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| re: Will Funny Girl be a hit or flop? | |
| Last Edit: keikekaze 01:48 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 01:38 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
| In reply to: Will Funny Girl be a hit or flop? - jeffef 11:04 am EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| I reviewed the facts in the case in an earlier thread on this same subject. I'll repeat them here: Funny Girl was and is a musical that was tailor-made for Barbra Streisand. It isn't a great show without her, due largely to a stodgy, old-fashioned "showbiz-bio" book. (Even in 1964, nobody thought it was a great show. It was generally seen as a great production with a great star in a dullish musical with a predictable first act and a second act where nothing much happened except that the great Streisand got to sing some more.) The revival would be an iffy prospect for recoupment with a major "name"; Feldstein isn't a major "name." The jury may draw its own conclusions. |
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| I saw the recent revisal in London | |
| Posted by: HadriansMall 04:16 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Will Funny Girl be a hit or flop? - keikekaze 01:38 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| A lot is made of the show's mediocre book. I have not seen the show on stage in its original form, but I found the revisal to be very enjoyable and did not feel the book creaking or groaning. I think we should consider that a mediocre show from the mid 60s might look like gold against most of what we get today. | |
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| re: I saw the recent revisal in London | |
| Posted by: PurpleMoney 07:39 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: I saw the recent revisal in London - HadriansMall 04:16 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| I enjoyed Funny Girl at Menier because it had a cheap look and ‘immersive’ in a small venue. I was front row, last minute sale, and was thrilled. That production imo would be swallowed up in a larger venue. If that’s what’s coming to Broadway it may fit well at The Golden or The Booth. | |
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| re: I saw the recent revisal in London | |
| Posted by: sf 11:58 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw the recent revisal in London - PurpleMoney 07:39 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| The creative team for Broadway isnt exactly the same as it was at the Menier, which suggests it's being rethought at least a bit. I loved it at the Menier - and for a venue that size and with their budgets, it certainly didn't look cheap there - but it's long been an issue that their productions get transferred to much larger venues without being scaled up in any way. I chose not to pay to see Funny Girl again in the West End or on tour; judging from the performance they filmed, in a venue more than ten times the size of the Menier, that was the correct choice. |
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| the film of Menier looked VERY cheap | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 02:21 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw the recent revisal in London - sf 11:58 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| and Sheridan seemed like Andy Millman (from Extras) as Fanny Brice, apologies to all. At least the parts I watched. It didn't look that worthwhile to watch the whole thing but I'm sure I will some day. | |
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| re: the film of Menier looked VERY cheap | |
| Posted by: sf 05:18 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: the film of Menier looked VERY cheap - Chazwaza 02:21 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| One more time for the hard of reading: it wasn't filmed at the Menier, it was filmed at the end of the subsequent tour in a venue ten times the size (the Palace in Manchester). Yes, it looks cheap in the film. That's what happens when you take something designed for a 180-seat theatre and shove it into a 2000-seat barn without rethinking it. It didn't look cheap in the venue it was designed for, and was actually slightly more elaborate in the Menier than it was on tour (in the Menier there were conveyor belts to bring set pieces and furniture on and off stage). And yes, sure, it didn't help that Smith's performance deteriorated after the run at the Menier. |
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| re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 06:25 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 06:24 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: the film of Menier looked VERY cheap - sf 05:18 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| One more time for the dude who doesn't get it: yeah, we know it wasn't filmed at the Menier. I thought it had been filmed at The Savoy, you're telling us it was filmed at the Manchester Palace, either way we're talking about the same thing: a tiny production plopped onto a big stage as a legitimate West End musical. That is what matters for our purposes. We're not concerned that this Funny Girl won't be compelling and wonderful in a tiny Off-Broadway house, we're concerned that we're going to get a tiny production plopped into the August Wilson Theater and looking just as anemic as the West End/UK Tour production. Hopefully, Sonia Friedman and Michael Mayer know that they need to go bigger and deliver more, and hopefully the Menier is just listed as a producer because they birthed that first production, but only time will tell. But if they think they can Night Music us again, they're going to be sorely mistaken. |
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| re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) | |
| Posted by: sf 07:36 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) - Singapore/Fling 06:24 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| And speaking of people who (loudly) don't get it, if you'd bothered to read any of what I wrote before you typed your knee-jerk response you'd realise we're on the same page. That's why - as I said somewhere else - I didn't go back after it transferred. As for your first line, when someone heads a post with "the film of Menier looked VERY cheap", then no, sorry, it is not clear that they understand that it was not taped there. |
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| re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 09:35 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 09:32 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) - sf 07:36 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| It really doesn't matter WHERE it was filmed... it was the only film we got of the supposedly acclaimed hit UK revival of Funny Girl starring Sheridan Smith and directed by Michael Mayer... is that not what the film is? Is that not what I was reacting to/describing? Is that not who is directing this revival of Funny Girl too, also with someone known more for comedy than singing? My only way of seeing that production is that film. I'm so very very sorry that I didn't differentiate that the version of it I got to see on film was the Menier *production* transferred into a different theater. The August Wilson is way bigger than Menier too... if this is Mayer's take on directing Funny Girl... or transferring that "take" into a bigger space, I'm worried. |
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| re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 07:45 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 07:43 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) - sf 07:36 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| Yeah, I read what you wrote, and that didn't excuse the way you spoke to the poster (who was actually agreeing with you), so you can take that shade right back. It is common parlance to refer to transfers by the name of the original producing theater, so this was the Menier production of Funny Girl, wherever it was filmed. Again, since the poster was Yes, Anding you, I don't know why you turned around with a knee-jerk put down, but here we are. |
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| re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) | |
| Posted by: sf 07:46 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: the film of Menier TRANSFER looked VERY cheap (and we're hoping we don't get that same rink-a-dink production) - Singapore/Fling 07:43 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| "Yeah, I read what you wrote..." If you had, we wouldn't be having this conversation. |
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| re: I saw the recent revisal in London | |
| Posted by: HadriansMall 02:17 pm EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw the recent revisal in London - sf 11:58 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
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| The sparse set didn't really bother me. If I think a production is well acted and well directed - even if there are just a couple of chairs - I can let my imagination take me on the ride. To me, that's the beauty of theatre. It doesn't have to be literal. All my opinion, of course. I don't equate ticket value with set/costumes/cast size. I did wish that the chorus had been augmented a bit. Different strokes :) |
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| re: I saw the recent revisal in London | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 04:26 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
| In reply to: I saw the recent revisal in London - HadriansMall 04:16 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| It's probably Jule Syne's second best score after Gypsy, although a lot of his other scores could qualify for that achievement. | |
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| Bells Are Ringing | |
| Posted by: HadriansMall 04:57 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
| In reply to: re: I saw the recent revisal in London - BroadwayTonyJ 04:26 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| I would argue (for me) BELLS ARE RINGING is his second best score but a great score does not a great production make. Look at the last BELLS ARE RINGING revival. Very well cast but the production was not good. If we get similar with FUNNY GIRL, it will flop unquestionably. All cylinders will need to be firing to get this one off the ground. | |
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| You Never Know | |
| Posted by: IvyLeagueDropout 06:31 am EDT 10/12/21 | |
| In reply to: Bells Are Ringing - HadriansMall 04:57 pm EDT 10/11/21 | |
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| From what I knew of Chicago (not much) prior to the Encores! production, I would have thought that a revival would never be a commercial hit. | |
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