THE TROUBLE WITH BEANIE: My Take on the FUNNY GIRL Catastrophe

 Before I go into this, I will make it clear that I am by no means a fan of Funny Girl as a musical property.

It has a few truly great songs, but it is held up by a very meager Book and has one of the weakest Act Two quality drop-offs of any popular musical.

This is a show that truly rests on the merits of its lead performer.

Speaking of leading performers, I am obviously way too young to have seen Barbra Streisand play this role onstage. I have only listened to her cast recording and audio clips of her time onstage, watched the movie, and heard her sing the songs live in concert.

Streisand is one of those big icons that I haven't had a passionate a feeling towards as I have to someone like Judy Garland or a lot of the great jazz singers such as Ella Fitzgerald or Lena Horne. 

That isn't to say I dislike Streisand as I very much adore her early albums and I think she has one of the true distinct and vibrant voices of any female singer in the last 60 years. I tend to dip on my opinions of her career post-The Way We Were.

What I am trying to say is that I have no real passionate affinity to either Funny Girl or to Barbra Streisand. Although, I will gladly admit that when Jule Styne wrote the score, he knew exactly what he needed to do to make Streisand shine.

Streisand's connection to the role of Fanny Brice is one of the most iconic in the history of musical theatre. The legend and her shadow have made it far more intimidating to revive the show in the decades since it premiered in 1964, but I do think there are those out there who also were willing to admit that the show itself is simply not that great.

Cut to 2011: Bartlett Sher wants to revive Funny Girl but a lot of controversy is had because he wants to cast Lauren Ambrose, who at the time was mostly known for her work as Claire on the HBO series Six Feet Under. Many were baffled at the casting choice, but it didn't matter as everything fell through and the production got scrapped.

Randy Graff, who had signed on to play Mrs. Brice, told Seth Rudetsky "It's cursed". It just seemed like it wasn't destined to be revived...but there was one particular girl waiting in the wings who wanted a chance.

2011 was a time in which Lea Michele was achieving the biggest fame of her career starring as Rachel Berry on the hit FOX series Glee. Prior to Glee, she was mostly only known to theatre audiences for her work in musicals like Ragtime, Fiddler on the Roof, and particularly Spring Awakening, which paired her with her best friend Jonathan Groff.

On Glee, her character is known for being the girl with the amazing voice and as the show came to a close, her character went from being a complete unknown to getting cast in a revival of Funny Girl as Fanny to great acclaim. 

Then, Glee creator Ryan Murphy bought the rights to Funny Girl with the seemingly growing interest of giving Michele a chance to play her dream role in reality.

I could be here for quite a while if I go into my own personal opinion about Lea Michele as a person and a performer...OR all of the stories about her treatment towards people that she deems to be not worth her time.

All I will say is this: I have never found Lea Michele to be a compelling actress. She DOES have a good voice, however I don't find anything about her voice to be particularly distinctive or that remarkable as opposed to belters like Stephanie J. Block.

So that brings us to the 2022 revival of Funny Girl.

It was announced last year that comic actress Beanie Feldstein would be playing Fanny Brice and that it would be a life-long dream come true. This was the truth as photo-evidence showed that she had a Funny Girl-themed birthday party at the age of 3.

Feldstein had been mostly known for her supporting character work, although she did get a chance to shine as the co-lead of the delightful 2019 film Booksmart. 

She also managed to be a great foil to Kate Baldwin's Irene when she played Minnie in the 2017 Bette Midler-led production of Hello Dolly. That would've been my introduction to her and I found her very charming in the role...and later that year, she was featured as best friend to Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird. 

Hearing her announced as playing Fanny was, to me, a refreshing choice. I knew she could sing but what sort of concerned me at first was that I hadn't really heard her sing anything that would hint she could tackle the belt-heavy score.

I had shortly found a video of her singing "Meadowlark" from The Baker's Wife on YouTube and found myself kind of underwhelmed by it. It wasn't that she was bad, but it just showed that it wasn't quite the right song for her voice.

The video was almost 10 years old so I thought to myself that it was possible she grew.

Feldstein is also great at comedy, and that became the other big promotional selling point: Putting the FUNNY back in Funny Girl.

So, let's do this...

I have seen many Broadway shows over the years. The quality of the shows varied but one thing I can definitely admire about Broadway performers is that they tend to rise to the occasion. Even if I may hate the material, the performers are usually very adept and able to show that there is talent underneath the mess of the writing or directing, etc...

I will reiterate that Feldstein is good at comedy...and she was able to find solid moments in a lot of the funnier scenes.

But I will say it....

I could easily make a case of Beanie Feldstein giving the worst performance I have seen on a Broadway stage.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she doesn't fit the mold of the role due to her size, because I have seen some people claiming it is a weight thing, but that is not it at all.

This simply comes down to the fact that she simply cannot sing the role and even when certain songs are closer to her range, the timbre of her voice comes off as too forward, too nasal, and too breathy.

