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| Funny Girl Yesterday | |
| Last Edit: BillEadie 09:44 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 09:42 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| Lea Michele can belt - I’ll say that for her. And Funny Girl needs a star who can belt to make it work. I don’t keep track of these things, but I’d wager that Funny Girl is one of Broadway’s toughest tickets currently. I know that I wanted to see it last fall and couldn’t get in, so I bought tickets for it once I’d set the dates for this current trip. And, I wanted to see Ms. Michele perform, so I bought tickets for a Wednesday evening performance, as Julie Benko, her alternate, performs on Thursdays. Truth be told, I became fascinated with Ms. Michele while watching the TV series, “Glee.” From a scan of last night’s audience, I’d say that many were there because of “Glee” (where Ms. Michele’s character longed to play the lead in Funny Girl) as well. And they cheered her on, making the energy coming from the audience palpable. Michael Mayer’s production played like a romance novel written for women. Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein had his shirt off early on, and his unkept promises to Fanny Brice (and her co-dependency), undoubtedly resonated. Tovah Feldshuh, a performer I’ve enjoyed many times, both in San Diego and New York, scored as Fanny’s mother. All of these elements egged on the audience, and they roared as Ms. Michele delivered the goods. Bill Eadie |
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| re: Funny Girl Yesterday | |
| Posted by: mikem 02:39 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: Funny Girl Yesterday - BillEadie 09:42 am EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| Bill, I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into what you wrote, but your only comment about any performance besides Tovah Feldshuh's is that Lea Michele can belt really well. Is that a fair assessment? | |
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| re: Funny Girl Yesterday | |
| Posted by: BillEadie 05:32 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Funny Girl Yesterday - mikem 02:39 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| Thanks for your comment. I suspect that my capsule report focused on Funny Girl as an event, because that’s what I think it is in its first Broadway revival. My personal opinion of the show is that it’s very tuneful, but the book gets bogged down with Fanny trying (and not succeeding) to make her relationship with Nick work. I’ve seen a recording of the British production, and it’s much more low key. The less hype the better, to my mind, but that wasn’t possible for this revival. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify what I wrote. Bill |
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| re: Funny Girl Yesterday | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 04:52 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:52 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
| In reply to: re: Funny Girl Yesterday - mikem 02:39 pm EDT 06/01/23 | |
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| He never actually says "really well." Just that she "can belt." :-) | |
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