revival currently mounted at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway, and the pizazz, accordingly, flies fast and loose. Her Fanny Brice lands at a lower altitude, though: both funny and girlish but never really big.

What an odd choice of words.

[quote] Unless you were part of the cast or crew, [R370], you have NO idea how many she walked through.

Sure, Jan.

Barbra herself has admitted this, so what's the point of being so protective of your goddess?

One of Fanny's contemporaries...

Carol was approached for Fanny before Streisand got the role and Carol allegedly told the producers "You need a Jewish girl."

"There's one dame who could play me, and that's Joan Davis." - Fanny Brice.

For Brice, skinny and gawky was more important than Jewish.

SKIN OF OUR TEETH: NY Times Critics' Pick...

My favorite line from the EW review:

[quote] He gazes at Feldstein's Fanny with real affection...

Funny enough, the NYT has given Critic's Picks to everything that's opened since the 14th...except Funny Girl.

Even if the designation meant more now, have to wonder if it will do any good for The Skin of Our Teeth. Its box office numbers are dire. I respect that they did such a lavish production of a classic play, but there seems to be minimal interest in it.

Super 8 footage of Streisand's Funny Girl.

All the big stars came to the opening.

Beanie’s pussy is stinking up the stage at the August Wilson—and it smells worse than my nether regions.

Brace yourselves for even more manic Beanie PR, sounds like the lead producers are terrified about the next two months ahead. Everyone is nervous Beanie will have a full breakdown. She became inconsolable at the end of last night’s after after party.

Tell us more, R393

I saw Strange Loop tonight. Not a fan of that meta, self-referential thing. At. All.. Not sure who this show is for, with the n-bombs, bareback loads and AIDS pageantry.

Oh shit, I got so caught up in bashing Beanie last night, I totally forgot....

OP, your title is garbage.

[quote]Many of the Carol sketches, especially the non-movie ones are just painful to watch. And much as I love Carol, there's an extremely limited range she operates from. And Jeez, I HATE her singing. That vibrato seems to veer into the Tarzan yell every time.

[quote][Streisand's] towering vibrato is the hill Beanie Feldstein has to climb in the revival currently mounted at the August Wilson Theatre on Broadway,

Amazing how many people have no idea what the word "vibrato" means.

As other posters said, the pictures from the production show her mugging for the camera and making an O face. It looks like a high school production.

[quote] I saw Strange Loop tonight. Not a fan of that meta, self-referential thing. At. All.. Not sure who this show is for, with the n-bombs, bareback loads and AIDS pageantry.

The woke? After all, they're taking over Broadway.

Poor thing just looks oddly matronly in those wigs and costumes.

[quote]R61 Could a great understudy come in and make it worth seeing?

Britney’s free. Or maybe PAM??

[quote]I saw Strange Loop tonight. Not a fan of that meta, self-referential thing. At. All.. Not sure who this show is for, with the n-bombs, bareback loads and AIDS pageantry.

Woke theatergoers (but mostly those working in non-profit theater their entire career) who will be deliriously thrilled with any show in which not one white actor appears and at least a couple of the actors use They/Them pronouns, or call themselves Queer.

The Skin of Our Teeth receives a major production what, every 10 or 15 years? I read about the revivals/revisals and yet, never have any interest in attending. I don't even want to read it.

What is it about this piece that keeps generating new productions?

Can't find any video of Beanie new found iconic performance in "Hello Dolly" anywhere.

[quote]Thank you [R357]. I knew a DLer would have an answer in two minutes!

It's part of the test you do to get your Gold Gay Card.

R388, I wonder whether the same could be said of Jonathon Groff and Lea Michele.

Michael Mayer should be fucking ashamed of himself. He humiliated Beanie by letting this vanity piece go forward.

He ruined: her

He ruined himself

He ruined the legacy of Funny Girl.

No producer will now touch the thing for another 100 years after this debacle.

Seriously he fucked it up horribly

MARY!

R393, did you attend the after party?

