Funny Thing Happened on The Way to Broadway

[+ Lucky]

Funny Girl is not coming...to Broadway. The show was set to start next April, with Bobby Cannavale and Lauren Ambrose in the Barbra Streisand role. But money got in the way, according to this New York Times article:

 

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/funny-girl-revival-is-postponed-its-producers-say/?hp

 

Now, if the Euro problems lead to a worldwide recession, will Broadway dry up? It's already tougher and tougher to make a profit on a big musical.

[RockHard]

Don't just lie there, swim something!

 

if the Euro problems lead to a worldwide recession, will Broadway dry up?

 

I think we'll dry up before Broadway does. There are certainly a large number of people willing to pay top dollar to see a lot of crap. And the registers continue to ring, ka-ching ka-ching.

 

Reviving Funny Girl sounds great to a Streisand fan, or anyone who loves that fabulous score, but given the icon status of Streisand, and the fact that young people have no idea who Fanny Brice or Ziegfeld are, this idea was a serious gamble that not even tons of money could help. When I saw who was getting cast, the producers decision to bail makes perfect sense. When it comes to re-casting Fanny Brice and Nicky Arnstein, you better be at the very top of your game.

 

I like Lauren Ambrose but has anyone heard her sing? I like Bobby Cannavale, too, but I can't see him as a serious Nicky Arnstein. He's just not hard enough.

 

Nice to see you posting again, Lucky. Your opinions on drama were missed.

[+ Lucky]

Like a certain friend of mine, I just paid full price to see Evita next spring. So the producers have my money for the next several months, interest free. The full-price seats seemed to be selling out, leaving premium seats still available. After all, won't Ricky Martin make a great Evita?

My willingness to pay full price months ahead does bode well for Broadway, if they have the right shows and the right cast, people can be talked into paying top dollar for it. But, it might mean I would skip a show I would otherwise see. The Rock Hard production of Lucky Lives may be a flop! (Thanks, RH.)

[jackhammer91406]

So sorry to read this post.

The show was to premiere in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson and was part of my subscription series. No word on what will replace it in the season now.

[+ WilliamM]

 

Reviving Funny Girl sounds great to a Streisand fan, or anyone who loves that fabulous score, but given the icon status of Streisand, and the fact that young people have no idea who Fanny Brice or Ziegfeld are, this idea was a serious gamble that not even tons of money could help. When I saw who was getting cast, the producers decision to bail makes perfect sense. When it comes to re-casting Fanny Brice and Nicky Arnstein, you better be at the very top of your game.

 

I like Lauren Ambrose but has anyone heard her sing? I like Bobby Cannavale, too, but I can't see him as a serious Nicky Arnstein. He's just not hard enough.

 

 

I only had a vague idea who Fanny Brice and Ziegfield were when I saw Funny Girl in 1964. I do agree about Lauren Ambrose. But, the success of revivals of Fiddler on the Roof, Peter Pan, Sweeney Todd and Gypsy (just four examples) raise the issue whether any star owns a specific role.

[+ Lucky]

An article in today's New york Times discusses why Funny Girl folded: 4 investors pulled out, there were worries whether Lauren Ambrose had enough star power to bring in the customers, and the closing of Billy Elliott, which made the Imperial Theater suddenly available, caused the producers to move the show up before they were quite ready, and put Funny Girl in competition with too many other new musicals. So what is going to take its place at the Imperial? A show called Nice Work If You Can Get It. Now that's a show that the customers will flock to...much more catchy in the title than Funny Girl.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/theater/producer-explains-the-scrapping-of-funny-girl.html?ref=theater

[+ Lucky]

Charles Isherwood laments the cancellation of Funny Girl on today's NY Times:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/theater-talkback-why-the-funny-girl-cancellation-is-no-laughing-matter/?hpw