Lea Michele to star in Broadway revival of FUNNY GIRL (....on GLEE)- Page 2

[Kad]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 6:23pm

"Anyway... I've never seen Funny Girl, which I should probably do something about someday. I've also never seen Lea Michele in anything besides Glee, nor do I know anything about her personally, but the amount of snark in this post is almost nauseating."

Well, some people in this thread have seen Funny Girl... and have seen Michele in things. And have worked with her.

[OperaBwayLover]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 7:58pm

She might not be playing Fanny on Glee, after all. I read somewhere on a Glee spoiler site (I still follow the show, if only to hatewatch it) that she was filmed walking past Sardi's, then this theatre, lip-syncing and looking sad as she did so. Glee will probably have it where she doesn't get cast as Fanny, then has to go on on opening night-the old theatre cliche once again. Gag.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 4/22/14 at 9:11pm

Did anyone watch her fake opening night tonight? I haven't watched GLEE since about episode four, but I was too tempted to get a glimpse of her in her allegedly upcoming role. I thought it was the height of dreadfulness, but that tends to be my opinion on GLEE in general.

She skipped the opening night party to go to a gay bar, ala Margo Channing in APPLAUSE, and for the show she had Barbra's On A Clear Day hair.

[karen24]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 4:45pm

I watched it, and I thought it was pretty dreadful, too. I feel like I can't really judge her "performance" because we only saw snippets of it, she barely interacted with any other actors, and there didn't even seem to be a real set. I will say that I liked the shot, or at least the camera work, where she was walking down to the stage from her dressing room (although wouldn't she have had a dressing room closer to the stage if she was the star?)

Otherwise, there were so many things that they got wrong about Broadway that I couldn't stand it:
- A producer coming into the star's dressing room during intermission and terrifying her with threats about her performance?! Please.
- The Times (or any) critic being at the opening night performance and writing his review that night? Hasn't happened in years.
- The review then not being available until the next morning? No, as we all know, it would really be up online later that night.
- No young adults in this day and age would be running down to the newsstand to get the print paper, anyway (as the news vendor in the show said, but even so.) They'd all be reading it on their phones.
- The star's friends being allowed in the dressing room during intermission? Not sure about this one, but it seems unlikely.
- They had "previews" in Syracuse?!

I realize that the majority of people watching probably aren't as obsessed about Broadway as those who read this board, but really, how hard would it have been to get things a little more realistic? Even SMASH did better than this.

[Claudia Draper]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 4:56pm

http://youtu.be/PB2-Ciefzhc

[valeposh]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 4:58pm

Karen24- I thought exactly the same. Regardless of Michele's performance (she can sing, but she's so self-involved that turns any performance in an obnoxious show-off), there were so many unrealistic things. Of course they'd wait until the morning to purchase the NYT. As if it were the original Funny Girl opening. And of course the producer comes at intermission to terrify the lead actress. Sure.

I only watched the episode because I knew Matt was reprising his role, but there were so many wrong things.

[RaisedOnMusicals]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 5:32pm

Karen24, you're spot on. It was absurd. Plus, you omitted the fact that there were apaprently no formal plans for an opening night party? Really?????

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 6:07pm

i see the LEA haters out in force...jeez guys it's only a fictional tv show...NOT REAL LIFE!...and i thought the show was fun...i loved Lea's take on "WHO ARE YOU NOW"...AND REMEMBER...IT'S ONLY A FICTIONAL TV SHOW...not real Broadway...lol

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 6:24pm

My favorite part was when the review said something along the lines of "Rachel Berry has true lay made the role her own. Redefined the character in her own way. No one in the audience was thinking about Barbra. Everyone should go see it, because Rachel Berry is phenomenal."

[dramamama611]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 6:28pm

Haters out in force? Did you look at the dates of most of these posts? They are largely from SEPTEMBER. The new ones are trashing the show (mostly) and not her personally.

Updated On: 4/23/14 at 06:28 PM

[LIOAVNE]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 6:49pm

uhh no shes not photoshoped. She was actually in New York, standing right there. She did a a scene in glee and she walked right under the sign.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 8:09pm

I stopped watching the show mid season and I'm so glad I did. Reading this is fun though, and makes it sound exactly like what everyone expected it to be - trash. I'm sure in Glee-land, they'll end the season with her getting an MTV movie award for Best Actressing In A Theater Show award.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 9:02pm

"FUNNY GIRL requires a vivacious performer with a huge personality and (most importantly) an inherently unique and specific comedic sensibility. The emotional range and depth that the material demands is enormous, and someone like Michele could not be less qualified."

Exactly. And though I've weaned myself of GLEE this year, I couldn't resist checking out the FUNNY GIRL scenes and fast-forwarding through most of the rest.

I've seen two high school productions of FUNNY GIRL where the girls playing the lead were more unique and interesting than what was shown last night. (Yes, I realize Michele probably had a few hours to rehearse each number, but it's not like she doesn't know the show and the role.)