I haven't left the Dakota in a year.

[Quote] As other posters said

Then no need for you to

[quote]I haven't left the Dakota in a year. —Rex Reed

And the world would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for that.

Did Michael Mayer not show up to the Spring Awakening documentary premier last night? Is he in hiding?

[quote]She and BFF Ben Platt are absolutely unhinged mental cases in private, not pretty, ask the stage management of DEH about Platt…spoiled and insane.

Can you assume we don't know any of the stage management at DEH and just tell us yourself?

Agree, r403, I read hundreds of plays as a theater major, but never SKIN. Always put off by it for some reason. This new one doesn't sound very persuasive a reason to go.

For me, it's the ice age element of the play that sounds too ridiculous.

Uh, we currently are living in an ice age R416. What are you talking about?

Your teachers must've loved you, R417.

Ok R418. 🙄

This is common knowledge. To call an impending ice age element of a play “ridiculous” is ridiculous. We are literally in one.

But whatever.

R 416, um that kind of ridiculousness has long been a part of comedy. The Flintstones spun how many seasons out of it.

I do not know if it is ever done, but my favorite part of the script is when the actors ask audience members to donate their seats to be chopped up into firewood to save humanity. Then ushers are supposed to walk to the stage carrying smashed up seats from the theater. Then a dinosaur and a mamoth come to gather with the family around the fire.

The ice age lasts for minutes--but it is delightful.

If you ask me it is the worldwide flood that is truly ridiculous.

Skin of Our Teeth was written to intentionally break as many theatrical conventions as possible. It’s supposed to be surreal and weird.

[quote] Skin of Our Teeth was written to intentionally break as many theatrical conventions as possible.

Just like my most nominated ever ever in all of recorded history groundbreaking play that you're racist if you don't like even though it failed on Broadway [italic] twice [/italic] and won zero out of four [italic] thousand [/italic] nominations and I wear Prada thongs under my Urban Outfitters overalls.

The production of SKIN OF OUR TEETH in the park a number of years ago wasn't very good, but the rewritten "break the 4th wall" early monologue for Kristen Johnson as Sabina was hilarious.

The outer critics are out! No Hugh, No Sutton, No Katrina, NO BEANIE!

Those are some shit-tastic nominations. Birthday Candles scored more than The Music Man and Funny Girl put together.

R424, link?

OCC noms

OCC don’t mean shit.

I don't understand how Hangmen was considered ineligible, but The Lehman Trilogy was eligible. Hangmen never opened in 2020, but Lehman had a full scale production in 2019 at the Armory.

When it was at the Armory they didn't invite Tony voters nor the OCC idiots.

Do you blame us? We didn't need any of those idiots to sell out!

[quote] The outer critics are out! No Hugh, No Sutton, No Katrina, NO BEANIE!

So, in other words, they’ve gotten the nominations right so far.

No, they nominated Deb Messing.

Let’s be happy for Debra. She needs this nomination.

Nice channeling of the insufferable Jeremy O. Harris R422

Why is not one nominated for How I Learned to Drive? Debra fucking Messing over MLP?

Since How I Learned to Drive played Off-Bway with the same cast, I presume they were all up for Outer Circle Awards at that time... and probabaly won some.

Leave Messing alone. She's in a Broadway play where she's onstage the whole ninety minutes and people are loving her. She never did anything to us.

[QUOTE] Since How I Learned to Drive played Off-Bway with the same cast

Three out five cast members are the same as the original production (Parker, Morse, Day).

And the OCC is giving Parker, Morse and Day some sort of "special commendation" this year even if they left out the original and current director Mark Brokaw.

Does anyone think Hugh Jackman won't attend the Tonys if he's not nominated? Though I guess he will be with such meager competition.

All this talk of Funny Girl prompted me to listen to the soundtrack of Funny Lady which I hadn't done in many years. I was reminded how much goofier and truly Fanny Brice-like Stresiand allowed her self to be in the sequel with several low comedic Yiddishe numbers like I Got a Code in My Doze, So Long Honey Lamb (with Ben Vereen), and Am I Blue. Of course, in most of the film she's swanning around like Norma Shearer and dressed like Kay Francis.

