| Beanie Feldstein's Last Funny Girl (long) | |
| Posted by: DanielVincent 12:35 am EDT 08/01/22 | |
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| A bit of context before I share my feelings about today's matinee: --Even before the current revival, I had mixed feelings about Funny Girl. I maintain that the high points in its score and Streisand's iconic performance have fooled people into thinking it's a better musical than it actually is. --I have mixed/leaning negative feelings that about this revival, including its iteration in London with Sheridan Smith. I think Michael Mayer's leaden, frequently joyless direction exacerbates the problems in the text, and Harvey Fierstein's revisions did little to address them, often trying to fix the wrong aspects of the libretto. --I previously saw Beanie Feldstein during the final week of previews at a critics' performance. As some may remember from my previous posts, I very much admired her interpretation. Although she does not have the huge, roof-raising belt that people want for this score, she nevertheless sang well and delivered on the final notes of "People" and "Parade." What was more important, at least for me, was her refreshingly different take on the character from Streisand's. When I see a revival, I don't want a rehash of what I've already experienced when seeing other productions; I want to learn or feel something new. And with Feldstein as Fanny, I definitely did. --I also saw Julie Benko during her first weekend of scheduled performances. It was a very successful performance. However, I felt that a major reason why it worked as well as it did was because she did not hesitate to channel Streisand, particularly in her scene-work. Her singing was much closer to what we want and/or expect from a Fanny Brice. Ultimately, I felt that Benko's performance probably served the production as a whole better than Feldstein's, but I found Feldstein's significantly more interesting. When I saw that Feldstein's last performance was on TDF, I could not resist the opportunity to see it—not only because the media attention her departure has received promised to make it a fascinating afternoon, but because I wanted to see how her performance evolved, particularly after some friends who recently saw the show described it as "schmacting." I did not, however, expect it to be what it ultimately was: one of the most exciting afternoons I've ever spent in a theater. Much has been written on this board about overly enthusiastic audiences, and I agree with nearly all of it. So much of the hooting and hollering I hear in Broadway houses these days is as performative as anything onstage. It annoys me, in large part, because it feels insincere and, sometimes, even a desperate attempt to be part of the show. Today's audience was wildly responsive, but it felt so damn organic, rather than be annoyed by it, I was swept up in it. The tone was set when Feldstein got a partial standing ovation on her first entrance: the afternoon was going to be a celebration of her work. And in the best possible way, the entire cast, Feldstein included, fed off of it and delivered the best Mayer/Fierstein Funny Girl I've seen. (Standing ovations followed in both Don't Rain on My Parade and its act two reprise.) To my friends' point, yes, her comic bits, especially during numbers occurring as part of the shows within the show, have become broader. But her vulnerable moments—and, for better or worse, act two is mostly built around them—have become more detailed and infused with more pathos. Her relationship with Ramin Karimloo's Nick Arnstein also felt more fleshed out with a palpable tenderness that made their split even more poignant. (Tangent: Liz McCartney was on as Mrs. Brice and was significantly funnier, more powerful and more believable than Jane Lynch.) In "Funny Girl and the Streisand Phenomenon," the excellent Hudson News article that was recently posted here, Erick Neher describes how, in the development of Funny Girl, "the plot of the show itself started to bend to become as much about Streisand’s backstory as Brice’s." Perhaps Funny Girl needs this blurring of the lines between its leading lady and the performer she is portraying to truly fire on all cylinders. Part of today's magic felt bound up in what we know and what we speculate about Beanie Feldstein's backstory. It felt as if the audience was declaring its love for her, in part because we collectively felt she needed it, much like Fanny needs Nick's affection. We became the audience in the show that gives Fanny the affirmation she cannot get anywhere else, and we became the audience watching the show that could give Feldstein the vindication that, at least today, everyone seemed to believe she deserved. It became, to borrow from another of the past seasons' musicals, a strange loop, and it gave the show a thrilling electricity. And, yes, when, in the last moments of the show, she arrived at the lyrics how she'll "cry a little later" because "that life in the theater," her delivery and the audience's response were so visceral, I don't think I'll ever forget it. When it was time for bows, after a prolonged standing ovation from the house, a large portion of the crew joined the cast onstage to applaud Feldstein and, in a throwback to "Rat-Tat-Tat-Tat," the conductor gave Feldstein his baton. In a very sweet, almost blink-and-you'd-miss-it-moment, Feldstein encouraged McCartney to take another bow, and McCartney ushered Feldstein back downstage center. Then, Peter Francis James (Florenz Ziegfeld) made an extremely classy and heartfelt speech, describing how Feldstein had "dazzled" the entire cast, crew, orchestra, and house staff during her run. He spoke of her warmth and brightness and said something to the effect of, "Acting opposite [her] is like looking into the eyes of the sun." I'm sure Feldstein's performance and the drama that may have occurred backstage during this revival will be talked about for a long time, but I know that what I experienced today will stay with me even longer. It was one of the greatest examples I've ever seen of the unique symbiosis between performer and audience in live theatre. Brava, Beanie, I can't wait to see what you do next. |
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