Beanie Feldstein announces early departure from Broadway's "Funny Girl"

She sad she is quitting because the producers are moving the show in a "new direction"

What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

Beanie said she is quitting because the producers are moving the show in a "new direction"

What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

That's a shame.

[quote]What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

Away from a buffet line?

Two hypotheses from me:

Maybe it was the producers' decision. After a "good run" (figuratively), they let her know she wasn't really cutting it and said they wanted to recast the role, so she's free to leave.....

Or maybe she got tired of being mediocre, and maybe just plain tired, and wants to move onto something easier.

PLEASE let it be true that Lea Michele is her replacement.

I need more reports of Lea's cunt antics, and the pressure of doing this show would certainly be enough to make her go cuntrocious.

I would be so embarrassed, but she seems to have no shame.

My niece's high school just did summer stock and both female leads could run rings around Beanie with more stage presence and better singing voices. She never should have been cast in the first place.

[quote]What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

Movement, irrespective of direction, is probably too big an ask.

Anyone know anything about the rumor that they’re bringing in a new director? Ryan Murphy? Jerry Zaks?

Since Beanie was getting people into seats and buying tickets (theatre has been 95% filled consistently)

makes no sense they would want to change the show now - tickets are selling

You might want to check the box office reports, R11.

R11 But, why are they showing up? Is it to see a classic musical revival? Or, to see the biggest miscast lead in recent memory?

So if LM is taking over before September 25, she will be performing with her Glee alum, Jane Lynch, which will be good for PR.

One of Barbra's cloned dogs is named Fanny.

Does Barbra just keep cloning the same fucking dog until it's as retarded as Amy Irving?

Go to bed, Steven.

Fuck the unprofessional, marginally talented bitch.

Who willingly goes by the name Beanie after you are 5 years old?

Producers disagree with her coming out/getting engaged to a woman. They’re staunch Hindus and told her to wait until after her run was over; she called their bluff but they weren’t bluffing. She has a morality clause that she’s in breach of now and will go quietly. Funny thing is that will-be wifey told her to wait but BF can’t be told anything. And guess who was one of her counselors about this whole issue? Lea Michele.

Clearly not a voluntary departure.

Getting engaged or coming out doesn’t violate a “morality clause.”

Morality clauses don’t have standard language.

I’m pretty sure enforcing a morality clause in that manner would violate NYS anti discrimination laws. That doesn’t make sense.

r19 Worst part is it's not even her name. It's a nickname her nanny gave her, and for some reason she kept using it.

[quote] Since Beanie was getting people into seats and buying tickets (theatre has been 95% filled consistently) makes no sense they would want to change the show now - tickets are selling

No so great at all, and downward trend. Folks are over it.

Would some dear, Broadway loving Datalounger post a brief summary of BF’s Funny Girl journey? I’ve scrolled past the popular BF threads that have topped My DL feed for months and have a bit of FOMO. How did she get the part to begin with? What is the criticism of her performance? Do co-stars like her? Does she have any real connection with Leah Michelle? How is BF responding to all of this criticism? It can’t be easy returning to stage night after night knowing people are dogging you in the press and on social media. I admire her for persevering.

I don’t believe I’ve ever seen BF in anything. I just know she’s friends with Ben Platt from his interviews. And regarding her name, it has given her good name recognition and I think it’s cute for someone in the arts.

[quote] post a brief summary of BF’s Funny Girl journey? I’ve scrolled past the popular BF threads that have topped My DL feed for months and have a bit of FOMO. How did she get the part to begin with? What is the criticism of her performance? Do co-stars like her? Does she have any real connection with Leah Michelle? How is BF responding to all of this criticism?

You want a [italic] brief [/italic] summary that answers all those questions?

I'm not sure that I admire her for persevering. It's the bed she made for herself. She got in over her head by leveraging connections (from what little I've read on these threads) and shamelessly advertising herself for the role.

did they fire her or did she quit Lots of absences and a subpar performance

omg she clones her dogs?

R29, people may shamelessly lobby to get a role, but the casting decisions are up to the producing team. I agree that they made a mistake here, but it's not like Beanie begged relentlessly for it and they finally gave in because of her connections. I think they were trying to create a a sensation by finding a 'new star' for the role like the original production did with Barbra Streisand. In this case, unfortunately, Beanie doesn't have the megawatt voice and larger-than-life persona that Barbra had. They needed someone on the verge of superstardom , like Lady Gaga was 15(?) years ago.

Listen, my childhood dream was to play Fanny Brice on broadway, too but that doesn’t mean I’m right for it.

[quote]What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

How does "competent" work for you?" "Watchable"? "Sucks less"?

Good points, R32. I maintain, though, that, even in your nuanced account, she still bears responsibility for not knowing her limits.

The new direction is hiring a replacement before her contract was up

Will she get paid for the entirety of her contract? Get a severance package?

She wasn’t making that much, much cheaper to buy her out then letting the box office slump until September. The moment Lea is announced it will be sold out until then.

R1 and R2, maybe in the direction of quality.

r38 How much as she making then? Or just making shit up?

[quote] What "direction" could they be moving into that would lead her to quit?

Closing the show, bankruptcy, embarrassment. Perhaps, it was a call from Babs!

I'm not kidding when I say that Patti Lupone would be a great idea to save this show. People would accept that she's 10-15 years too old to play the part and go with it. Broadway audiences tolerate surrealism.

So it’s going to be Lea?

If she had an amazing voice, people could've accepted her lacking in other areas, but that was probably her greatest deficit. Did they even do an original cast recording?

So the producers offended at the engagement is a face saving cover story to get her out of there early?

[quote] I say that Patti Lupone would be a great idea to save this show. People would accept that she's 10-15 years too old to play the part and go with it.

Patti is 53 years too old to play the part.

Oh...10 -15 dog-years, right, r42?

r45 No that's just bullshit

[quote]Broadway audiences tolerate surrealism.

Which is why "Flying Over Sunset" was such a runaway hit?

Think again about the statement you just made.

Until the part is filled, the producers should arrange an assembly line of revolving door stars taking over the role, kind of like Roz in Grease.

The part is filled, numb skull.

Has it come to this, where performers don’t bear responsibility for their own terrible performances? She accepted the role, and her career is not the producers’ problem. Actors who make bad choices about their careers are not helpless.

Look at this fucking insanity:

[quote]tbh would love someone to write a piece about how a queer plus size jewish actress was essentially bullied out of a role and then replaced by someone who has been accused of harassment and bullying her castmates.

They really do think she's entitled to a job. A job which, let's remember, she has 35 absences from since April, and which she's quitting

[quote]i'm aware nothing is confirmed yet and maybe its all been rumors, but beanie's statement makes me feel like it's happening and my heart just hurts.

You only have to look at this idiot's photo to see that's not the reason her heart hurts

That's a man, baby!

My childhood dream was to play Deena in "Dreamgirls,"; but do you see me making a fuss about it publicly?

In Lea and Tovah. Yawn

Benko for August? They might not even make it to September

One comment on their Gram:

It's very cool that y'all pulled a plus sized actress out of role for someone who is a down racist and bully.

*known racist and bully

Why didn’t they cast Lea initially?

[quote] Why didn’t they cast Lea initially?

Because they couldn't get her father and brother to fund the production.

Tovah must have changed her mind about plastic surgery.

Do we take it from the post quoted at R58/R59 that anyone who has a negative interaction/relationship with a non-white person is now a "known racist"? How grotesque.

That picture of Lea Michele that they used for the instagram post is awful. Looking off to the side in cross-eyed anger does not convey "Let me entertain you!"

I wish it was Michelle Lee instead of Lea Michele.

Yes, I have a general idea of what she was making R40. So shut your fucking mouth. Cunt.

r66 So go on then, post it

The “new direction” is simply a late dawning recognition that they need a singer in the role.

[quote]My childhood dream was to play Deena in "Dreamgirls,"; but do you see me making a fuss about it publicly?

My childhood dream was to play Lorell in "Dreamgirls,"; I have low self-esteem.

No way! Ain’t No Party is one of the best songs in the show. You simply have good taste.

Here ya go, bitches.

Serves Beanie right for trying to go against the hand that nature dealt her.

[quote] Would some dear, Broadway loving Datalounger post a brief summary of BF’s Funny Girl journey?

1. She is told she would be wonderful in the part

2. She audiitons via Zoom and gets the part that had already been pre-determined

3. Huge publicity for her before opening

4. She opens with a thud

5. She goes to a wedding opening week and gets raked over the coals, calling into quesion her work ethic

6. Unused to criticism, she goes into a funk

7. No Tony nomination for a role that is a guaranteed nominee

8. Mysteriously gets ill and misses shows

9. Gets fired by producers sick of her antics and immaturity

"lazy, fat gurl" would have summed it up.

I don't really care about Lea Michelle, but I hate Beanie so much that to spite her, I hope they give Lea a "special" Tony award!

Considering this was a 24 hour shake-up. Looks like Beanie was fired, but to save face she is saying leaving on her own accord

Beanie should have just done a "Star Jones"

Admit she was fired, she would reap sky-high sympathy, despite this miscasting

and Lea would be painted as an Eve Harrington

Will Rex Reed switch sides and become Lea's Addison DeWitt?

R20, you're completely and utterly full of shit.

I think Beanie did quit. The producers would be even more foolish to not keep Beanie in through August to milk as many tourist dollars as possible out of her (even though it's diminishing returns). As bad as she is, she'll certainly sell more tickets than Julie Benko. My feeling is she got pissy about the fact that they wouldn't wait until she left to announce Lea Michelle and she told them all to fuck off.

I think it's best to get Beanie out of there as fast as possible. I am sure Lea knows that role backwards and forward and will slide into the show without much interruption. I think Lea will bring in the bucks, simply cause people know her from Glee. Actually, I would rather see Lea in the show and wait till Beanie is gone.

I'd rather see Beanie, r81. Years from now, people will ask "Was she really *that* bad?" and it would be fun to have first hand knowledge...

[R73], Beanie didn’t perform opening weekend? The understudy opened? Did this really happen?

[quote] I'd rather see Beanie, [R81]. Years from now, people will ask "Was she really *that* bad?" and it would be fun to have first hand knowledge...

Oh honey, I am just waiting to say that about Lea!

My childhood dream was to be Diana Ross, R 69. Not play her, be her. I am filled with self esteem!

r83 Yep

Maybe the last straw was Beans calling out Saturday afternoon because she was ‘injured’ allowing the understudy who had never played the part to go on. But she was well enough to perform Sat night and Sunday. I would be surprised if she makes it to the 31st.

^^ that right there was the final straw.

Beanie's over it because she didn't get accolades or a Tony, and just wants it to be done. Treating theater like a part time job won't fly, though, and she won't be the first nor the last film actor who didn't understand that, to their detriment.