If Beanie 's revival becomes a financial hit, how long before Michael Mayer creates a stage version with his favorite star?

Thanks, R440. I missed that.

Forgetting Lea, is there anyone that could play this part in the last 10-20 years and put asses in the seats? Or is basically just a Barbra one and done?

[quote] Leave Messing alone. She's in a Broadway play where she's onstage the whole ninety minutes and people are loving her.

No they aren't.

What happened to the Lady Gaga Funny Girl with Rosie O’Donnell?

They didn't want to deprive us the opportunity to stick it to Beanie.

Spear of misbegotten revivals, I sure do want to see THIS

R448 My God. You can't unsee

That Wokelahoma was worse than Covid.

[quote OP, your title is garbage.

STFU r396. Nips, Dicks and Beanie. you did just fine OP

[quote]I don't understand how Hangmen was considered ineligible, but The Lehman Trilogy was eligible. Hangmen never opened in 2020, but Lehman had a full scale production in 2019 at the Armory.

Hangmen had a full Off-Broadway production several years ago, and would have been eligible then. Before you post about not understanding why a show is not eligible for awards, you might want to read the eligibility parameters and also familiarize yourself with the show's history.

[quote]The Skin of Our Teeth receives a major production what, every 10 or 15 years? I read about the revivals/revisals and yet, never have any interest in attending. I don't even want to read it.

At least you're keeping an open mind about it.

It's a brilliant play and a Pulitzer Prize winner.

[quote] Hangmen had a full Off-Broadway production several years ago, and would have been eligible then. Before you post about not understanding why a show is not eligible for awards, you might want to read the eligibility parameters and also familiarize yourself with the show's history.

Or since I actually WONDERED about it, you could have just answered me like you did without being a massive fetid cunt about it.

Tallulah's Skin of Our Teeth would have been a thing to behold.

Lea Michele posted a photo with Krysta Rodriguez this morning and captioned it “Liza and Barbra.” She still thinks Funny Girl is within reach.

R454, I didn't insult you, I merely suggested that you might want to do a little research before posting that you don't understand something. I'm sorry if that mere suggestion sent you into a rage.

Yeah, well, assholes never admit when they're assholes.

The real assholes are the posters who keep saying "Link?" instead of doing their own damn search.

[quote]The bar at the August Wilson Theater, a lounge the theater’s owner Jordan Roth opened last year, was quiet after the curtain fell over Broadway’s first revival of “Funny Girl.” Save the chatter of interviews to the press and some small talk over sandwiches laid out for those who stayed behind, the atmosphere inside the theater in New York City on Sunday was hushed, subdued even

Yeah, I bet it was

[quote]“My passion and my commitment and my care for the story is an overwhelming sensation, which leads to perfectionism and passion and needing to do right by Fanny every second,” she unburdened, the lobby’s hush now a salve.

Beanie thinks she's a perfectionist...

You can tell Karimloo and Lynch know they're in a stinker.

I watched a video of Hangman (maybe it was a movie theatre broadcast of the British cast). I was bored to death and couldn't finish it.

Did I miss something?

R461-Nope. That's all there is. And it's not much.

HANGMEN is fantastic, you dullards.

In the OK tour the Will Parker and Ado Annie are both trans

OMG two other Beanie threads. The world is topsy turvy.

Watching the video, even the opening night curtain call was poorly executed.

And where were the traditional roses that the leading lady is always presented on opening night?

Even Pam Anderson got those at her Chicago debut.

r448 they look like a bunch of junkies who were rounded up in Tompkins Square Park.

Beanie is such a fat ugly pig, all I can see is her brother in drag. I can't get past it.

[quote] Beanie is such a fat ugly pig

that comment is really just foul. Wit and bitchiness is fine, but really? You give bitches a bad name.

r469 perhaps you should try Reddit.

