Broadway's Funny Girl has been full of offstage drama.
Let's actually discuss the three women who have played the title role throughout the first six months.
Being a musical lover of a certain age, I was lucky that my mom brought me up on movie musicals. Barbra Streisand’s Funny Girl, based on the Broadway musical that catapulted her to stardom, was one of my favorites. There. I got Barbra Streisand out of the way and now we can discuss Funny Girl the musical and try very hard to leave Ms. Streisand out of it. The past six months, I’ve seen three of the women who have played Fanny Brice in the current revival and have some strong thoughts on each as well as the production as a whole.
Beanie Feldstein, Julie Benko, Lea Michele
(photos: Sara Krulwich, Bruce Glikas, Evan Zimmerman)
Funny Girl revivals have been talked about for decades, but no one ever brought this 1964 musical back to Broadway. Then in 2021 it was announced it was finally coming back and indie film actress Beanie Feldstein was set to play Fanny Brice. I thought back to having seen Feldstein in the Hello Dolly revival with Bette Midler and recalled she was a wonderful Minnie Fay. Funny Girl is based on real life Fanny Brice, a Jewish comedian who made a name for herself by believing she could do anything. I had followed Feldstein’s career and knew she too held many of those traits. I bought my tickets for three days before opening, knowing the show would be frozen (that’s actually a technical term for no more changes to the show) and I would get to see exactly what critics would see for their reviews.
As it got closer to opening, the buzz was mixed. There weren’t any snippets of Feldstein singing, though a video was released of rehearsals. She was glowing. She looked happy, if not a little overwhelmed. I went in with an open mind and so much excitement to see this musical that I’ve never seen on a Broadway stage. You could feel the excitement in the audience full of those like me longing to see this show on stage as well as young women excited to see a film actress whom they admire. Let’s be frank: the book of this musical by Isobel Lennart isn’t great. Even though Harvey Fierstein reworked it for this revival, it’s still a weak book that rests so much on the performance of the lead actress. The show may have come and gone originally except that it had a great score by Jule Styne with lyrics by Bob Merrill and had a wonderful lead in 1964. For 2022, the score was still there…but so was that book. The direction by Micheal Mayer (whom I usually love) wasn’t helping much and even the set designed by David Zinn (that utilizes staircases on each side) was squeezing the life from the show as it closes in around the performers. But there was Ms. Feldstein, working as hard as possible to have audiences forget the ghosts of the past. Sadly, some couldn’t forget the past or get beyond what was lacking on stage. While you do not need to be the original actress from 1964 to play this role, you do need to have strong vocals and acting chops. For Feldstein, the vocals weren’t there, the acting was fine, the choices were lacking. It needed someone who has carried a show before so that Fanny never gets lost. I left the show and told friends that Funny Girl deserves a bagel on a plate of onion rolls and sadly, Feldstein isn’t that bagel.
The very next weekend, Feldstein was out with a planned absence and standby Julie Benko was scheduled to go on. Benko has done Broadway and tours for over ten years. Not quite a name as producers had planned for the role, but certainly a performer who knows the ropes. Suddenly theater chat rooms were all abuzz after seeing Benko’s performance in April. I went right online and bought a ticket to return at the end of August to see Benko in her next planned weekend run as Fanny. Little did I or anyone else know at the time that Benko would end up going on in the role over 25 times before taking it over the entire month of August when Feldstein ended her contract early. Benko has said she only saw the movie once after getting a callback for the show and instead turned her attention to researching the real Fanny Brice.
Once seeing her at the end of August, let me say that research paid off. Benko was glowing on stage. She had what Fanny has - someone with spunk and belief in herself when calling herself the greatest star. Benko’s voice is like silk with a beautiful soprano sound as well as a wonderful belt/mix. You see Fanny go from the young girl to a powerful woman. The acting choices were all wonderful, at ease, and Benko became Fanny Brice. Funny Girl is about seeing an unknown take flight and Benko is filling that in real time when she played the entire month of August in the lead role and now Thursday night alternate to Lea Michele. I also must say that seeing the show in August, the issues that bothered me before didn’t seem to matter because Benko, Nick Arnstein standby Jeramiah James and Mrs. Brice standby Liz McCartney all had such incredible chemistry and performances that they drove the show full throttle and I didn’t even think of the issues from April. Many people had questioned why Benko wasn’t handed the role when Beanie Feldstein left, but producers wanted a name and a story so enter Lea Michele who had “auditioned” (campaigned) for this role since she was on the TV show Glee. Finally she would get her chance when she stepped into the shoes on September 6th.
I went back to the August Wilson Theater on Sept 20th to see Lea Michele two weeks after she assumed the role (and her first night back after ten days off with Covid). This time also seeing Tovah Feldshuh (what a firecracker of a performer) as the mother and Ramin Karimloo back in as Nick Arnstein. Remember what I said about a show being frozen above? Well the creative team decided to make changes to a show that had already been up and running for months when they brought in Michele. Dances were changed, songs were altered (and added), the singing keys were changed and some costume design alterations made it in. Even the marketing felt as if the producers were trying to say “we know we opened last spring, but consider that an out of town tryout. HERE is the real opening.” That feeling makes sense as the exhilarating Lea Michele should have opened this show last spring. There is electricity on that stage as if you’re seeing a real star. The chemistry between the leads is on fire in a way I hadn’t seen last spring. The mother/daughter relationship feels very real. Michele has a wonderful arc from younger to older as we see Fanny mature in front of our eyes. And that voice…I always knew Lea Michele could sing this score, but I didn’t realize how effortlessly she would go from belting out a tune to sweetly delivering a phrase. She and Karimloo sound incredible together on the act two duet. Like Julie Benko, she takes the audience on a journey with the role and has them in the palm of her hand by the ending where the long running time doesn’t even bother you as you’re invested in the story. We never see Rachel Berry (the role that Lea Michele played in Glee) on that stage. She has created a brand new character for audiences to enjoy and it’s wonderful.
My takeaway from this drama caused by the producers and creative team of this show: someone should have protected Beanie Feldstein more and not have put her through this public shaming that she endured. While a very good actress, this wasn’t the role for her and too many people made her believe otherwise. I applaud the producers for going against type, but wish they had brought Feldstein back in a revival of Once Upon a Mattress instead. Had Lea Michele opened the show, more accolades would have come for the show as some of the poor direction choices, production values, and lacking book would have been overlooked due to Michele’s performance. However, all things happen for a reason and because of the route this show took, the world was introduced to the wonderful Julie Benko who kept the show going for months, was her own marketing tool on social media, and was completely gracious throughout the entire process. So my feelings are if you go see the show now, you will get an amazing performance whichever date you go. If Lea Michele is on, you are in for an incredible treat. If the title star isn’t on, stay in your seat and enjoy the gift you’re about to witness with the brilliance of Julie Benko.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and in addition to the insights into the women's performances, I was interested in the various elements you take in as you watch a show. I look forward to reading more!
I didn’t get the chance to see Julie’s performance, but I agree with everything you’ve said here. Really cool to hear from someone who saw all three women in the same role during this run. Thank you for this piece.