I'm just astounded they cast Beanie at all for THIS role. I only remember her from a small role in one of my favorite TV shows "What We Do In the Shadows." In it she played a fat, unattractive, pathetic college girl ignored by everybody. She was VERY believable in that role. A vampire felt sorry for her and turned her into a vampire, but then her only supernatural talent turned out to be invisibility. Even as a vampire she was such a drip I was glad they got rid of her after a few episodes.

This will go down as one of the all-time casting mistakes on Broadway.

Oh for goodness sakes, her performance was fine; certainly better than Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard. I could see her constant absences being a problem though.

lez'splaining.

I recognize Lea's talent, yet I actively dislike watching her. It's the opposite of star quality for me.

I didn't like Beanie, either, though, so maybe I'm just miserable and impossible to please.

When is Beanie's final performance?

Way to anger Broadway producers, Beanie. Getting back at them for firing you?

She probably is humiliated and just wants to put this behind her.

Are she and Ben Platt sulking and talking about how their talents are misunderstood?

Any one else not give a shit about any of this? Like most people in the world, I live nowhere near NYC, wouldn't see either of them in the show unless I traveled there, so really, who cares?

I’m assuming they asked Jane Lynch to leave 4 weeks early so Lea and Tovah can go in at the same time.

no, r97. but i was like...who wants to see a fat cow on stage unless it's rikki lake in hairspray?

R98 yes...it certainly wasn't my demand to avoid a certain former costar

I liked Beanie in Booksmart and Lady Bird. She's good in her range. Just because she has rich family doesn't mean she can pretend to play any kind of role.

All the stuff with the fat girl who can’t sing is fine but Lynch peacing out rather than cross paths with Lea again is a SCREAM.

R91 I love that.

I am going to stop you right there son, while l Lez’splain to you why Beanie’s lack of range causes her to highlight the emotional nuance and vulnerability of “People” in a way Barbra misses with her big voice.

Good for you, Jane!

I could honestly care less are you Rosie? O saw the dolphins today.

Beanie, awful nickname. Ridiculous.

[quote]Beanie’s lack of range causes her to highlight the emotional nuance and vulnerability of “People” in a way Barbra misses with her big voice

Fine, ElderLez, then let her do it in a Cabaret setting and not on stage at the August Wilson.

Umm, Jane is leaving when she had announced she was leaving. Nothing has changed with her. She's not leaving early because Lea is going in. Beanie is the one leaving early and her understudy is taking over until Lea and Tovah come in, which is when Jane is leaving.

Can't you dummies read? I can!

Y’all do t really have anything interesting to say about all this.

R109 she's leaving 2 days before you arrive, 3 weeks before her scheduled departure...

CDAN today:

Blind Item #1

Why yes, it is intentional that this A- list actress is leaving her role two days prior to her former co-star joining the production.

Beanie is leaving July 31, Lea is not starting until September 6. Beanie's understudy Julie Benko is playing the role for the 6 weeks in between.

The reference is obviously to Lynch, not Beanie. Beanie was never Lea's co-star.

(R108, lez’splaining, like mansplaining, is always biased, myopic nonsense. I liked the production, and thought Beanie was fine overall, but her “People” was painful)

Can't wait to see the bootleg!

Originally Beanie and Lynch were departing at the end of September.

R112, Jane Lynch is A-list?

Sorry, but no R90. Glenn brings a lot to the role of Norma. No she’s not a great singer but she’s a great star and completely believable. Beanie can’t sing and is completely unbelievable as Fanny.

It would be wild if Lea Michele is pleasant and professional in the role, while Beanie gets the bad rep for her cunt antics.

I certainly hope not. I want daily dispatches of Lea being mean to everyone and throwing the production into turmoil. Is that too much to ask for? I think not.

R118 I was going to say the same but the A list has an opening for a funny blond lesbian right now, since Ellen is still being sorta shunned. I guess she’s the replacement.

I am hilarious.

Jane IS leaving earlier than planned, just not as early as Beanie.

On June 15th it was announced that Beanie and Jane would be leaving the show early on September 25th. At this point, there was no mention of who the replacement for either of them would be, although there was wild (and somewhat unfounded speculation at the time) that Lea would take over for Beanie. It was still shocking that both of them would leave early. Obviously Beanie is over it after the bad reviews and the Tony snub.

Then Beanie shocked the producers and Broadway community last night with her IG post that said she would be leaving even earlier: July 31st. What?? This forced the producers to announce Lea and Tovah- and what the Post is talking about when it says they were blindsided.

Jane is now obviously not staying on until Sept 25 as previously announced. Whether she was forced out or voluntarily left earlier to allow Tovah and Lea to start at the same time is anyone’s guess.

Also, Beanie did not miss opening night or opening weekend. She missed the weekend after opening to attend her best friend’s wedding. This was announced months in advance (still a terrible reason to miss shows) and the fact that she left immediately after receiving the bad reviews made it look like she was fleeing the production.

Back in the day, this show would never have been done with anyone who wasn't right for the lead.

"Sometimes I sing and dance around the house in my underwear, Doesn't make me Madonna. Never will".

What an asshole Beanie turned out to be. Why would people want Lea to fail? She'll be far more appropriate in every way. And grateful to be there.

The only way is UP!

Not "A-list" r118, "A- list", i.e., "A minus list." I would say that Jane is easily A-/B+ list in theater and TV, she's had so many featured and leading roles, usually well received. Certainly not in films, where she has little presence, but she's well respected and because of her TV work, fairly well known.

b plus like 10 years ago. but theater does not always transfer to film. it did to tv with glee a hot minute.

[quote]What is the criticism of her performance?

The main criticism is that she's not vocally up to it. Her voice, which can be pleasant in a congenial setting, is limited and strained over the course of a big, demanding role with famous numbers like "People."

As for the acting side of the assignment, while Feldstein's reviews have ranged from lukewarm to outright bad, a common observation is that she's better at playing the hungry wannabe Fanny of the early scenes than the great star at her peak, the romantic melodrama of Fanny's personal life, etc.

[quote]Does she have any real connection with Leah Michelle?

No connection other than their both being actresses/singers who wanted to star in Funny Girl. Lea Michele posted her congratulations on social media when Feldstein was cast. It was no secret that Michele had the same Broadway dream role as Feldstein. While Michele may or may not be a bitch, she isn't dumb.

Feldstein later claimed she'd didn't know Michele. Not in an "I don't know her" way, just, "Oh, that was so sweet of her."

It's possible Michele saw the future. Part of her congratulatory message was "This is going to be epic!" Well, it has been that. Michele is a good, experienced theater singer, and she likely knew Feldstein would be taxed by Funny Girl.

[quote]It can’t be easy returning to stage night after night knowing people are dogging you in the press and on social media. I admire her for persevering.

That's one of the possible responses, yes. Another is to think Feldstein comes off as entitled (a perception that has been voiced in a couple of reviews). One mark against her is that she hasn't seemed to settle in or "grow" in the role at all. So some people who were pulling for her, hoping she was just having a shaky start, have turned on her.

Feldstein's reviews were a travesty. She can't sing or act. "Not a voice you expect to hear in a Broadway theatre" to "there are many better highschool Fanny Brice's."

Reviewers like everyone else have gone soft in the gonads and in the head. So some gave her some warm recognition that sounded more like encouragement. Bernie Feldstein was atrocious as Fanny Brice.

And she behaved so fucking spoiled. IN FRONT of the world. That ain't Broadway at all.

She should have the decency to at least check into rehab. Nope.

Let Liza have a go at it. Who said the Fanny has to walk or sing?

And her morbidly obese pussy STINKS!

Now Beanie can go on to star in Monica Lewinsky: After the giz is gone .

We had hoped Beanie would leave with dignity. Beanie chose another way.

You don't ride a Broadway revival of a show not produced in almost 60 years like a tricycle, Beanie.

Such a shame. When they do the Monica Lewinsky musical, she would have been the obviouus casting, but now no prudent producer is going to want her involved.

Hulu is advertising a Glee episode when Rachel opens on Broadway in Funny girl.

Basically Fired.

So Lea will replace and the revival will flop again. The backstage drama has probably kept this lackluster production running as long as it has. The old adage "There's no such thing as bad publicity" is true.

From r137's link:

[quote]“The entire creative team built a brand around a new type of Fanny for a new generation,” the source said. “Now, they’ve turned on her and kind of points fingers at her like she’s the reason the show isn’t working.”

[quote]They added: “Beanie feels attacked by everyone around her. She’s like, ‘You brought me here in the first place!’”

[quote]“It’s not that Beanie is untalented,” says one source. “It’s not her fault. She was poorly cast.”

How dare you cast me in this role that I auditioned for!

The producers knew she was weak. All those ridiculous commercials never heard her sing one line. They should’ve never let it open with her. Just because it’s your dream part doesn’t mean you should play it on Broadway.

Auditioned? Who auditioned? Her dad is one of the producers! It’s not like she had to beat out other people for the part!

Isn't the official PR story that she auditioned for the director and producer by singing a couple of songs over Zoom?

Listen, Beanie's not even going to make it to her announced end date.

This gelatinous jigglypuff will do a few more performances and then come down with a mysterious ailment that will prevent her from finishing the run.

She'll be gone by this weekend.

Will no one think of the disappointed Beanie fans?

The few times I tried to sit through Glee, I hated it, so I really know very little about Lea Michele. Is she funny? Fanny Brice was a comic in The Ziegfeld Follies. She made cross-eyed faces and was even something of a physical comic, as well as a dialect comic. And a singer with a good voice. But aren't people forgetting the funny part? Streisand was also funny, not in the same way as Brice, but somehow she conveyed the essence of Fanny Brice, especially since the show is about offstage Fanny, and Barbra convinced as that character. I'm assuming Lainie Kazan also did it right, she's funny, too. But Lea Michele doesn't strike me as hilarious.

[quote] I wish it was Michelle Lee instead of Lea Michele.

I wish it was Lee Majors rather than Michelle Lee or Lea Michele.

1`47 I wish it was Lee Meriwether and Jamie Lee Curtis. On alternating nights.

I'm hilarious enough to shit in your wig, R146.

Stop it!

Lea will take the audience on a personally-conducted journey of her nether parts, using a desk lamp as her personal spotlight.

Rumor was Lea did that with Cory, too, shortly before his tragic death. I'm not saying the two events are related. I would never say that.

Just saying the show IS called "Funny Girl." It would be nice if it starred someone funny.

Now watch Beanie convince her feckless family to finance her in a film remake of “Funny Girl!”

Only has to act in a few takes.

“Singing” can be enhanced.

No one has answered me, I notice....

R146 she isn’t the greatest but next to Beanie she will look like the greatest star of all time.

R156.I'm sure. Not to keep it up, but I believe she played a diva, on Glee. And she seems bitchy and on the cold side. Exact opposite of what I think Fanny should come across like. Warm, goofy, homely, insecure at first, except about her talent. Hopefully she can act all that. And younger.