DIAGF, r468/r470.

...and I can't stand Beanie. You're just vile.

[quote]In the OK tour the Will Parker and Ado Annie are both trans.

Everything really is up to date in Kansas City.

[quote]All this talk of Funny Girl prompted me to listen to the soundtrack of Funny Lady which I hadn't done in many years. I was reminded how much goofier and truly Fanny Brice-like Stresiand allowed her self to be in the sequel with several low comedic Yiddishe numbers like I Got a Code in My Doze, So Long Honey Lamb (with Ben Vereen), and Am I Blue. Of course, in most of the film she's swanning around like Norma Shearer and dressed like Kay Francis.

It was a sequel. She was under contract.

r471 she's a fat ugly pig. Sorry, but she is.

Do we think Beanie even attempted to TRY and lose weight/get in shape for the opening? She’s seems awfully unfit. Hope she has a good trainer to stand 8 shows a week.

r475 she a total product of nepotism. Those types usually don't try too hard.

[quote]It was a sequel. She was under contract.

She had a multi-picture contract with Ray Stark, but she could have turned down Funny Lady and opted for something else down the line. But FL probably seemed like a good idea in the planning stages. And the first half of the movie isn’t too bad. But her costumes sure did her no favors. And other than Pennies From Heaven, did Herbert Ross ever direct a good movie?

The Turning Point and The Goodbye Girl were pretty good.

I like Funny Lady better than Funny Girl. Love the score, love James Cann and older Fanny was more interesting than young Fanny.

R478, "Steel Magnolias", though it was later.

I liked Ross' "Play it Again Sam".

Beanie is pretty defiant about her weight. She wound up losing quite a bit during Dolly because the show was so active for her, but she didn’t want any press that would focus on her weight loss as if it were an achievement. She felt like she was fine being fat and didn’t want to act like she had accomplished something special by losing weight.

[quote]“My family, doctors, and society at large were constantly telling me that I was too heavy, that I needed to exercise more, that I should be smaller,”

Sure, just throw doctors in there, like their opinion is the same as random people.

I liked Hangmen, despite understanding about 65% of the dialogue.

You guys are asleep at the switch. You missed that SJP and Matthew were snubbed by the Outer Critics.

As for Hugh, if he doesn’t land a Tony nom, he will take the high road. That’s who he is. But I expect he will get one, if only because of how good he is for Broadway.

Clearly the industry is against Plaza Suite. A shame, since the revival is actually quite good.

I bet money SJP will be nominated for the Tony. CBS wants her for the broadcast.

Hugh is already getting a little something for his mantle.

"The Drama League previously announced the 2022 Special Recognition Award Recipients: Tony® Award winner Hugh Jackman will receive the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theater Award. "

Crystal and Paymer overlooked for their performances by Outer Critics too...

R488, Mantel, not mantle.

[quote]“My passion and my commitment and my care for the story is an overwhelming sensation, which leads to perfectionism and passion and needing to do right by Fanny every second,” she unburdened...

Wow. Listen to Helen Hayes over here....

There is no world in which Hugh Jackman doesn’t get nominated for a Tony. It’s a terrible performance, but he’s bringing in 3.5 million a week. He’s also a big Broadway cheerleader. He will and should get attention for that.

watch the curtain call at r466 and [italic] please [/italic] tell me WTF Miss Mayer is wearing. All of it.

-It's sort of what I imagine every DL'er to be wearing most of the time-

I saw Hugh Jackman in "The Music Man", I thought he was fantastic.

R493 Miss Roth has him beat. I imagine this is what the posters who complain about thread titles are wearing. Just much, much larger, and less, less laundered.

Hey R494 you're not supposed to talk like that here. ixnay on the enjoyingitray.

Beanie has way way too many front teeth

I wonder if CBS will try to get Hugh Jackman to host this year's awards? He may not have time with doing 8 shows a week and all but I imagine they'd be thrilled if he could work it out.

