A Natural Hollerer: Funny Girl Review

Behind the scenes of this latest revival of Funny Girl has seen a lot of upheaval, not to mention drama. Beanie Feldstein’s performance in the lead role has gotten less than rave reviews (The New York Times says, “Feldstein is not stupendous. She’s good. She’s funny enough in places, and immensely likable always…”) and other aspects of the show from some of the plotting to the set design have been critiqued for being less than needed. Ultimately, Feldstein is leaving earlier than expected (even earlier than typical, leaving the understudy to bridge the gap for about two months before Lea Michele steps in to take the role) due to the show’s producer’s deciding “to take the show in a different direction.” Whether the different direction is simply Michele or means other changes to the show is unclear. Putting all the behind-the-scenes dramas aside, let’s dig in to the show itself.

Critique about Feldstein’s Fanny are somewhat warranted – her voice lacks some of the power that you expect from Funny Girl. That’s not to say she can’t belt, she most certainly can, but in songs where you expect that power from the get go, it takes her a while to build up to it. In “Don’t Rain on My Parade” she does eventually hit the highs but it takes so long that it diminishes the song. As a character actor though, she does a great job. She’s endearing and likable and at some point in the show I turned to my friend and said, “I know her!” Not her Beanie Feldstein, but the loud, brash person with the over-the-top expressions who is always pushing for a laugh. She felt real and developed in a way that is tough to replicate. Her exasperation at the insistence that she settle down and get married felt as true as her earnest need to do so. There is, after all, no more frustrating question for a single person to be asked than why aren’t they married yet (they either don’t want to be or haven’t found the right one; either way it’s none of you business and you’re not helping).

Among the rest of the cast there were some standouts. Jared Grimes, who plays Fanny’s friend Eddie, in particular has some really impressive tap numbers that made the entire audience cheer as loudly as they had for the cast as a whole at the end. (As a character, his story felt a little incomplete – did he spend his entire life wishing he’d ended up with Fanny? Did she not want to be with him because he wasn’t Jewish? Did he ever find someone else to love and perhaps marry?) Ramin Karimloo as Nick Arnstein (Fanny’s eventual husband) shows of some impressive pipes of his own and does a particularly good job at portraying Nick at his most forlorn – having lost all his money, feeling trapped by Fanny’s need for him to settle down, That he is fourteen years older than Feldstein is all-too-noticeable and reads a little creepier than I’m sure the show intended, particularly in their earliest meetings.

Jane Lynch on other hand, felt surprisingly out of place from the moment she said her first line. While neither she not Feldstein are particularly consistent when it comes to their Brooklyn-Jewish-Yiddish accents, Lynch sounds particularly uncomfortable when she says Yiddish words like kibbitzing. There has been a lot of discussion lately about whether Jews should be cast in Jewish roles (particularly ones where the Jewish aspect is central to the character rather than incidental) and this was a moment where it felt most obvious why that desire for representation really stood out. Fanny and Mrs. Brice are ostensibly close, based on the story, but their scenes together never felt particularly connected. They could have been acquaintances rather than mother and daughter.

Going into the show, I knew almost nothing about it. I had heard “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (thank you Glee for this if nothing else) and that was about it. Given that, the story itself was a little hard to watch. In 2022, to see a woman who is otherwise so strong and confident, capitulate and willing to give up everything for a guy who does not seem to hold her in the same regard is…tough. To find out that “Don’t Rain on My Parade” in Act 1 is about her telling people not to try to talk her out of potentially throwing everything she’s ever worked for to chase a guy halfway across the country was a bit gut-wrenching. And although eventually this song is reclaimed at the end as a way for her to move on (where Nick becomes the one raining on her parade rather than those telling her not to go to him), it feels a little too little too late, perhaps because it feels like an abrupt realization and not an earned one. Obviously this story is based on real-life vaudeville star Fanny Brice, but so much of it has already been changed (Fanny did not come from humble beginnings and Nick was always a thief, not just a gambler, to name a couple changes) that it seems like a bit more finessing of the script might have felt more at home in this century.

There is a scene where Feldstein is playing a character on stage called Private Schwartz and wears bagels as a belt that felt mildly stereotypical, verging on antisemitic. It may have simply been a sign of the times but it played a bit uncomfortably.

It’s hard to imagine Lea Michele taking on the mantle of Fanny Brice. In no small part because the show constantly points out that Brice isn’t pretty, certainly not in any traditional sense of the word. Michele, meanwhile, is classically pretty or very close to it. The other reason is that the show involves a lot of mugging at the audience, something it is difficult to imagine Michele truly mastering. She is not known for being silly (though she is definitely known for over-the-top). That being said, her voice certainly feels more suited to the powerhouse songs, which is a reason I’d consider going back once she makes her debut as Fanny. Tovah Feldshuh is also replacing Jane Lynch around the same time.

ABOUT THE SHOW

Official Synopsis: This bittersweet comedy is the story of the indomitable Fanny Brice, a girl from the Lower East Side who dreamed of a life on the stage. Everyone told her she’d never be a star, but then something funny happened—she became one of the most beloved performers in history, shining brighter than the brightest lights of Broadway.

Lyrics: Bob Merill

Book: Isobel Lennart / Harvey Feinstein (revised)

Music: Jule Styne

Produced By: Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis, and David Babani

Directed By: Michael Mayer

Opened on Broadway: April 24, 2022

Runtime: 2hrs and 40min, including 15 min intermission

Watch the trailer:

Photo: This image released by Polk & Co. shows Beanie Feldstein, center, with the cast during a performance of “Funny Girl.” (Matthew Murphy/Polk & Co. via AP)