You want funny? I'll give ya funny!

R158 Oh, my God, that's terrible!! She sounds like she's playing Alice Kramden.

*Or like Alice Pearce playing Alice Kramden.

If the Producers broke the contract on Beanie& forced her out, I know a vicious, mean. rotten, very successful NYS employment attorney. that will clen those bitch Producers out!!. She is a "rottweiler" when its comes to contract law, employment contracts, any entertainment law.

Please. I’d sue the fat cunt back for failing to perform. She missed a quarter of her performances and those she did show up for were TERRIBLE.

Not everyone agrees with that

R162, If the Producers violated her contract (in any way), it's "We're in the $$$$ now" for Beanie& Jane too.

More of the Beanie Chronicles

I feel sorry for Beanie's understudy, Julie Benko.

[quote]The source said Benko’s announcements on social media when she was standing in for Feldstein caused ill feeling. “They were harmless posts, and it was fine until people started saying how amazing Julie was, which didn’t reflect well on Beanie after all the negative reviews. The producers spoke with each other and were evenly split on whether to allow the posts. The producers didn’t shut it down, and maybe they should have. Beanie minded it. She said words to the effect of, ‘I don’t feel supported by you while I’m away.’

For the show to survive, Lea has to be so good that people who have seen the show already will say, ‘Oh, I heard she’s fabulous, you have to see the show again.’ Lea has to be that good. If it’s not like that, we’re dead.”

Truer words, etc. What if she sucks?

[quote] ‘I don’t feel supported by you while I’m away.’

Then get your fat ass back onstage where you belong.

[quote]My childhood dream was to be Diana Ross, R 69. Not play her, be her. I am filled with self esteem!

There's still hope yet! All one has to do these days is declare themselves and voilà! You're automatically that which you declare, no questions asked!

I LOVE Jackie Hoffman.

[quote]I’ll be afraid to even walk past that funny girl theater during rehearsal. It’ll be all January 6 up in that place

I sincerely wish I didn't feel that Michele deserves to monumentally flop on account of her well-documented cuntery.

And that no body from the end years of Glee keeps bringing up how Lea Michele said she wanted to shit in her hat. From the annoyance of this bitches endless whining, I’m seconding that shit session. Jealous table for one. And of course she’s on the racism rant against Lea Michele. Even Nyla Rivera didn’t call her a racist. For fucks sake, she should’ve been in Funny Girl from day one not that obese, no talent Jonah Hill in a dress Beanie.

R164 contracts go both ways. I bet there is a minimum number of appearances she had to make and she failed to uphold her commitment which is when the producers dropped the hammer.

She didn't shit in her wig, did she? Words, words, words -- and those weren't racist, just cunty-ones.

Nobody violated Beanie's anything. She's a fucking disaster who barely showed up for work. She violated the public.

Unpaywalled version.

VERY juicy.

“Beanie initiated leaving the show and ending her contract early. The question for producers became, how should the situation be handled. The producers needed to advertise Lea as coming into the show, and also protect Beanie while she was in the show. Both things had to happen together.

Michele, the source said, started meeting with producers individually to say she was available and interested in taking over from Feldstein. However, a source close to the production insisted that there had been no contact between Funny Girl’s producers and Michele’s representatives until after the June 15 announcement that Feldstein intended to leave the show on Sept. 25. The deal to sign Michele was reportedly signed in the week of June 20.

The senior show source said they were not nervous of Michele’s alleged bullying of colleagues and diva antics, putting it down to youth, the “snippiness” that can happen when working under pressure, and the “pressures of fame” as experienced when young.

“Lea is going to rehearse off-site, then come to the building to play the performances,” the source said. “If we do gangbusters from now on, with the announcement of Lea joining the show, that will be great. We’ll see if Lea does something to the box office.” The source said the show had $3.7 million in advance ticket sales; another source close to the production said this was incorrect, and that the amount was “significantly higher” but would not specify a figure.

Beanie comes across like a petulant brat

A senior show source, who requested anonymity, also revealed that Michele—famed for very publicly hungering for the role, and performing Brice’s songs in Glee and at the 2010 Tony Awards—was officially signed on to play Brice “a week and a half” after this year’s Tony Awards, before an internet-inferno-causing Gawker article on June 30 that reported she was “set to take over the role.”

At that moment, the deal was already done and signed, the source said. The article caused “great upset” to Feldstein, they said, adding that after its publication, show producers were prevented from talking to Feldstein directly as they had been able to up until then, and instead were told to go through her representatives.

On Sunday, Feldstein caused another internet firestorm when she announced via Instagram that she was leaving the show on July 31, not September 25 as had been announced last month: “Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.”

Her much-praised understudy Julie Benko will take over the role until Michele’s first performance on Sept. 6, and will play Fanny every Thursday from then on.

Glee star Jane Lynch who plays Fanny’s mother in the show, had been announced in June as leaving on Sept. 25 alongside Feldstein. But on Monday, producers revealed her final performance will be on Sept. 4, and that her replacement, Tovah Feldshuh, will be joining the production on Sept. 6 alongside Michele, meaning the two former Glee stars will not be reunited on stage.

[quote] “Lea is going to rehearse off-site, then come to the building to play the performances,” the source said.

That was my idea...

The stupid hate memes for Lea Michele are unproductive. Give the woman a chance. I'm sure that Jane Lynch decided it would be a bad look for the two of them to be on Stage for a week. Jane Lynch is a pretty lousy Broadway performer, btw. A Glee reunion is not what they need. But any GLEE fans that come to see Lea will be different from the usual ticket buyers for the show till now. And decades younger.

Compared to the shit show they had the insanity to put out to the public - Lea IS Barbra Streisand. And Tovah Feldshuh at least looks like a woman, who might have given birth. Jane Lynch is an amusing TV game show hostess. She does not belong on Broadway. Neither did Beaner Feldenstein.

Lea has got this. She WILL be compared more to Streisand - but she can also really SING!

R179 no one thinks Lea's untalented. She's just a talent cunt.

And your a talentless CUNT, R180. And an old white man. Gross old fag.

r181, who are you and where do you think you are? Lea Michele is a cunt for the ages. It’s a known fact.

You’re not so young yourself, Matt Damon.

[quote]Beanie comes across like a petulant brat

Yep. I've liked her in movies and she's seemed sweet in interviews I've seen (like the one she and Lucas Hedges did for Lady Bird), but she really does.

This is what stands out to me:

[quote]The source said Benko’s announcements on social media when she was standing in for Feldstein caused ill feeling. “They were harmless posts, and it was fine until people started saying how amazing Julie was, which didn’t reflect well on Beanie after all the negative reviews. The producers spoke with each other and were evenly split on whether to allow the posts. The producers didn’t shut it down, and maybe they should have. Beanie minded it. She said words to the effect of, ‘I don’t feel supported by you while I’m away.’ This is not an uncommon problem. You want your understudy to be good, but you don’t want them to be better than the star, or seen to be so. That harms the show.”

So, she was actually whining to the producers that they weren't "supporting" her because they didn't force the understudy to stop making happy posts on social media about her own success? It's not as though Julie Benko was writing, "Come to the August Wilson on this date to see a GOOD Fanny Brice." She had done something well, an audience was pleased with her, and she had a reason to celebrate. Beanie might remember what that's like.

Everyone tells me my farts smell like roses.

EVERYONE.

Every time I see her on Seth Meyers, I have to urge to repeatedly slap her across the face, like REALLY hard.

I had that very same reaction with Pamelyn Ferdin, r186.

or Robbie Rist!

Vox has a timeline of THE DRAMA

Lea's obsession with the role seems...disturbing. What's the BFD about this one role?

Beanie is ugly, fat, Jewish and desperate to be a star. Naturally she identifies with Striezand.

[quote]Even Nyla Rivera didn’t call her a racist.

All I heard was GLUG GLUG GLUG, but if you say so.

[quote]Just because it’s your dream part doesn’t mean you should play it on Broadway.

Tell that to Patti Lupone.

Beanie Canned!

Eeenie meenie chili Beanie - the spirits are about to speak!

Are they friendly spirits?

Did Beanie hire a "Killer" attorney yet? She better, esp. after finding out that they signed that CUNT while she was still had the part!!

That is why you hire a Killer, vicious Rottweiler attorney.

R196-"Just listen".

Is Beanie her real name because she looks exactly what I would expect a person named Beanie to look like

She sure ain't a String Beanie!

This mess has been the best gossip for ages.

[quote]This mess has been the best gossip for ages.

Agreed! It's got Broadway, Barbra, a musical, a fat girl, a firing, a flop, a cunt to end all cunts coming in to save the day ... DL catnip!

We went through a long dry spell, r201. This is a good old-fashioned behind the scenes watch your back saga. Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at her rear end. Not quite Valley of the Dolls territory, but wigs *are* involved.

Yes, it’s got Showgirls level drama, all we need is a push down the stairs. It’s delicious.

^that's happening at the same time on another real life New York soap opera

In fairness to Lea, she has seldom shit in my wigs.

Next: Lizzo in The Sound Of Music.

What is the story about the wigs? It's passed into accepted legend but I never knew the origins. It's a bit like "Lucy wanted to but Gary talked her out of it." I always hear that one but even Google can't clue me on that one.

R208= the laziest woman on the internet.

Very helpful, R209. Your W&W must be off the chart, but with so many friends, how would you have time to check?

r199 you mean like an over-stuffed beanbag?

[quote] Very helpful, [R209]. Your W&W must be off the chart, but with so many friends, how would you have time to check?

Ask a stupid question, get shamed with an answer you may not want to see.

If you think you've achieved shaming, your hairnet is too tight. Now back to work, that burger isn't going to burn itself.

r208...

Thanks, R214.

I'd still love to know the Gary/Lucy basis.

See, R212, it's called courtesy.

It's called laziness. The wig shit story is incredibly easy to find online.

^ Seriously, just fuck off. How important is it that my asking instead of googling unhinges you this much? And why? What's wrong with you? What's missing in you? You're a fucking misery and no doubt well earned.

If your lifelong dream is to appear in a Broadway musical playing a role written for someone else, maybe you need a better dream.

There’s nothing wrong with dreaming to play a starring role in a classic. However, getting your dream role and then underperforming and then being fired and then quitting and playing the victim? Sounds like a Gen Z kind of dream.

And it's Barbra that made the show "classic". It really isn't.

Barbra, the movie, the score makes it a classic. There are plenty of shows that may not be very good, but remain classics.

Then why did it take 50 years to get a revival, r221? And a shitty one at that. It's a classic in the way Wonderful Town and Bells are Ringing are. Vehicles crafted so finely to their star that subsequent productions have come up lacking.

This is a small point that can’t be won, r222, because “classic” is not a precise term.