Billy Crystal.

The host will be black.

Jesse Williams was also snubbed by the Outer Critics, while Patrick J. Adams, Michael Oberholzer, and Jesse Tyler Ferguson got noms for Take Me Out. I wouldn't be tacky enough to say Williams doesn't need the acknowledgement since he has the real trophy...in his pants.

Oh, wait. I guess I am. (Gotta get the discussion back to bigger dicks somehow...)

Peppermint should host.

Pamela Anderson will present Best Revival of a Musical.

I’m sure many here would welcome Jesse to their Outer Circle

…and their inner circle

I started following Beanie’s standby on Instagram because it’s both ballsy and tacky the way she promotes herself and her upcoming performances. Most understudies are pretty low key on social and some don’t even post their performance dates but this chick is posting pictures in her Fanny wigs and her Fanny rehearsals etc. I wonder if she’s trying to get critics to attend her performances.

[quote]Beanie has way way too many front teeth

Yes. Knock out a few and cast her in a revival of Robber Bridegroom. Third Hillbilly From The Left.

[quote]this chick is posting pictures in her Fanny wigs and her Fanny rehearsals etc. I wonder if she’s trying to get critics to attend her performances.

Well, that's very unprofessional. I've never heard of such a thing.

Will the critics cum up Strange Loop’s ass tonight?

They left a load in it two years ago. Why not come back for sloppy seconds.

I've no doubt the FG producers are thrilled that their Fanny understudy is apparently attracting crowds to her scheduled performances and they need not worry about Beanie's absences. It'll be fun to read all the online comparisons in the chat rooms.

R511 How very dare her.

Maybe I've just seen a lot of understudies posting about going on and their dates, especially during the Covid outbreaks of the past several months, but I don't know what's tacky about it? She's publicizing the show, which performers are expected to do on social media these days, and if publicizing herself happens to be part of that, so be it.

Did anyone think to film the original run of Funny Girl ? I would think someone would have for posterity sake. Ive never seen or heard of one. There are snippets online that people filmed from the audience, but nothing complete. Does anyone know ?

[quote]Clearly the industry is against Plaza Suite. A shame, since the revival is actually quite good.

A quite good revival of a play that even in its day was mediocre at best is nothing to get terribly excited about.

R511, it is a nervous concern indeed. If Benko gets raves, and that starts chatter online, it will become very uncomfortable for the various investor factions. Something to watch closely…

Considering the reviews, maybe Beanie will decide she doesn't need those days off after all.

[quote]“My passion and my commitment and my care for the story is an overwhelming sensation.....

What the fuck does that even MEAN? Pretentious bullshit. And I can't think of one good reason why Beanie's understudy shouldn't publicize that she'll be going on later this week, especially not when Beanie's absences were scheduled a long time ago.

What's the story about Beanie being emotional and crying backstage?

And now for something completely different...

...and surprisingly good!

No surprise, that the crix (mostly) re-raved A Strange Loop. The show keeps getting raves and accolades. Now it needs to sell some tickets. These early grosses are terrible for such an acclaimed work.

Strange Loop is gonna be a tough sell for suburban audiences. Aids pageantry, prolapse assholes, nigger sung full volume dozens of times, etc.

NY is a city filled with black and trans people who will turn out in droves and support Strange Loop. Who needs white people from the burbs?

523 you have to be able to afford tickets though.

Do they really like to hear the "N" word repeated over and over?

Plaza Suite was nominated for Best Play, along with The Price, Joe Egg, and that year's winner Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.

Not nominated for Best Play that season: I Never Sang for My Father, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, Staircase, The Birthday Party.

r523

they sure didn’t show up for Slave Play, Thoughts of a Colored Man or Paradise Sq

Deadline reviews "A Strange Loop":

[quote]Not nominated for Best Play that season: I Never Sang for My Father, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, Staircase, The Birthday Party.

"I Never Sang for My Father" and "You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running" were written by the same playwright (Robert Anderson).

