Jonathan Groff told us it wasn’t happening months ago, in an interview. And he knows everything there is to know on planet earth, obviously, so we weren’t shocked when we heard Lea Michele was officially out for the 2012 revival of Funny Girl. Still, we must confess, Lauren Ambrose isn’t the first name that came to mind when scheming up another actress to take the part. But according to today’s news, she’s our girl.
Riddle us this, dear readers…
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Now, how did you know that her being a ginger totally sells it for me?
I really like Lea Michele, and I think she has the vocal and acting ability to play Fanny Brice no problem…I’m kind of dissapointed she’s out!
I was on team “Anyone but Gleea.” I -was- sort of hoping for the not so likely Kritzer but I can certainly live with another gorgeous ginger headlining a show now that Kate Shindle’s no longer doing her thing in Wonderland in the ginger wig. (not that I’m not grateful for Wonderland being gone. Sigh.)
Lea Michelle not only can knock the “Funny Girl” score right out of the ballpark, she also favors both Streisand AND, more importantly, Brice herself. Lauren is a talent but her red-haired look and that brassy voice don’t begin to resemble the actress/singer who would become “Baby Snooks.”
Without a totally believable Fanny, there’s no point to revive Brice!!
I doubt that no actress can make this show work. The film is the definative production with Streisand and I think any revival will flop regardless of who is the lead. They could revive REDHEAD for Lauren.
I think that the idea of Lauren Ambrose is inspired and will be a welcome change. Beisdes, she has a huge pure voice with personality and acting ability to spare. The clip of My Man posted above is not truly representative of her magnificent voice, nor the style in which she’ll be singing in FG. Lea Michele is Streisand-lite and we don’t need another carbon copy of her portrayal of Fanny Brice. Funny Girl is not the most perfectly written musical, so a new second act and a re-thought take on the role is the only way to tackle this. Putting back the songs that were cut when the movie was made will also be exciting.
Having said all that, I must say that Steve’s post of reviving REDHEAD with Lauren would be an amazing idea. How many of the obvious choices to we need anymore. Kathleen Marshall, how about REDHEAD with Lauren Ambrose as your 2012 – 2013 project?
I thought the person who was to be selected for the role of FANNY BRICE was to be “an-unknown”???? Well, this certainly didn’t happen, did it?? Makes one wonder about the credibility of this producing theatre company.
I have nothng against Lauren Ambrose as an artist, but very disappointed that the production company handling the auditions for this musical sure didn’t offer the role of Brice to a person that was an up and coming star-performer, which their advertising campaign so indicated! I know one thing for sure: I will never take them at their word again!
This production has now BEEN CANCELLED because “of the economy” and they are frightened about ticket sales. 12 million dollars to put up this show is a LOT OF MONEY… why didn’t they consider a less extravagant package? The average theater-goer enjoys super talent best of all, and not necessarily the smoke & mirrors. I guess we should stay tuned to see if it will ever be re-mounted in the near future.