Funny Girl has flaws and has not been produced on Broadway, but it has far more recognition than either of the others. It has been produced outside New York and is recognized by most people who go to theater. Wonderful Town and Bells are Ringing are only known by a small niche, whereas Funny Girl was well known even before Glee.

How many recognize People versus A Little Bit in Love or The Party’s Over? Nearly every one will also know it’s from Funny Girl and that Streisand sang it.

Agreed, r223, but Funny Girl only has recognition because of Barbra, not the show itself. Do you think it would have even been a Bells or Wonderful Town had Bancroft or Gorme done it?

The Wonderful Town revival was, well, wonderful. Donna was so good. The whole production was a true delight.

The Bells are Ringing revival was admittedly less successful, but I still enjoy listening to the cast recording. It was recorded better than it played in the theater. Encores proved it plays alright in concert version.

I think most people know all three shows.

I'm watching My Sister Eileen right now. First nomination for Roz and she's so wonderful in it.

Lea Michele better hire a security team to follow BEANIE on her opening night. That humiliated upstart will try to sneak in the theater and rig a bucket of pigs’ blood up in the rafters or something.

then a broadway martyr!

[quote] Seriously, just fuck off. How important is it that my asking instead of googling unhinges you this much?

I would say the bigger question is why did you become so unhinged at a tossed off sarcastic remark? You've pretty much thrown an all day tantrum about it. How do you get through the day with so many triggering microaggressions causing your mania? I would very much like to make it up to you by starting a GoFundMe in your honor. We should make sure you have a lifelong supply of bubble wrap in which to encase your sensitive nerve endings 24/7.

gurls, you're both cunts.

You know that song from Frozen, r230?

^r229

Everybody over 40 knows "The Party's Over" and some younger people too. It is a popular song.

Oh, go get some plastic surgery, R229. You know you need it.

Beanie wouldn't be receiving anywhere near the flak had she handled the situation like professional, instead of a spoiled, millennial JAP. Politely decline the wedding invitation, stop feigning illness, and perform as best you can. That way, the critics will give her a break in saying that she was miscast, rather than criticizing her petulant behavior. She might have elicited some sympathy.

O.M.G! Do they still give out Theatre World awards for promising debut performances? What if Beanie wasn’t even listed for THAT???

Tonsillitis???

fat girl shoulda said she has long covid.

Her debut was in "Hello, Dolly!"

Do Michelle know the roll as goods as beannie?

[quote]R239 Her debut was in "Hello, Dolly!"

Right…. but it’s sometimes for a “notable” debut (like they kind of flew under the radar before that.)

Or are we saying she already fucked up that Theater World Award chance? Poor Beanie.

Poor, poor, rich Beanie.

It didn't fly under the radar -- supposedly, and what supporters say, it's what helped get her "Funny Girl".

Why didn’t she get a Theater World Award, then?

Was she hated within the industry, already?

Because she SUCKS!

She wasn't really a standout in the show. She has one little monologue before a scene and sings in the "Elegance" number with 3 others and is in some scenes as a feature player.

Now the fat fuck has tonsillitis.

GO HOME, BITCH!

The world is back on its axis. This was meant to be. It's in the book of Revelations.

Your Book of Revelations lifts liberally from various Streisand performances, with a millennial sex kitten section thrown in. Note the hammy gestures and physicality and the avoidance of close ups. This could be a second trainwreck, except Lea has a great deal of experience playing to empty houses on Broadway.

But, Lea can sing. Unlike Barbara and Beanie. So there's that. It's been established and foretold.

Tonsillitis!! I don’t know why this latest excuse cracks me up, but it does. Why not just say she has Covid and wait until July 31st for her to recover?

I hope she drinks lots of hot tea with honey. Maybe she’ll make it back for one more performance.

[quote]For fucks sake, she should’ve been in Funny Girl from day one not that obese, no talent Jonah Hill in a dress Beanie.

Beanie should never been cast nor allowed to open the show. As another poster pointed out, Lea Michele can sing but she can't act and just isn't funny. Copying Streisand's shtick shouldn't get you the part. Bring is someone new.

Will she wear Bab’s hairstyle on Bway, too?

And what about the nails??

Take a seat Beanie. You've earned your rest.

Fucking tonsillitis

Hey Beanie,

Obviously she has shown that she cannot remain healthy for a short run, so she should be blacklisted from Broadway.

Beanie doesn't even have tonsils! She'd need a throat for that.

So how much longer before Julie Benko's done more performances than Beanie?

I guess this whole fiasco renders her uninsurable for stage work (if anyone ever wants her again.)

[italic]Is anyone advising her??

Her ENT specialist advised Beanie to never sing again. And he had free tickets.

[quote]And it's Barbra that made the show "classic". It really isn't.

Lainie Kazan and Mimi were every bit as good as Barbra if not better in it.

Clearly, Beanie is now trying steal Lens' Ailment Queen crown.

Lainie Kazan is so pissed that Barbra didn't have Beanie's track record.

R263, I’m afraid you may be on to something. God forbid she gets endometriosis and starts doing bikini photoshoots.

[quote]Lainie Kazan and Mimi were every bit as good as Barbra if not better in it.

Sure, Jan....I mean r262.

Why do people think that Streisand was such a wonder from the start? Her Funny Girl was 20 years before I was born but she didn't even win the Tony Award? Folk tales says her voice was often harsh and screechy and that she skipped entire songs and half assed many of the rest. She was self indulgent and unprofessional. She's no Linda Eder or Lea Michele.

Eydie Gorme could have sung the hell out of the Funny Girl score. Just saying.

Who the fuck upthread thinks that People is better song than "The Party's Over" anyway. Why does everything to do with Streizand always have bad taste and ancient bad taste fans attached to it? Yikes.

[quote]Her Funny Girl was 20 years before I was born

All the more reason for you to shut the fuck up about things you know nothing about, r267.

Ah, yes, R268, because being born when an event took place is a necessary condition for having knowledge of it and perspective on it. Right. You sound cranky--sundowning, I presume?

[quote]R267 Folk tales says her voice was often harsh and screechy

I’ve never heard this.

[quote] she skipped entire songs and half assed many of the rest.

I have heard this. But that was later in the run, after she got rhapsodic reviews.

You're not nearly as clever as you think you are, r269.

I hope the pudding the nurse brings raises your blood sugar, r272.

Pudding?

r273 see r272

Blowing my doors off, r275. Stop! I can’t take these withering putdowns!

For the love of FOLLIES, will you two cunts please stop bickering.

Broadway Beanie's lament:

All my dreams will be repaid.

Heck, I'd even play the maid

To be in a show.

Hey, Mr. Producer,

I'm talking to you, sir;

I don't need a lot,

Only what I got,

Plus a tube of greasepaint

And a follow-spot!

Mmmm, seems she DOES need more than what she’s got. A LOT more.

[quote] This could be a second trainwreck, except Lea has a great deal of experience playing to empty houses on Broadway.

She appeared in three Broadway hits, one of which she starred in and all which did excellent box office.

Stop Bean/Benko troll. You’re just embarrassing yourself.

I hear Beanie is being placed on Equity's "Does Not Work" list.

Is she a lesbian?

Or is she [shudder] “queer?”

I haven’t seen the show but I know a couple who did and said it was not worth it. She was miscast. They are not fat shaming but said it’s hard to watch someone of her size seamlessly move on stage and sing (which is apparently being gracious as it didn’t sound like Broadway style singing) as she wasn’t able to make it look effortless. Has anyone seen her perform? Lea might be a CUNT but B’Ways best are Talented Cunts. I mean come on, she isn’t there to make nice backstage singing koombayah, she’s there to *wow* onstage and make money. The Glee DLister who won’t STFU about WigGate needs to watch Lea onstage and realize that’s what REAL TALENT is. She never shit in the bitches wig so end this already and take your job at the local theater in upstate NY.

[quote] So Lea will replace and the revival will flop again. The backstage drama has probably kept this lackluster production running as long as it has. The old adage “There’s no such thing as bad publicity” is true.

You think there’s going to be LESS backstage drama once Lea Michele takes over the starring role? Were you in a coma from 2009 to 2015?

[quote] Do Michelle know the roll as goods as beannie?

Based on how many times she’s performed songs from it in public over the years, she may know the role as well as Barbra did.

Beanie was not made for this roll, but Lea is.

From DL comments, it seems apparent that Beanie is suited for every roll.

Making puns about food and Beanie are cruel and unnecessary, r286. Let’s just say she’s got her just desserts, and move on.

It should have been Shoshana Bean from Day 1.

She's suited to onion rolls.

Did someone say rolls?!?!

It will hurt to swallow, Bea. Just take it easy for a while.

I mean, a while LONGER.

Poor Beanie, casted in the wrong roll.

The virtue signalling online from those who demand we "be nice!", and "remember, she's a human being!" are from the insane participation trophy generation, and basically the worst and most annoying bullies themselves.

Hon, this is Broadway, big-time, for-profit show BUSINESS, not Bard college's all-trans summer production of "The Most Happy Fellx"!

Beanie is very eager for her gig singing the National Anthem at the World Series should the Yankees make it.

Roseanne 2.0

Beanie would have been OK as Fanny's mother in a high school production.

Ha, what a little bitch...I only had to shit in her wig once!

[quote]Plus a tube of greasepaint, And a follow-spot!

A tube?

More like a six gallon drum and a klieg light.

Did she by chance mean a beanie hat? How did she come by this nickname -- from her nanny, was it?

Has she declared herself a lesbian?

Or copped out with the vile “queer?”

[quote]Did she by chance mean a beanie hat? How did she come by this nickname -- from her nanny, was it?

You're funny!

She's full of beans...and gas... the kid farts a lot, ok?

Where will all this glamor go? Beanie, Beanie is about to be a married lady.❤ Perhaps she will retire from the stage....

Oh, here is the photo. A queen.

those jew beenies.

That was a typo, r302. It was meant to read *abhor*.

To the victor, the spoils.

Beanie is going on to greater glory. Lola In Damn Yankees, Sally Bowles, Nellie Forbush, Magnolia In Show Boat, Sweet Charity!

I see her as being one of the better Phyllises, r307.

The truth is, other than Cornelius who should be able to sing well, just about anybody can play the numerous juvenile roles in "Hello Dolly".

They're all pretty silly dumb roles.

R308, have you seen her perform? She gives off way more Sally vibes than Phyllis vibes.

I saw the Dolly revival a lot. 4 times with Bette, once with Donna and once with Bernadette. I really liked Beanie- she was warm and sweet. Her replacement wasn’t nearly as good.

I saw her in Funny Girl too. No, her singing wasn’t great, but she’s not an unintelligent actor. She found ways to compensate for her lack of vocal skills in the book scenes. The performance would be totally adequate at Papermill, but just doesn’t cut it on Broadway, not after 60 years of waiting for a revival.