[quote] NY is a city filled with black and trans people who will turn out in droves and support Strange Loop. Who needs white people from the burbs?

Umm, black audiences don't show up for anything but Denzel. (And when they do, they come in halfway through the first act.) They barely go to August Wilson without a star in it. Black audiences sure don't show up for anything gay.

And trans don't turn up for anything unless it's a handout.

I saw the A Raisin In the Sun revival with P Diddy and Queen Phylicia and the audience was literally 100% white.

I’ve notice Jordan Roth is getting more flamboyant at these Broadway openings. Is the elephant in the room that he is transitioning? I’m legit confused if it’s just an open secret or what?

CBS2 New York -- which has been doing extensive Broadway reporting lately, bless their hearts -- interviewed Jordan on the Red Carpet and he was presenting in full female drag and exaggerated behavior. I won't hazard a guess as to what's actually going on with that mess.

I can't imagine how much money the Strange Loop producers have lost in their first two weeks, and how much more their going to spend to win The Tony. Is Mindy Kalling ready to write some checks?

Even if A Strange Loop wins the Tony, I don't know who is going to go see it. Or enjoy it. The cast is terrific, it's an interesting physical production and Michael R. Jackson is talented. But it's almost two hours of watching the central character getting humiliated by his family and hookups with only a minimal catharsis. It's truly a feel-bad production for everyone.

Jesse Green is probably relieved he didn't have to review it.

[r535] “truly a feel-bad production for everyone”

I think you just found the pull quote for the Funny Girl billboard!

Patrick J. Adams of "Take Me Out’ talks about being terrified getting naked onstage.

Miss Saigon 1989.

[quote]Patrick J. Adams of "Take Me Out’ talks about being terrified getting naked onstage.

Patrick J. Adams of "Take Me Out’ will not shut up about being terrified getting naked onstage.

[quote] The original Broadway run of “Take Me Out” made headlines for the amount of male nudity depicted across several shower scenes. Those remain intact in this revival,

Interesting use of the word "intact"

NY Post on A STRANGE LOOP 2 1/2 Stars...

"there also is a word beginning with “P” I hope to never hear uttered on a Broadway stage again."

are there any Bigger Dicks in ASL? Antwayn Hopper's impressive abs were the only redeeming feature of Porter's abominable The Life at Encores.

some full frontal would sell seats for sure.

Helen Shaw was rather cool to ASL. She's turning into the most level-headed critic in NYC.

I don’t imagine I will see “A Strange Loop.” Can someone explain the title to me?

[quote] Patrick J. Adams of "Take Me Out’ talks about being terrified getting naked onstage.

Well, with Jesse Williams' dick putting everyone else on stage and in the audience to shame, one can understand his reticence.

[quote] "there also is a word beginning with “P” I hope to never hear uttered on a Broadway stage again."

What word?

The amount of beyond-vulgar sex talk in this show is really through the roof. And not in any kind of brave, “to boldly go” way. One term — to find a euphemism for it would take a supercomputer — said during a hookup with a racist white guy almost made me lose my lunch.

However, there also is a word beginning with “P” I hope to never hear uttered on a Broadway stage again

Ok, those of you have seen this.....spoilers please

Where did The NY Post's critic Johnny Oleksinski come from? What are his credentials? There are suddenly so many new theatre critics out there.

R530 and at those prizes, it will be impossible to find an audience. I just realized that going to see lots of shows at these current prices is a thing of the past. I cannot justify seeing ASL or anything else at these prices. And I paid $80 at TKTS for How I Learned To Drive....really?

Thank you for posting that R520. I was there for that performance and the CROWD WENT WILD.

[quote] I don’t imagine I will see “A Strange Loop.” Can someone explain the title to me?

Speaking of Helen Shaw, she answers that question.

