celeb news Details on the mess that is Lea Michele replacing Beanie Feldstein in Funny Girl

[Oscar Isaac]

 

The whole thing is worth a read, but some highlights:

 

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“I remember our meeting about ads for the show the day after the reviews came out,” the source said. “It was brutal. We went through what we could say. The decision was made to double down on Beanie, and the joy and fun she was having. It was crazy to say that given what had been written, but that’s what we did. Another strategy was to say how more like Fanny Brice Beanie was than Barbra Streisand had been. We found the few good things people had said, stood by her, and kept going. The critics were not wrong, but we tried to major on Beanie’s sweetness and innocence—but that doesn’t get you away from the brass tacks of ‘You’ve got to be able to sing.’

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“We really did stand by her. Everything was great and grand, except everything was not great and grand. The reviews affected Beanie big-time. I don’t think we cared for her enough in that regard. It was her first big role on Broadway carrying the show. I don’t think we equipped her with how to do that.”

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Then came the opening night reviews. “Like others involved in the production I put on my ‘good soldier’ face and stood by it and stood by Beanie,” the source said. “My feeling was the show was going to tank if we didn’t let Beanie go. She should have left, and that handover should have happened three weeks after opening. But I was very much in the minority.”

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The source said Benko’s announcements on social media when she was standing in for Feldstein caused ill feeling.

“They were harmless posts, and it was fine until people started saying how amazing Julie was, which didn’t reflect well on Beanie after all the negative reviews. The producers spoke with each other and were evenly split on whether to allow the posts. The producers didn’t shut it down, and maybe they should have. Beanie minded it. She said words to the effect of, ‘I don’t feel supported by you while I’m away.’ This is not an uncommon problem. You want your understudy to be good, but you don’t want them to be better than the star, or seen to be so. That harms the show.”

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Michele, the source said, started meeting with producers individually to say she was available and interested in taking over from Feldstein. [...] “My feeling was to get rid of Beanie and get Lea in as soon as possible,” the show source said. “I was perceived as very cold. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I didn’t know what else you could do. The show was dying, and it was dying because we hadn’t made the right decision early enough in the process. Sonia (Friedman) won’t pull the trigger to fire someone. She just won’t do it. Firing Beanie was not an option, so the question became how would all parties manage themselves out of the situation.”

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“We cared enough to stand behind her when the reviews were bad. But we should have found someone else, and once we found someone, we should have said to Beanie, ‘You can go now.’ There’s a million things we could have said publicly—that she had a family emergency, that she was on vacation, or had gotten sick, or that she had fulfilled her contract. No one had to know anything else.”

 

[feelslikeadream]

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Michele, the source said, started meeting with producers individually to say she was available and interested in taking over from Feldstein.

 She said, "Ooh life is juicy, juicy and I've gotta have my bite, sir."

 

A modern All About Eve story. We need a campy film adaptation of this drama eventually.

[chester]

However, a source close to the production insisted that there had been no contact between Funny Girl’s producers and Michele’s representatives until after the June 15 announcement that Feldstein intended to leave the show on Sept. 25. The deal to sign Michele was reportedly signed in the week of June 20.

[Blue Monday]

The way the drama of the production has more people interested in the show than the actual show itself does 

Edited July 13, 2022 by Blue Monday

[mxoonlight]

It makes sense. Making the change and giving the show a chance to get back on its feet so everyone else can keep their jobs as opposed to it continuing to bleed out through low sales. 

 

I feel bad that she had to go through getting dragged in order for them to realize it wasn’t working, but the stuff about the understudy getting pushback for SM posts is questionable   like how is you being panned her fault?

Edited July 13, 2022 by mxoonlight

[Life Savers]

What a mess 

 

Lea won though 

[Blue Monday]

Wait, I'm screaming they're having Lea rehearse off-site and not with the cast because they're nervous about her behavior 

[Gui Blackout]

I can't wait for this season of Feud

[Miles.]

Ryan Murphy is already scripting Feud: Beanie Vs Lea, starring Lea Michelle as Lea Michelle  

[Beyonnaise]

Screaming at Lea getting her "representatives" to negotiate with the producers after Beanie was panned, this literally feels like a plot point from Ryan Murphy  She actually is Rachel

[Cleanromantic]

The drama .

This is like the first time in years a Broadway scandal made it to the mainstream. It has the potential to be a great movie/ TV series (The way Lea won  )

Feud: Lea Vs Beanie Vs Julie

 

But I don't know how anyone thought Beanie is right for the role.