[quote]No, her singing wasn’t great, but she’s not an unintelligent actor. She found ways to compensate for her lack of vocal skills in the book scenes.

I think it only would've worked if she'd found ways to compensate for her lack of vocal skills DURING THE SONGS.

God knows, the people at the soundboard were trying to compensate.

I do agree with R310 that she can be good in the right role, the right vehicle. Fanny Brice in Funny Girl? Not it.

[quote]have you seen her perform? She gives off way more Sally vibes than Phyllis vibes

No, r310, she has the gams for Phyllis.

[quote]The truth is, other than Cornelius who should be able to sing well

How good a singer was Charles Nelson Reilly, or his original replacement, Carlton Carpenter - and later, Russell Nype? Just average, I think - though they all could sing.

back in the 60s "Funny Girl" was changed and revised to emphasize the singing aspect of the show. In out of town previews the show bombed, and emergency surgery was done - to feature MORE of Streisand singing and less acting

that is what made it a hit, it was like a Barbra Streisand concert

this is not a show to revive if the lead is not a powerful belter

Agreed, they were barely passable singers, but the role comes to life when a good singer plays it.

I saw Beanie in "Dolly" and I barely remember her other than thinking, "Oh, look at the stunt casting of the lively fat girl".

Fanny Brice was an awkward, gawky, homely comic (though she did have a nice body), who was also a singer. Barbra could do all that. It was a meeting of actress/singer and role, though other people took over eventually and did well. I can't believe Leah Michele is the type at all, but that seems to be irrelevant nowadays.

Fanny came up in the world ten years before women even had the right to vote - headlining the Ziegfeld Follies for the first time in 1910 and 1911. I think it's hard to convey what kind of person she was, to a modern audience. People now cringe at the whole "woman defined by her love for a man" trope. By the way, the older Fanny was described by some of her friends the same way, when asked. "Class." Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn were a couple of them. Streisand doesn't really have class, but she could convey that in her performance. I'm not sure Lea Michele can.

[quote]though other people took over eventually and did well.

Mimi and...who, r317? Mimi got it to run another year then the show closed. Nobody remembers Mimi anymore. It didn't really do much for her career.

R318 I meant she did well in the role. What do you mean? If she got it to run another year, as you say, she must have been pretty good in it.

[quote]I saw the Dolly revival a lot. 4 times with Bette, once with Donna and once with Bernadette.

Why? It's such a bad show.

She'd be great in the title role in a revival of "Jumbo".

That's the thing about creativity, R320, it's subjective.

Did that fat camp musical from a few years back do alright? I imagine there’s a featured counselor role that Beanie would eat up.

Maybe somebody could take the Poseidon Adventure to Broadway and she could do the Shelley Winters part.

Or Divine, the Musical.

Or Mother Markus?

[quote]R315 back in the 60s "Funny Girl" was changed and revised to emphasize the singing aspect of the show. In out of town previews the show bombed, and emergency surgery was done - to feature MORE of Streisand singing and less acting

I read a really interesting bio on Babs that said the way the show (and later the film) (bye, Anne Francis!) was salvaged was to cut almost everything that didn’t feature Fanny. The show’s only strengths were the music and the sheer power of the lead’s voice, so they hitched their wagon to what worked and sacrificed everything else.

Most shows are NOT developed like that.

[quote]Maybe somebody could take the Poseidon Adventure to Broadway and she could do the Shelley Winters part.

Or play the boat.

Funny Girl was such a weird choice for someone who's not known for her voice. I think it's in one of the Broadway threads that mentions Bells Are Ringing. That would have been a better choice--lovelorn phone operator listening in on her clients--has a standard --"The Party's Over"--that's lovely and poignant, but doesn't require a big belt and the main role, which was the break-out role for Judy Holliday, requires comedy and charm, but not major singing chops. It was revived in 2001, but it's been 20 years. I think it would be even better than Once Upon a Mattress since the operator being a fat girl would give the role another layer--give a reason for why she's just been living through her client's lives.

There was just some sort of ego thing run amuck here in that no one said--"Hey, you don't have the right voice for this role and it's not working."

[quote]which was the break-out role for Judy Holliday

Billie Dawn was her break-out role.

R130 Oops, you're right of course.

Hey Mischter Arnschtein, heeeeeeeeeeere I aaaaaaam!

I'll wheel my chai-ai-ai-air out....

R332 "No, Mr. Cawthorn. Next!"

Let's be honest, Beanie couldn't even sing the role of Tracy Turnblad.

“ that didn’t stop me!“

I love Anne Francis but this was Barbra’s movie and she was fabulous in it so if Anne and Kay had their parts slashed.....oh well. That’s show biz kids.

Anne Francis is in 'Funny Girl'????

Streisand has always been threatened by her female peers.

Agreed. She despised Madeline Kahn because Kahn stole the show from her in What's Up Doc?

Streisand is a monster. In flesh and deed.

[quote] Anne Francis is in 'Funny Girl'????

Actually, Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet.

Anne Francis was a doll. An ugly doll...

That doll looks like a cross between Sarah Paulson and Harriet Sansom Harris.

[quote]R337 Anne Francis is in 'Funny Girl'????

For about 5 seconds, yes. She plays Georgia, a showgirl who befriends Fanny. I think in the original script “Georgia” was having an affair with Flo Ziegfeld. But the part was edited down smaller and smaller to where she ends up with 1 or 2 lines in the train station scene.

I think Francis asked her name be taken out of the credits, but the studio refused.

Anne should have sued Gilbert Toys, r343.

And the character was an alcoholic and I think had a drunk scene that was cut, r344.

Kahn had said that Streisand was very nice to her during shooting. Lucy is another story.

Streisand wasn't nice to Lucy?

Babs hit Lucy in the head with a fondue pot, r348.

Which episode of Here's Lucy was that?

Was it the one where Babs hit Lucy with a fondue pot?

Oh! Who should be on Mission:Impossible right now but our very own Miss Anne Francis!

Reportedly, this is an open letter Francis posted on her website before she died. I don’t know how it could be authenticated, tho. Babs herself may have hacked her way into the system!

———

[italic]Dear Barbra,

It has gnawed at me for years that you have believed that I blamed you for cutting most of my scenes from “Funny Girl.” I felt the sadness of the misunderstanding all over again when I read a supposed quote of yours last year saying that you had heard me blame you on a TV talk show. The only talk show I did on the subject was on Johnny Carson, and Joey Bishop was subbing that night. I tried to make it plain that I did not blame you, and had no idea why I was cut from the film. To this day, I don’t know the circumstances that caused the decision, but I am lead to believe it probably had to do with the length of the film. The sub plot of Georgia’s histrionics with Florenz Ziegfeld was really not necessary to the story about Fanny Brice.

In all fairness, I understand that the press believed that I felt that way because my public relations person, who was also a very dear friend, did believe it, and she made the statements that were attributed to me. I was caught in the middle, and rather than point a finger at her, I did the best I could to refute the story whenever confronted by an interviewer. The whole thing was messy and painful. I had never been embroiled in that sort of ruckus before. I know you were going through a lot of flack as well during those stormy days when first you hit Hollywood (or It hit you!). I had hoped then that it would all blow over quickly, but when I saw the quote you allegedly made recently, I felt awful once more.

At the age of thirty-five (over the hill in those days!), the role of Georgia was a great gem for me, and I had high hopes (I had just come off of “Honey West”) that it would do a lot for my “career.” The flashy role, along with the drunk scene (which hit the editor’s floor) pretty much cinched the prospect of a supporting nomination with the Academy that year. So, you can understand the humiliation when each day a note would be slipped under my dressing room door, “omit scene so and so.” The scene named would always be the one I had been called in to do that day. I am not whining, dear lady. We’ve all taken our lumps in this “Business.” I’m just sharing with you what was going on at that time with me. You had your own problems. I marveled at how you handled yourself on your first encounter with the alien world of the film industry.

I have had the greatest respect for your talent and for what you have made of yourself, Barbra. You are a brilliant woman and I have always wished you the very best. One more time, it is important for me before I leave this planet to say, I have never accused you of having the role of Georgia cut to the quick.

God Bless,

Anne

*3* GIRLS *3*

Mimi Hines in Funny Girl on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Madeline did say Barbra was cold to her. When they table read the WUD script and Madeline was getting the most laughs, Barbra snapped that she felt like a co-star in her own movie. She didn't say two words to Kahn afterwards.

Estelle Parsons was another one who didn't have a fond experience working with Barbra on "For Pete's Sake" saying she treated people she considered beneath her like shit.

One of the costumers on the Funny Girl set DID blame Babs for Anne Francis’ shrinking role. She also said Babs had Francis’ gorgeous wardrobe scratched and redone, plainer.

So, who knows?

Somebody who worked on Mirror told me that Barbra has no soul.

I question that, r357. Sharaff didn't put up with Babs' shit.

As someone said to director William Wyler on the set of Funny Girl, "Willie, you need to go easier on Barbra. She's never directed a picture before."

But I've directed three timeless masterpieces since, bitches!

[quote] Sharaff didn't put up with Babs' shit.

Well they were sleeping together during the filming of Funny Girl

Bets on whether or not Beanie appears on Tuesday night?

I say Beanie comes back on Thursday but skips matinees until the 31st because she needs to rest her voice.

What voice?

r362

Irene Sharaff, dodo.

Can our resident vocalists answer a question for me? I've just been re-watching some of Lea Michele's "Funny Girl" song clips, and I'd like to know what that awful tic she does is called. I don't even know how to describe it, actually, but to me, it's like she attacks a note from above a split second before hitting the note, and it comes out like a squeak or a whine. It's always while she's belting (so, like 80% of the time she's singing). It is so annoying--not quite as much as when a singer slides up to a note, but it'll drive you crazy once you start paying attention to it.

I hope that they can straighten that out in FG rehearsals, along with her one-emotional-note (generously, two) interpretations and the Barbra imitation.

[quote]r367 I've just been re-watching some of Lea Michele's "Funny Girl" song clips, and I'd like to know what that awful tic she does is called… it's like she attacks a note from above a split second before hitting the note, and it comes out like a squeak or a whine.

This musician talks about it, and calls it “a cry”

R353, I searched the internet and found Barbra’s response to Anne’s letter which I will share with you now:

[quote]Anne who?

r353 , I searched the internet and found Barbra’s response to Anne’s letter which I will share with you now:

Anne Francis had candy pussy and she dispensed her favors very liberally.

r371

As some old timers here might know, when Funny Girl was in its original rehearsals and then out of town tryouts, the role of alcoholic Ziegfeld show girl Georgia was played by Broadway semi-star Allyn Ann McLerie and her lines got whittled down weekly until there was no role left and McLerie left the production before it started previews on Broadway.