"In the course of A Strange Loop, Michael R. Jackson’s “Big Black and Queer-Ass American Broadway” show, he gives two explanations for the title. Of course there would be two — Jackson’s stunning show is recursive, redundant, reflective, reflexive. As Usher, Jackson’s composer hero, sits on a subway explaining his own musical (also called A Strange Loop) to a stranger, he cites Douglas Hofstadter’s book about “loops” of identity-constructing self-reference. That checks out, you think: Loop is an Escheresque musical by a gay Black man about a gay Black man writing a musical about a gay Black man writing about himself. “But it’s also the name of this Liz Phair song that I really love?” Usher tells the guy, flirting. “I was gonna use a bunch of her songs in the show but then she wouldn’t give me permission.”

Disliked A Strange Loop at Playwrights, no need to revisit it.

Was there more nudity in the orginal Take Me Out? I counted three times this time around. The one dumb blond player getting dressed as he talks to Kippy/Patrick, the group shower scene in Act II and finally, Jesse and the hick player's scene. Incidentally, my favorite of the ensemble was the dumb-but-nice white guy.

[quote]Was there more nudity in the orginal Take Me Out?

No, that was my memory from the Walter Kerr, 15th row, center, surrounded by blue hairs with binoculars.

Maya in the Times cites the "the musical I saw in the packed Lyceum Theater a few evenings ago" implying it's a hit. Last week's gross was $385K and an average ticket price of $65 and 79% of attendance capacity (which includes comps so what does it even mean?).

[quote] The balance is sometimes off in other respects too: On the night I attended, the cast was ever so slightly off-tempo, and some lyrics were muffled by the bombast of the orchestra.

Oh come on. The cast was off-tempo? At these (discounted) prices I want them to have rehearsed.

Every press performance of every show ever is packed. It's called papering.

[quote] Helen Shaw was rather cool to ASL.

read it again r544. She loves it.

[quote] the fabulous, piety-smashing Loop still feels as exhilarating as your first trip on the merry-go-round.

THIS DAY IN BROADWAY HISTORY: In 1997, a revival of “The Little Foxes” starring Stockard Channing opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

[quote]They sure didn’t show up for Slave Play, Thoughts of a Colored Man or Paradise Sq

...or PASSING STRANGE.

Helen Shaw is the most astute critic writing about NY theatre right now, and for many a year.

Stockard Giddens

Thanks R552.

I just assumed Loop was slang for a gay man, derived from the slur "Fruit Loop"

So… I’ve been watching Rue McClanahan in Wicked and I’m mesmerized because it’s very interesting to watch and at the same time I can’t understand her through her deep voice accent. Was it a choice for her to speak that way?

Now that Beanie isn't going to have a career as a Broadway leading lady, can she still have a shot at as a hoyden?

Rue as Lady MacBird...

Could “prolapsed” bd the p word thd critic never wants to hear again?

INTO THE WOODS rehearsal at Encores.

Funny Girl should shut down briefly to retool and reopen with Beanie's BFF Ben Platt as Nick and brother Jonah as iegfeld. The theatrical event of the century!

Maybe it's Poop

Why do we expect blacks to suddenly show up just because a traditionally white platform decides to present show with black people in it?

You have to cultivate an audience. Bway isn't even doing that for young white people.

[quote] Bway isn't even doing that for young white people.

That's not true. Otherwise, why cast Beanie?

"Skin of Our Teeth was written to intentionally break as many theatrical conventions as possible. It’s supposed to be surreal and weird."

SKIN is largely derived from Joyce's FINNEGAN'S WAKE, as Joseph Campbell and a colleague posited in 1942.

"Disliked A Strange Loop at Playwrights, no need to revisit it."

Amen. It turns the screw in the coffin of musical theatre just a little tighter.

"No surprise, that the crix (mostly) re-raved A Strange Loop"

Oh, what an agenda-driven surprise! Meaningless.

"watch the curtain call at [R466] and please tell me WTF Miss Mayer is wearing. All of it."

I was up front. It looked like his jacket pocket had ripped.