And FTR, no, I am not a professional "Lea Michelle Hater". If I'm not working with her, I don't care how she behaves.

***

But speaking of errors, don't the writers of GLEE even have a copy of the FUNNY GIRL script? Unless the show has been radically rewritten, that is NOT the opening scene (so the star would not be getting entrance applause) and "Who Are You Now?" is NOT the last song in the show: it's not even next-to-last.

I realize these aren't major dramaturgical errors, but they are the sort of thing one can look up at IBDB in 2 minutes or less. If they wanted to do those numbers, fine; all they had to rewrite were the contexts they gave to them.

Updated On: 4/23/14 at 09:02 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 9:13pm

Gaveston, this is a Ryan Murphy show. I'm a surprised there wasn't a scene where Fanny went to Oz and sang "People" to her fans from the balcony of the Casa Rosada.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 9:19pm

What am I missing, Jordan? I get the none-too-subtle digs the show makes at its own lack of reality (the professional musicians who are always available for high school sing-alongs; the way students come to class and then disappear for months, etc.). That was cute the first few times and then just seemed sloppy.

Even COMMUNITY, with its "every episode is a series reboot" concept, at least follows the rules of the reality for each individual episode.

Why have Rachel star in an actual show (that most high schools do, BTW) if you can't be bothered to even read the libretto?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 9:26pm

Because Murphy is the absolute sloppiest writer/creator/whatever that has ever existed. He's never cared about continuity in any of his shows and that's why pretty much everything he's ever touched is garbage or at least close to it.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 9:43pm

Well said. Maybe that's why GLEE is the first time I've ever seen a second season of one of his shows.

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:10pm

I also want to know why they continue to use the movie version of the score and libretto? Why is "Who Are You Now" a. "Show stopper"? Are they ignoring the existence of "The Music That Makes Me Dance" and "Don't Rain On My Parade (Reprise)" so they can continue to insists that "My Man" is the Finale? Why did Rachel and Sue duet? And most importantly, why was Rachel reading this very thread on Broadway World?
As of now (or, let's be honest, for 3 years), Glee has more continuity errors than Love Never Dies.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 4/23/14 at 10:20pm

Sorry to be picky, but in the film, "Who Are You Now?" AND "Makes Me Dance" are replaced by the new song, "Funny Girl". (FTR, I was happy to see "Who" go, but feel the omission of "Makes Me Dance" is tragic.)

If I understood her correctly, Rachel said "Who Are You Now?" is so important "because it's the last song I sing in the show". And later the producer gave her the big speech about how critics only remember the opening and the closing. So perhaps, in the Rachel Berry production, she mimes most of Act II...

[BroadwayStar4]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 5:04am

Because Murphy is the absolute sloppiest writer/creator/whatever that has ever existed. He's never cared about continuity in any of his shows and that's why pretty much everything he's ever touched is garbage or at least close to it.

American Horror Story is pretty good though....

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:05am

AHS is pretty good, but it's completely hooky, and much more in Ryan Murphy's ballpark to do a crazy horror show, not a supposedly realistic show about high schoolers/college kids. At least Glee isn't as bad as Smash.

[givesmevoice]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:12am

Because Murphy is the absolute sloppiest writer/creator/whatever that has ever existed. He's never cared about continuity in any of his shows and that's why pretty much everything he's ever touched is garbage or at least close to it.

American Horror Story is pretty good though....

I think AHS is terrible, but I know a lot of people disagree, but you can't deny that the decision to go with an anthology format masks some of Murphy's inability to write a complete storyline that could actually go from one season to another. We all saw how Coven fell apart at the end of the season, so imagine if he had to somehow continue one of his plots or universes into a second season?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:17am

AHS (no matter WHAT you may think of it) is exactly like every other Ryan Murphy show. It abandons any plot or character development that has come in episodes before, in order to suit whatever crazy crap he wants to incorporate into a particular show.

[mjohnson2]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:27am

The thing is, is that AHS is a horror show, not reality. So, as long as you accept that you are in crazy land when watching AHS, you can have a fun time.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 4/24/14 at 10:33am

But it's not. There really is nothing "Horror" about the show except the title. It has it's little moments of suspense but that's where it ends. Murphy mucks even that up by trying to make it a comedy. No wait, it's a drama. No wait, this week it's a suspense with some comedy. Oh, I was wrong this week is a farce.

And even if it was horror, there are still storytelling rules. Your characters can't change personalities every single week unless your character is Sybil and that's part of who she is. Even going back to the 90's with POPULAR (A show that I still hold close to my heart for Mary Cherry), the exact same problems plagued that show. Nicole would be a raging bitch one week, the next week she learned her lesson and was sweet and 5 minutes later with no explanation, she was trying to kill someone. It made no sense and I honest to God can't understand how that hack Murphy hasn't gotten any studio notes or learned on his own in 16 years that you can't write like that! He truly is the worst at everything.