The original intention was to have a B line plot that would give Streisand a break and also give the audiences something else to savor in Funny Girl. But it soon became absolutely clear that nobody cared about Georgia's story and everyone only wanted more, not less, of Barbra's Fanny.

Why producer Ray Stark, director William Wyler, Isobel Lennart (the original Broadway librettist as well as the film's screenwriter) and even Anne Francis would have thought......oh, yeah let's bring back the character of Georgia and see if we can make it work this time.....is beyond comprehension. I imagine there was still some mistrust that Barbra was really going to be a movie star and could carry a film, but still....

As I also posted on the Theatre Gossip Thread, someone needs to write the dishy and insidious history of this FG revival a la the fabulous THE MAKING OF NO NO NANETTE, the 1972 tell-all expose of that revival's scary, bumpy and hilarious road to Broadway and one of the best books ever written about the inside workings of a Broadway show. It was written by Don Dunn, who I believe was a boyfriend of somebody on the show and is filled with all sorts of delicious insider info. I suppose a FG book could even have a history of the making of the original production and film of FG and all of those travails.

[quote] But it soon became absolutely clear that nobody cared about Georgia's story and everyone only wanted more, not less, of Barbra's Fanny.

Exactly as said before - the show bombed in out of town previews. People wanted to see Striesand as Fanny - full out. So the producers gave the paying public what they wanted. Even when Mimi Hines took over the show, it still worked because she was a fabulous belter who was playing Fanny - as the show was all about Fanny. No one cared about the supporting characters, Fanny bio is what people wanted to see, and that is what the producers gave them.

Putting aside issues of singing and acting ability, the thing I am missing in all these discussions of Lea Michelle is: Is this a performer who has”it?” Do I want to spend two and a half hours with her? Is she so charming and fun that I’ll gladly hitch my wagon to her for the journey? Is she so amazing that the problems in this troubled show will melt away? Personally, I look at photos of her and the word that comes to mind is “sour.”

I'm glad you asked that question, R376.

No, she doesn't have It. And, yes, she is sour.

In one of Ethan Mordden's books, he talks about some actors having an essential quality that always comes through no matter what they're playing.

He said Karen Ziemba wouldn't be good as Madame Rose because her intelligence always comes through, and Rose is dumb. Shrewd but dumb, like a peasant.

And LM's essential quality is anger.

LM’s essential quality is…mediocrity.

Who's Madame Rose?

r379, you turn in your card right now.

The character's name is Rose. ROSE. Now popularly referred to as Momma Rose. Madame Rose, or Madame Rosa, ladykins, is another person entirely from a different show. Get the nomenclature right or GTFO.

No one knows BF's "identification" of her sexuality, despite the impending wife?

Is she an actual lesbian, or a Hollywood "queer?"

I think you’re wrong, R377.

LM’s essential quality is: ambitious. And that will work very well for Fanny. If she can just have fun with it, and not empty her bowels in people’s wigs, and bring her own potato salad to Tovah’s picnic, she’ll be great.

I just hope they don’t ask her to read.

Streisand had an inherent Jewish goofiness which she left behind after FG to become a more "dignified" type as her Hollywood career progressed, but it's still evident in I'm the Greatest Star, as well as other moments especially in the first 1/2 of the film.

I don't think Lea is capable of making that kind of self-deprecating humor endearing or believable. I'm telling you, just belting out those songs is not enough to sell the show.

R368, thank you! That was great. He is extremely diplomatic about Beanie, too.

R381: "Rose" is too vague; there are too many Roses floating around. And "Momma Rose" is just wrong. Her daughters call her Rose and everyone else calls her Madame Rose.

"Momma Rose" is the cliche favored by ignorant jackasses like you. And you can shove your "ladykins" right up your enraged-queen ass.

r382 Google it if you're so bothered by it, you fucking idiot. Instead of posting the same shit over and over.

There is no answer online, except that she is "queer," meaning she will leave her wife for a man one day.

I'm a queer man and I don't plan on leaving my husband for a woman.

Saying you’re queer is gay. Just be gay.

R389 r390

Love you R391!!!!!

R389 is the Ancient White Fags troll.

R391

R392

r395

Still no word on a Cast Album

What if they decide to do the Cast Album with Lea Michele and NOT Beanie

Would that be a slap in the face to Beanie?

R389 is a real MAN. Not some ancient white RACIST fruit bat.

[quote]R396 Still no word on a Cast Album. What if they decide to do the Cast Album with Lea Michele and NOT Beanie.

GOD, that would be delicious!

If anyone deserves the cast album recording, it's Julie Benko.

No reports from last night's show?

[quote] If anyone deserves the cast album recording, it's Julie Benko.

Absolutely NO WAY Benko gets the cast album

If they were smart they would do an album with both leading ladies. Imagine all the press that release would generate! However, if beanie’s lawyers are decent they got her out of her obligation to do the album when they untangled the rest of the deal.

More people would buy a Beanie cast album recording than a Lea one. Some for the collector's aspect, some to make it camp, some to mock it.

A Beanie cast recording would be the biggest seller since ...

[quote]r403 More people would buy a Beanie cast album recording than a Lea one

I don’t think our Miss Beanie is the top flight star she and her family think she is.

Surely nobody gets a cast album. It's a revival with arguably the quintessential OBC recording already out there and the reboot wasn't exactly a Tony triumph. There's little logic for it.

[quote] Surely nobody gets a cast album. It's a revival with arguably the quintessential OBC recording already out there and the reboot wasn't exactly a Tony triumph. There's little logic for it.

All Broadway Musical Revivals have gotten a cast album - since there is no recording of the show, this is the next best thing to preserve the show. It is also for history.

I have sufficient.

Waiting for the ‘Beanie is still recovering and will be out of Funny Girl until this weekend’ announcement.

Julie had better have got a good night’s rest. Busy week ahead!

someone just wrote on another Broadway message board that Beanie has missed at least 30 performances

I’ve never seen a “professional” Bway performer treat a job more like a hobby than this person.

It really is a first!

R386 If you had posted "Mama Rose" I would have known who you meant. I literally thought Madame Rose was from some other show.

[quote]All Broadway Musical Revivals have gotten a cast album

Not even close to being true

Madam Rose sounds like she runs a whore house.

Hardly every musical revival gets recorded, but most major revivals do get recorded. Into the Woods is being recorded, but shockingly the Company revival has not yet been recorded. The Caroline, Or Change revival was also not recorded.

The Company Revival has a London cast album. Where the Bobbi can actually sing.

r416 This revival isn't successful enough for a cast album. Either critically or commercially. Maybe if Lea comes in and sells out for three months, then maybe.

R416, Caroline was recorded in its entirety. This Funny Girl revival, like Company, had a London recording.

There will only be a cast recording if the producers think it will make money.

Beanie should just put out a record album of her songs!

Plenty of flop shows (and revivals) get recordings. It is about historical preservation. Matt Doyle deserves to have his Tony-Award-winning performance recorded on disc. That’s part of Broadway history now and shouldn’t be lost to time.

In Transit and First Date were recorded. Amazing Grace was recorded. If these ultimate loser flops that no one saw were recorded then Funny Girl and Company should be too.

If Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and Fun Home we’re both re-recorded with their Broadway casts, then Company can be re-recorded here too.

And yet THE MUSIC MAN's revival is not getting recorded.

Hmmm........

It's about people being willing/able to put up the money, r422.

Who’s supposed to pay for this history, r422?

Thank you, r425.

[quote]Matt Doyle deserves to have his Tony-Award-winning performance recorded on disc. That’s part of Broadway history now and shouldn’t be lost to time.

LOL fuck off Matt

Producers should be factoring in the cost of a recording when they’re budgeting the initial investment. (It usually costs about one week’s worth of operating cost to record a show. If they have to close a show one week early to preserve it, so be it.)

And Matt Doyle was BRILLIANT in Company and it will be an enormous loss to generations of theater lovers not to have it recorded.

Bailey was much better and his performance has been recorded, so no loss at all

[quote] Producers should be factoring in the cost of a recording when they’re budgeting the initial investment. (It usually costs about one week’s worth of operating cost to record a show. If they have to close a show one week early to preserve it, so be it.)

They look and realize they will receive zero profit for it and pass

[quote] And Matt Doyle was BRILLIANT in Company and it will be an enormous loss to generations of theater lovers not to have it recorded.

It's not a role one can be brilliant in.

Now, now, r430, don't rain on r428's parade...

[quote]Her daughters call her Rose

They also call her Momma, quite often. hello, “If Momma Was Married”? No one calls her Momma Rose, but she’s referred to as Momma a lot.

And Jonathan Bailey is a name people will still know in 5 years.

And Blondie Bumstead's maiden name was Boopadoop.

[quote] Not even close to being true

Well the majority have - and since this the FIRST revival of Funny Girl, a cast album is warranted

I don’t understand this sense of entitlement, that ignores the economic reality.

Matt Doyle is widely hated for his work and for himself. Anyone with taste and hope for the future of the medium should be glad at his ongoing failure. If karma is real, Matt has a lot of bad news coming.

Producers know that a recording of this "Company" would not sell well and they would lose money.

Who wants to hear Bennie Feldstein? You can't laugh through a 100 minute torture recording.

Jane Lynch can't sing either.

Lea, (Mama Rose)Tovah and Ramin will record the damn thing! Dream Cast.

the london cast is entirely superior

R440, if Lea were the dream FB, she would have been in the role from the start.

Will Variety proclaim "Our Long National (OK Blue State) NIghtmare Is Over!" when Beanie finishes her run? Keep it in mind for a future DL title around that time.

Obviously Lea was the right Fanny Brice and the producers made a terrible mistake and one of the biggest nepotism boners in Show Biz history, R442.

You're one of those posters that likes throwing the word C*UNT around for no good reason. Some small minded little internet troll mind.

Lea Michele was always too obvious - never not right for the part. She proved herself the right casting for a decade.

She will sell out the show and sing the score better than anyone else available. It's mostly crappy music. Requires a belter with a lot of obnoxious BALLS. And a nice pop sounding vibrato. And bit of tenderness. Check for Lea Michele.

It's a dumbass musical to be honest. Most STAR Broadway singers wouldn't want to sing those songs. Other than The Music That Makes Me Dance. Which is by far the best song in the show. Barbra cut it from the movie. Striezand is the CUNT and lifelong asshole with zero taste. Ha.

r407- I was in the 2000 revival of JCS and we did not record an album. So not ALL revivals get recorded.

The producers have to bankroll the cost of making a cast album and as mentioned above it's usually expensive. It benefits the producers of a new show more than a revival as it becomes strong promotional material for anyone interested in putting on productions after Broadway.

Matt Doyle couldn’t be more mid. No one cares if his performance was recorded or not. Go to YouTube.

Is Matt Doyle the former Mrs. Andrew Rannells?

KingSpeed has entered the room!

R448. No that was Mike Doyle. Much cuter.