 

 

If you compare her to the three other ladies, she falls very short. Her voice sounds at its limits and about to break, and her tone becomes even more nasally as she tries to belt. You can tell she's focused on staying on pitch instead of acting out the song like Lea and Julie, and she just sounds monotonous as a result 

 

[Planet Mars]

The real kii is that Lea did exactly what Barbra would have done in her day. I've read her biography and she wasn't playing with the girls back in the day, not even for a second.

[KFC]

25 minutes ago, Miles. said:

Ryan Murphy is already scripting Feud: Beanie Vs Lea, starring Lea Michelle as Lea Michelle  

My god

[EdgeofTeeth]

Jane Lynch bumping up her exit by almost a month after the announcement that Lea was coming in 

[Beyonnaise]

28 minutes ago, Cleanromantic said:

The drama .

This is like the first time in years a Broadway scandal made it to the mainstream. It has the potential to be a great movie/ TV series (The way Lea won  )

Feud: Lea Vs Beanie Vs Julie

 

But I don't know how anyone thought Beanie is right for the role.

 

 

If you compare her to the three other ladies, she falls very short. Her voice sounds at its limits and about to break, and her tone becomes even more nasally as she tries to belt. You can tell she's focused on staying on pitch instead of acting out the song like Lea and Julie, and she just sounds monotonous as a result 

 

I think what they were going for is that Beanie has a likable underdog quality to her, she doesn't fit the typical theater girl role (which Lea is the complete embodiment of). Lea is obviously technically excellent at nailing the songs but many find that type of earnestness grating. If it wasn't such a singing-heavy show, Beanie would have been received much better. That insider is right, to dutifully do the show justice in terms of the musical numbers, the only obvious pick was Lea.

[Cleanromantic]

10 minutes ago, Beyonnaise said:

I think what they were going for is that Beanie has a likable underdog quality to her, she doesn't fit the typical theater girl role (which Lea is the complete embodiment of). Lea is obviously technically excellent at nailing the songs but many find that type of earnestness grating. If it wasn't such a singing-heavy show, Beanie would have been received much better. That insider is right, to dutifully do the show justice in terms of the musical numbers, the only obvious pick was Lea.

Beanie is a serviceable, but completely forgettable actress. I think Lea is a much better actress and singer, obviously. I mean, just listen to both girls's version of Don't Rain On My Parade. Lea actually embodied the urgency of the song while Beanie just sounded anemic and bored. 

This is just another case of a nepotism baby being unaware of their own limitations and surrounded by yes men. I'm shocked at Beanie's lack of self awareness tbh, she had to know she wasn't up to par.

[Rotunda]

2 hours ago, Blue Monday said:

The way the drama of the production has more people interested in the show than the actual show itself does 

Honestly the main reason to bring in Lea

[PopKills]

Lea truly IS Rachel Berry  But yeah, the nepotism girl should’ve quietly left after these horrible reviews, she’s making a fool out of herself now with the faux quit. 

[WildAmerican]

2 hours ago, EdgeofTeeth said:

Jane Lynch bumping up her exit by almost a month after the announcement that Lea was coming in 

[Pavement Princess]

Didn’t Beanie literally nepotism her way into the role? I wonder why it didn’t help her keep the role.  

[Attitude]

1 minute ago, Pavement Princess said:

Didn’t Beanie literally nepotism her way into the role? I wonder why it didn’t help her keep the role.  

Because daddy’s money can’t buy you talent.

[HausofNick]

3 minutes ago, Pavement Princess said:

Didn’t Beanie literally nepotism her way into the role? I wonder why it didn’t help her keep the role.  

Because Beanie's singing voice is so ass that they couldn't even find a way to cover it up in the trailers/promo for the show. It was either fix the show, or have it flop and be a waste of money for everyone involved.

 

It was beyond idiotic she got the role in the first place considering how iconic this show is for Broadway.

[Just a Gay on ATRL]

Lea and Beanie are both clowns for this imo. Lea was forgiven too easily.

[EdgeofTeeth]

3 minutes ago, MusicTalker said:

Lea was forgiven too easily.

there's a reason they say "that's showbiz, baby"

[Oscar Isaac]

49 minutes ago, Pavement Princess said:

Didn’t Beanie literally nepotism her way into the role? I wonder why it didn’t help her keep the role.  

The box office. Last week was down to 65% of the theater’s capacity filled. Investors and producers don’t give a **** who she’s related to when their pockets are threatened. It was either replace her or the show folds sooner rather than later.