Wisdom from Alan Jay Lerner: “We’ve been living through a period when the gifted beginner has been so overpraised that it has deprived him of the incentive to grow and learn his craft. And the professional has been so scorned that he has become fearful of picking up a pen. But far more dangerous than all that, I think, is the constant and continuing cry, ‘We must attract the youth! Will the young people like it?’ Well, the theatre is not for the young, nor is it for the old. It’s not even for everybody. It’s for people who like the theatre, whatever their age. The people who go to be transported or amused or uplifted or enchanted on the highest possible level—the level that has made the theatre survive the ages."

R576, thanks for posting that. Man is it a truism and can be applied to other aspects of the arts!

[quote] I was up front. It looked like his jacket pocket had ripped.

All those Milk Duds can get heavy.

Great quote r576. When did he write that?

I look forward to reading Helen Shaw's take on the beautiful "Which Way To The Stage"?

I believe the word is prolapse.

[quote] That's not true. Otherwise, why cast Beanie?

Desperation to get a crowd Bway has forgotten about.

The difference with, say, Wicked, is parents brought their girls to see Wicked.

Mean Girls had problems because no one in their teens now identifies with (or even really knows) that movie. It's the same with Beanie and Funny Girl. It's tough to start cultivating a Bway audience when people are in their teens and 20's with today's wacko ticket prices.

[quote] Well, the theatre is not for the young, nor is it for the old. It’s not even for everybody. It’s for people who like the theatre, whatever their age. The people who go to be transported or amused or uplifted or enchanted on the highest possible level—the level that has made the theatre survive the ages

Lerner couldn't have imagined $500 orchestra seats

I saw that Little Foxes and unfortunately Stockard was underpowered throughout. The whole affair was rather dull as I recall.

Don't be a Beanie Meanie

Has Blythe Danner been really good in something on stage since "Butterflies Are Free"? She always seems like she's going to be good, but in "Philadelphia Story" and "Follies" she just disappointed. She looks so lovely and patrician and then ... not so hot.

I saw her in that horrible play that MTC did on Broadway about 7 years ago, The Country House. She was terrible and the play was even worse. I saw it at the Geffen and I was certain it was dead in the water. Could not believe they brought it to Broadway. Of course it laid a huge egg there.

Honey, Blythe's stage appearance days are over, the poor dear.

Sara Gettelfinger is in the work release program!

Yes, I feel the same about Danner. She seemed like the perfect ingenue, and she should have been great at patrician leading ladies. I loved her in the TV presentations of both The Seagull and Eccentricities of a Nightingale, so when I heard she was doing Blythe (!) Spirit, I thought she would be perfect, but, no, she was rather blah. And, yes, in everything since, she hasn't been very good. Follies was particulary egregious, as she played the whole thing drunk, why I have no idea, and it was a terrible choice.

Jameela Jamil has decided to wade in on Beanie - apparently the fact the cast got a standing ovation on opening night proves the critics are just being mean because she's Jonah Platt's sister

The Changing Room had a lot more nudity than Take Me Out. Now that's a show that sound be revived.

Jameela Jamil needs to shut up until she learns the proper use of the comma.

Jameela is psychotic.

One of the theatre schools (T. Schrieber?) did "The Changing Room" a few years ago. There's no plot, which is ok, since it's about before, during halftime and after a rugby match. But the rugby terms aren't decipherable for a non-Brit. Most of the guys were turned upstage during most of the show, except for one or two, though it did seem at one point the director had them face downstage (full-frontal) for a split second to experience that at one junction one stage where they entered to receive their towel. Otherwise, lots of backsides and discreet angles from the guys in the cast.

They were obviously desperate for pull quotes to use this one. The next sentence is "But then she starts to sing."

They deleted the post after Feldman tweeted about it

New thread:

I’m voting for Six as Best Musical, with only score for Strange Loop.

Do any of the ladies really stand out in "Six" for award consideration?

BAJOUR!

Be Jewer!

I think Beanie will be perfect for the picture based on the life of Mama Cass.