Thanks, R450. It was hard for me to imagine the L&O guy bursting into song this late in life.

R444 = cunt

Reading this Daily Beast article about what went down between Beanie & the producers, there is so much bad blood I doubt a Funny Girl Soundtrack will be made

Because of the bad reviews, a minority of producers wanted Beanie fired the next day! But a majority wanted them to stick it out, led by Sonia Friedman

that only made things worse as Beanie was STUNG by the better reviews her understudy got while she was away. Beanie didn't appreciate the social media posts her understudy posted. They were innocent, Julie Benko just letting people know when she would be next one

But the comments were filled with posters saying how wonderful Benko was, and how much they enjoyed the show

Beanie seemed to want the same deal Barbra Striesand worked out when her understudy went on - that there would be no press or announcement ahead of time that the understudy was going on

Anyways things are so bad between the producers and Beanie, that Lea Michele is forced to rehearse her role in a separate thereat! So the two won't run into each other, even though they share the same agent!

[quote]one of those posters that likes throwing the word C*UNT around for no good reason.

As long as you're in a thread r444, there is ALWAYS a good reason for the word cunt.

[quote]I doubt a Funny Girl Soundtrack will be made

It came out in 1968, r453, but you know that.

[quote] It came out in 1968, but you know that.

Yes because I referring to the soundtrack to the REVIVAL

Oh dear, r456.

[quote]r453 Beanie was STUNG by the better reviews her understudy got while she was away.

it almost sounds like she [italic]shouldn’t have gone away.[/italic]

Beanie being out sick this past week, ticket sales actually went up for her understudy Julie Benko

Julie is pretty.

Julie Benko is sort of the Florence Nightingale of Broadway right now.

Julie Benko’s pussy stenko.

Is Beanie actually going to perform again or has she stated her boundaries? It kinda looks like she’s done-done.

Word of mouth is getting around that Julie is much better as Fanny, and it's showing up at the box-office in real money.

Funny Girl is no biography. The only thing authentic about it is the use of real names. Funny Girl was about the electrifying presentation of Streisand. That’s right — the show is about HER.

[quote]Yes because I referring to the soundtrack to the REVIVAL

Movies have soundtracks, musicals have cast recordings.

Apparently, Beanie went on last night.

I'm a bit shocked.

Quickest recovery from tonsillitis ever. Verily, it was a MIRACLE!

She was promised lots and lots of ice cream to coat her vocal cords.

Uh oh, Wednesday is a 2 doe shay for Beanie. Will she get through both performances?

Andy Randells should replace Lee Michelle in Funny Girl

R456-Honey, you've got to be new around here. FAUX PAS! FAUX PAS!

There was even a joke about soundtrack vs. original cast recording back in the naked play "Party"! Any talk of reviving that fun play? Plenty of nudie actors available and willing.

R470, these days fair is fair. If you identify as Fannie, you get to play the part. No questions asked.

R456, I’m shocked that they’re making a remake of the Funny Girl film with Beanie, but when they release the soundtrack, be sure to let us all know!

They obviously need to make a three-disc cast recording so we can compare Beanie, Julie and Lea. That would be gay heaven!

Only on DL would a weapons grade hissing match erupt over soundtrack vs. cast recording. It is both sublime and absurd.

[quote] Yes because I referring to the soundtrack to the REVIVAL

You're not a gay man, are you?

Amazon labels Broadway Cast Recordings as "Soundtracks"

R477, Amazon is wrong

R477: "See? Other stupid people make the same stupid mistake!!!!!"

Amazon is playing to the hoi polloi who don’t know any better. We, as gay men, must strive to be better than the masses.

I would certainly hope that the dolt who dared call a cast recording a soundtrack is a heterosexual who stumbled upon datalounge, and will just as quickly leave, never to return again!

Such anger, R480. Unresolved anger leads to health problems.

Playbill calls the recording of 13 The Musical a "Soundtrack"

[quote] Playbill calls the recording of 13 The Musical a "Soundtrack"

Because that's the soundtrack for the forthcoming film version (that no one asked for).

That’s because 13 is a movie being produced for Netflix. You’re really not following this, are you, r482?

I assume R482 is trolling us at this point. No one is this willfully stupid.

The OBCR of 13 was released when the show played the Jacobs. After long last, 13 has been filmed and now will have a soundtrack that we can compare and contrast with the OBCR.

Barnes & Noble labels Broadway Recordings as "Soundtracks"

r486 Do you actually think you're making a point, rather than making yourself look like a huge idiot?

R486 is correct and I stand with him.

Streaming Service "Soundcloud" list every single Broadway Recording as a "Soundtrack"

Example "The Wiz" below

r489, you also said:

[quote]All Broadway Musical Revivals have gotten a cast album

Considering Bway has just become a place to reproduce movies on a stage, perhaps soundtracks should be the correct term

Touche, r491.

Here’s the deal folks: calling a Broadway cast recording a soundtrack used to be wrong but things change and about 15 years ago, the NEW YORK FUCKING TIMES referred to a OBCR as a soundtrack. The NYFT is the paper of record so we’ve moved on now. It is okay to call them soundtracks now just as Amazon does. I say this as someone who has a degree in musical theater.

And yes, a “Party” revival is long overdue.

[quote] I say this as someone who has a degree in musical theater.

If you're dumb enough to have spent money on a degree in musical theater, then why should we listen to you about anything?

[Quote] I say this as someone who has a degree in musical theater.

Schools give out degrees in musical fucking theatre?

No, it’s not ok. A “soundtrack” is called that because it is the audio track taken from a film or video recording. The NYT is hardly infallible, and you did not actual reference or link for this major event from 15 years ago.

[quote]Here’s the deal folks: calling a Broadway cast recording a soundtrack used to be wrong but things change and about 15 years ago, the NEW YORK FUCKING TIMES referred to a OBCR as a soundtrack.

They also said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Considering the phrase "Original Broadway Cast Recording",--or some variation--appears on every one of those album covers, perhaps we should take the word of the record labels and not Spotify.

Soundtracks works fine. That's what it is. It's a compilation record - not a live recording of a performance.

You gays should be concerned with other things.

You know we have lost this battle when Lin-Manuel Miranda referred to "soundtracks" he listened to as a kid.

Lin is an idiot.

There must be nothing more to say about Beanie's leaving early, since the posts have devolved into bickering about soundtracks.

Actually, it devolved into Lin Manuel Miranda, as all things do. He is the Borg of Broadway, hungry enough to assimilate Fiddler on the Roof, Sondheim’s death, and even Beanie Feldstein.

I'll be the first to say it. I'll miss Beanie

Oh yes, please give us a revival of "Party" with monkeypox spreading among theatre gays like wildfire.

They don't have sex in "Party"; does just dancing to Karen Carpenter while naked with other guys and hanging out make one much more likely to get it?

Damn Monkeypox!! That will just delay the next Oh! Calcutta! Revival.

All it takes is physical contact with an infected person. There go all the nude scenes for a while.

It’s cool that we all came together on this thread to agree that OBC is synonymous with soundtrack. I love how DL can be a conversation sometimes, and how little bad feeling there is when there’s disagreement.

I got a free ticket this past Wednesday night for “Funny Girl” and Beanie went on and didn’t seem ill or vocally compromised. Her voice is seriously undertrained with little support in the middle register. Weird thing is that she can belt and sustain climactic high notes. For example the final note of “Don’t Rain on my Parade”. When she gets some breath and support under the tone, you can hear that she actually has an instrument.

The other thing is that Beanie, though a limited actress, has charm and a winning personality. The audience liked her immediately and she built a rapport with them. She got lots of laughs and big ovations after numbers and at the final curtain calls. I felt she was a charming actress with potential to do better with more training in a less bravura star vocalist vehicle.

For example, she could be a fabulous Tracy Turnblad in “Hairspray” with some serious voice building. I felt bad for Beanie getting royally trashed because the night I went she was working hard and putting over a bright theatrical personality and connecting with the audience. It would be sad if she dropped stage acting or it dropped her after this sad misadventure.

Way too late for that R510. She’s burned every bridge to be burned.

LuPone - who I love and is magnificent, if a handful - also pounded the hell out of the performance after she got fired from Sunset. There used to be a recording on Youtube of her final performance - part legend, part fuck you, part exorcism. Final days can better your game, no matter the extent of your talent.

Why isn't Michael Mayer getting more blame for the flop that is Funny Girl? He's getting away with murder.

Au contraire, r509.

r504 = Beanie Feldstein

[quote]r510 It would be sad if she dropped stage acting or it dropped her after this sad misadventure.

[quote]r511 Way too late for that. She’s burned every bridge to be burned.

I agree the little whore has made her bed.

Now ship it back to Hollywood along with her! There’s a truckload of cake crumbs in it and god knows what else.

Maybe theryl be a sountrack of Funny Girl made where it’s just like everything is there and recorded accept Beanies voice so that like anyone can be Fanny Briece like a karryokee song or something like that

What a great name for a drag Queen-Doris De’javu

Even R517 is calling a Broadway recording a "Soundtrack"

Must be the generational gap here

I visited Beanie’s dressing room once after a performance and she farted on my face!

[quote] “soundtrack” is called that because it is the audio track taken from a film or video recording.

yeah but when they film a musical like Chicago, they record the songs beforehand in the studio, then lip-synch when they film the scene off that recording

for a Broadway album, they also go into the studio and record the songs

So really there shouldn't be any difference to labeling BOTH as a "soundtrack" because BOTH the film musical & Broadway musical record the music for the album in a studio

They don't record the music from a live Broadway performance

[quote]Maybe theryl be a sountrack of Funny Girl made where it’s just like everything is there and recorded accept Beanies voice so that like anyone can be Fanny Briece like a karryokee song or something like that

There actually are recordings like that made as rehearsal materials and when you license a show, the licensing house will send them to you, sometimes for an extra fee. A few have been released commercially.

The soundtrack is taken from the soundtrack used for the film.

There is no Broadway 'track.' That's why this distinction was made many decades ago by people considerably brighter than people like you.

[quote] There is no Broadway 'track.'

But there is an audio track, which has resulted in recordings of Broadway Musicals uploaded on YouTube

[quote]So really there shouldn't be any difference to labeling BOTH as a "soundtrack" because BOTH the film musical & Broadway musical record the music for the album in a studio

This is unspeakably dumb.

[quote]But there is an audio track, which has resulted in recordings of Broadway Musicals uploaded on YouTube

As is this

R525 we are not talking about a cure for cancer here - get over yourself

R526, I think that moment was passed a few days ago. This is actually a hill she'll die on. Go figure.

Suzanne Somers discovered the cure for cancer AFTER she gave up films and Broadway! Who know what lies ahead for Bennie?

Actually, the dullards who keep insisting original cast recordings and soundtracks are synonymous are painfully dim. Like, University of Phoenix or community college dumb.