A lot of people have posted audio clips of Feldstein in the role but the producers of the show are very quick in taking them down. 

So, while it is a bit lengthy and jumbled, the following video below features audio of 4 different performances of the show's most iconic number "Don't Rain on My Parade":

#1 - Streisand's last performance on Broadway in 1965

#2 - Beanie Feldstein on Broadway

#3 - Julie Benko (Feldstein's standby)

#4 - Lea Michele doing the song in concert in 2018

In the case of Streisand, keep in mind that with her recording being nearly 60 years old, the microphone audio is more prone to come across as rather metallic sounding at times.

Also worth noting is that Benko sings the song a step up than the standard arrangement. 

Some of Feldstein's staunchest advocates (and she does have them) just say that the critiques against here are quite vicious just because she isn't Streisand...or that she does the role differently.

Well...yeah...she isn't Streisand. But other people have sung the song over the years and did remarkably well with it, like Lillias White or Stephanie J. Block.

This isn't a matter of being different; it is a matter of someone being out of their wheelhouse.

I have performed in many musicals over the years and I know I have my limitations as to what roles I can sing.

I am obviously way too old now...and then again, so was he at the time he made the movie....but let's say that when I was in my early 20s, I was cast as Evan in Dear Evan Hansen.

Maybe I would've been able to act the role, but there was no way in hell I could've been able to sing that role.

That might be more of an extreme example, because there are moments in the score of Funny Girl where Feldstein would sound perfectly fine.

However, if you listen to how she sounds in this recording, it gives you a very firm idea as to what the problem is with her in the role and a lot of that stems down to her vocal technique.

Her breath support is often lacking which is only further exacerbated by the fact that her energy in the performance is very lackluster. This is where I will slightly diverge to admit that I think a lot of this has to do with the arrangement and tempo of the song.

The orchestra feels so sparse and then when you put her quieter, nasal timbre next to the meager orchestra that matches the level of meek energy, it makes for the least exciting version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" I have yet to hear or witness.

Many rumors have been swirling about how she got the part, whether that be her family helping to finance in some capacity to guarantee her a shot at her dream role (and FYI, she is Jonah Hill's brother...he opted to change his name for Hollywood) or that she presented herself as a viable choice to director Michael Mayer.

Speaking of Mayer, he is one of the more erratic directors working in musical theatre today. Funny Girl represents some of the worst, if not THE worst, work of his career. I think a lot of the blame can be placed on his shoulders along with that of the show's main producers...one of whom is Sonia Friedman, a very prominent producer from the West End. 

This is a case of someone who made it through rehearsals, through the sitzprobe, and possibly didn't even truly have a real audition...and yet, they just let every aspect slide that she simply wasn't right for the role.

You can't even write anything more juicy in how the real downfall began.

After a truly awkward preview period in which online message boards proceeded to drag Feldstein down a muddy Henry Street, the show opened and she got the expected mediocre reviews...although Rex Reed showed her an immense amount of mercy.

THEN...Feldstein had a wedding to go to for a close friend out in the Hamptons and the scheduled weekend set of performances were set to go on with Feldstein's standby Julie Benko.

For the record, I had no idea who Benko was. She had been quietly making the rounds and as expected, she went on that weekend and got praised to the high heavens.

While I haven't gotten to see Benko live yet, it is obvious from the audio that she has a lot more confidence and verve in the role and she is able to make the rather ho-hum arrangement a lot more exciting.

Now that Feldstein is departing at the end of the month...although some wonder if she will bail even sooner...Benko will get the chance to play the role for a little over a month before Lea Michele will take it over.

Maybe if more news comes out, I will write a follow-up. I might also try to go see Benko in the role next month. As it stands, I think it truly is a shameful situation...but if the rumors are true that Feldstein is being rather bitter towards Benko, that sort of pisses me off.

I can understand that to an extent, but I also think it is fully aware that this is a case where the standby is just simply better and if you are going to be on Broadway, you need to be able to deliver.

It is shameful that some articles are now showing that the producers are painting Benko as having been deceitful for simply promoting herself and her performances. 

She is getting praise because she, simply put, deserves some praise.

I still stand by the fact that Feldstein was woefully miscast and gave one of the worst performances, if not THE worst, performance I have seen in a professional show. 

And it simply has to do with the quality of her voice being ill suited and being directed in a matter that didn't try to factor in any of her comic strengths. 

It also has NOTHING to do with her weight either. Some will still claim it is a fat shaming issue, but that is very much not the case. Sure, she may look NOTHING like the real Fanny Brice but Streisand didn't exactly look like her either...and neither does Lea Michele. 

If you really want to get technical, Benko does bare a slight resemblance.

Having said that, Fanny Brice isn't even really known as a figure in that capacity anymore. Her legacy is mostly connected to this rather messy musical...which is both a blessing and a curse.

...and speaking of curses, hopefully in the years to come, someone will come along who can play Fanny Brice to its best potential.

Right now, Benko deserves the shot...but also, why the hell has no one given Jessie Mueller a call?!?!