R529 but he says he has a degree in Musical Theatre - do you have the same degree or similar?

I have an Ivy League degree in fellatio, so that trumps all.

^ So did Striezand, r531.

Then stop acting like it, r526.

I agree, r529.

If you would walk into Sardi and say "I hope such and such new musical has a soundtrack album released" - patrons will look at you in horror

If you went down the street to a McDonalds and say the same thing - patrons would say "Who cares, pass the Big Mac sauce"

and that is why Trump won the Presidency back in 2016

Soundtrack and OBC are synonymous. Anyone saying otherwise is a sniveling pedant.

They are NOT synonymous.

Passing Strange’s cast album was recorded live in front of an audience. Not all cast recordings are made in a studio (though most are).

A soundtrack is the music that plays over (tracks) the film. Cast recordings don’t track a show. Each performance is special and unique. It will never sound exactly like the cast recording in live performance whereas a soundtrack will obviously sound exactly like the film because it has been excerpted from the film.

Cast recordings often have dance breaks cut, added or subtracted dialogue that does not exist in those places during the show to provide context for the listener and other cosmetic changes. It is not a perfect document of a show the way a soundtrack is.

It’s shocking that people, especially gay men, are so proud and defiant of their ignorance about this important aspect of theater. We are supposed to be the defenders of culture, not representatives or the lowest common denominator in this country.

It's a soundtrack recording. That's what they're called. Has nothing to do with your "culture", old man R537.

Not all gays are prissy lisping hissing ANCIENT theater queens.

Girls, girls! You're BOTH pretentious theater queens!

r538 Except it isn't because, once again, there's no such thing as a soundtrack in theatre. Go look up what the word soundtrack actually means.

[quote]Actually, the dullards who keep insisting original cast recordings and soundtracks are synonymous are painfully dim. Like, University of Phoenix or community college dumb.

It's starting to remind me of those people who tie themselves in knots to defend saying "I could care less."

I have r538 blocked, r540. They're the demented "Streizand" troll.

The squiggly thing on the right of the film is a soundtrack. A film has a soundtrack. Hence the term, "soundtrack album." A play isn't a film, doesn't have a soundtrack, and can't have a soundtrack album. Idiotas.

I want to hear more about this.

Not much surprises me. The pretentiousness and lunacy of this thread surprises me. You people aren't right in your heads.

And yet here you are, r545.

No longer, freakshow. Seriously, this is off the charts creepy.

This whole “soundtrack” kerfuffle could well be the splitting point that renders DataLounge in twain.

It’s worse than the sides drawn over Mia Farrow!

[quote]This whole “soundtrack” kerfuffle could well be the splitting point that renders DataLounge in twain.

The side battle will be r545's use of "pretentiousness" vs. "pretense."

1. Soundtrack is correct.

2. Mia is a pathological liar.

3. Lea will be a HIT!

Ah, for the days of naked "Party" and David Pevsner with the script carefully delineating the difference between soundtrack and original cast recording. Only thing the same is David Pevsner is still getting naked and blasting it over the internet and selling books with his naked pictures in them. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

David Pevsner is an—*an*—authority on faggotry but nothing else so what’s your point, r551?

People are afraid of staging "Party" because of monkeypox and/or covid, but Pevsner just keeps taking naked pictures.

Film “Soundtracks” aren’t exactly the tracks from the movies. One of the best film soundtracks ever is “The Bodyguard.” Most of those songs are only partially heard in the movie so it’s not what you’re actually getting when watching the movie.

It’s just about moving on, guys. I mentioned my degree because the difference between the two was drummed into our heads.

Michigan is not top-drawer.

Michigan is THE top drawer

Bunny, we beg to differ...

I was always a nudist going to nudist parties, nude beaches, at home and the like. I saw him in Party and thought he was really cute and attractive. He was the only one who was. But his pictures of recent years drive home with an avalanche nudity at our age is a horrible idea.

Oh, nudity's all right -- he just gets extremely graphic showing himself very sexually, which might be a bit too much for many. There were other cute guys in "Party" off-Broadway, a few of which are now NY real estate people.

[quote]Most of those songs are only partially heard in the movie so it’s not what you’re actually getting when watching the movie.

Many soundtracks are like that, r554.

So… when will we hear if it’s Lea or Michele on the FG soundtrack?

I wonder—OBCR with fat, soundtrack with cunt?

[quote]Film “Soundtracks” aren’t exactly the tracks from the movies. One of the best film soundtracks ever is “The Bodyguard.” Most of those songs are only partially heard in the movie so it’s not what you’re actually getting when watching the movie.

It's a blanket term to mean albums of songs or music from films.

Who says if Beanies performin this weekend?

[quote] There were other cute guys in "Party" off-Broadway, a few of which are now NY real estate people.

In my case, a damn good one.

This is right up there with rinsing pasta and cilantro.

When is Lens Dunham coming in as matinee Fanny?

Who cares R564.

In a little over a week, our Broadway National Nightmare is over. Unless Lea starts misbehaving in September.

Lea is a grown woman. GLEE was 13 years ago. She's always been a hardworking professional and this is her dream role of a lifetime. She's not about to fuck it up. She AND her voice are in shape. It's not her first time on Broadway....

I'm already tired of the constant innuendo and references to her past behavior. Makes grown men sound like teenage SM girls.

R570, Leah *sucks* as a person and is mediocre as a musical theater talent. She’s a better fit than Beanie for the show but don’t try to tell people, here of all places, to stop discussing the established fact that she is an in unrepentant cunt whose only fan is her sexless faghag bestie.

^ who dis ancient white RACIST fag? ^

And who today are our first rate musical theater talents in their prime? Sutton Foster? Ben Platt?

[quote] r570 She AND her voice are in shape. It's not her first time on Broadway....

It’s hard to say, R573. Sutton, yes. Platt? Don’t make me laugh!

Raul Esparza is magnificent, but he’s been working on stage less than the previous decade. Cynthia Erivo gave one of the best performances in recent years, but who knows if she’ll come back to the stage or be able to repeat her triumph in TCP.

Patina Miller is great. Tony Yazbek works a lot and is a great dancer. Sherie Renee Scott has talent, but she’s a crazy one. Laura Benanti is brilliant, but often calls out. Patti is shockingly still in her prime after all these years.

Jennifer Simard is a great character actress.

Norbert Leo Butz is always solid and Danny Burstein is a gem.

It’s also hard to tell who has talent when the shows these people are offered are often so lousy. Norbert IS talented. He worked his ass off to make something out of nothing in Big Fish, but look at what he was given. Same goes for flop queen, Carolee Carmelo. Scandalous? Lestat?

This is right up there with rinsing pasta and cilantro.

R566 But 575 replies to a thread arguing back and forth about a fat chick who didn't make it in a Broadway musical - what's that right up there with? There were a few posts about soundtrack vs Original Cast Recording and 560 about a nonentity named Beanie.

That's a good list R575.

I still watch for Melanie Moore to break out.

Audra can still sing like a nightingale too. The most expressive mezzo soprano voice of Broadway. Emphasis on the soprano gift.

Why can't she have Sunset BLVD?

Will Beanie’s realtives fund a cast soundtrack recording of FG?

I would think the time to record a Bway soundtrack is before the show opens, so it can be sold in the lobby right off the bat. Or isn’t that done?

I know it costs money - but no one expected this show to close in a week, right?

I know many of you don't know how to use a computer - but there is not ONE piece of footage of Beanie performing live in Funny Girl online. Not on twitter or Youtube or Vimeo. How did they manage that? She was really that bad. Can Broadway producers, musical directors, voice coaches and conductors no longer hear? Did they expect NYC to go deaf on opening night?

Beanie was so well protected. It's like some kind of mass hysteric collective denial was at work. WERK. Very weird.

A full performance of Bette Midler was leaked within weeks of her opening in Hello Dolly. Shot with a very good phone from not far away. Great quality live recording was available for WEEKS. The complete show, bows and flowers and all. Bette was fantastic and charming and funny and creaky and vocally disappointing all at once. Didn't hurt the show. It's a HIT!

Beanie had a lot of help to fail this BIGLY. She's right to feel betrayed in a way. Who kept lying to her? How fucking many? Even the critics took until paragraph eight to reveal that she couldn't sing professionally - never mind the Funny Girl score, at all.

I am not old enough for Broadway folklore. But Beanie Feldstein *IS* Fanny Brice in Funny Girl must already be a Mel Brooks Movie? And play. And a Woody Allen movie too. Don't speak of it....

Because she's fat and Jewish and fucked Jonah Hill is no reason not to satirize this debacle! Beanie was a lousy Monica Lewinsky too. What the fuck does a homely lesbian know about giving blowjobs?

Tonsillitis, maybe.

If she fucked Jonah Hill, that's a V.C. Andrews twist on what's already a horror story.

I was also thinking about that. Wouldn't you think if she was any good (or even if she wasn't) someone would have taken a bootleg? When Cameron Dallas subbed for a month in Mean Girls the footage of him not being able to sing was seen and discussed all over the place.

I also wondered why she wasn't performing a number or two from the show on some morning TV program. Or a talk show. Is that ever still done?

Not so long ago...R582.

Bootlegs are one thing, but it shows a supreme lack of confidence for the producers not to showcase her on television, ads, or live performance.

Such an angry Bean fan R571. lol.

Raul Esparza is not magnificent in anything. Ever. He’s doing exactly the job he should be doing: third stringer on a fading network cop show. Cynthia Erivo has yet to prove any of her hype or accolades outside of the tiny Broadway circle. No one cares about the Color Purple revival, and she has failed to make much of an impression outside of it. She’s got one more chance with Wicked. We’ll see how that goes. Patti is well past her peak. Please. She’s being miscast in roles well against her type because there are no Broadway stars left.

Patina Miller, bland. Yazbek, bland. Sherie Renee who? Norbert and Burstein are big shrugs. If they’re what pass as the current male star for Broadway, the industry is in much bigger trouble than imagined. R575’s list beggars belief, really.

By no means, r585, but at least that fatty isn’t Lea.

Wow. Beanie has really fallen far. Can't even hang onto her own thread.

Is she eligible for unemployment when she checks out?

Oh God, I need this job!

Please God, I need this show…

She obviously didn't need the last show very much if she was taking time off to go to weddings.

Beanie played all 8 shows this week!

People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.

R593 Was that the first time during her run?

Mrs. Betty Bowers has found this thread.

Hi, Mrs. Bowers! Can I call you Betty?

I would have expected her to make the distinction between gayest and queeniest.

BEANIE FUCKED HER OWN BROTHER TO GET ON BROADWAY!!!?????

Pics and video, no thank you.

[quote]BEANIE FUCKED HER OWN BROTHER TO GET ON BROADWAY!!!?????

"You'd do all that just for a part in a play??"

"I'd do much more for a part that good."