The Broadway Thread: Broadway's back, alright

[RayB]

lea can sing it but she isn't funny, like at all. And it's in the title, people.

Her DROMP at the Tonys was a disaster. I'm not confident that she is going to get great reviews.

[TailSpin]

oh wow, that is so humiliating for Beanie. Poor thing.

To essentially be forced out because people didn't think you had the vocal chops, whew.

[Hoster1]

It's hard for me to fell bad about the nepotism kid who got this role only because of connections where everybody around her probably knew she didn't even had half of the voice this role requires.

[steve4922]

It's hard for me to fell bad about the nepotism kid who got this role only because of connections where everybody around her probably knew she didn't even had half of the voice this role requires.

Yep. For the part of Fanny, this show is among the most difficult scores to sing, and it requires a killer voice. She had to know going in that she didn't have the voice, and she shouldn't have accepted the part. I assume it was only offered to her because the producers thought she was well known enough to attract an audience.

[Andy Hall]

I wonder how long Beanie had signed up for the role. Because if she had signed for only six months, it does give the impression that she thought she could swoop in and get a Tony nomination / win and then go on her merry way. Not that that's uncommon on Broadway but I don't particularly feel sorry for her regardless.

ETA: Oh wait. BroadwayWorld said she had signed up for a year lmao. Tragic.

[afilmcionado]

Yep. For the part of Fanny, this show is among the most difficult scores to sing, and it requires a killer voice. She had to know going in that she didn't have the voice, and she shouldn't have accepted the part. I assume it was only offered to her because the producers thought she was well known enough to attract an audience.

Since she’s done so much Broadway/MT-adjacent stuff in recent years, I suspect she thought she does.

[steve4922]

Since she’s done so much Broadway/MT-adjacent stuff in recent years, I suspect she thought she does.

Perhaps. I was a musician for a while, and I came across people who genuinely believed they could sing, when they in fact couldn't, at least not anywhere near the level they thought they could. I've never fully understood that. I know when I've not played well.

[Eduardo Zuckerberg]

Maybe it's hard when you've been surrounded by yes people all your life.

[24Emmy]

[Meryl Sheep]

I wonder how long Beanie had signed up for the role. Because if she had signed for only six months, it does give the impression that she thought she could swoop in and get a Tony nomination / win and then go on her merry way. Not that that's uncommon on Broadway but I don't particularly feel sorry for her regardless.

ETA: Oh wait. BroadwayWorld said she had signed up for a year lmao. Tragic.

Yeah, I doubt starring in a Funny Girl revival/being a Barbra wannabe is a lifelong pursuit for just Lea Michele.

the way she sounds exactly the same as she did as an adult in the leaked clips

[CallMeByYourNamaste]

Since she’s done so much Broadway/MT-adjacent stuff in recent years, I suspect she thought she does.

Perhaps. I was a musician for a while, and I came across people who genuinely believed they could sing, when they in fact couldn't, at least not anywhere near the level they thought they could. I've never fully understood that. I know when I've not played well.

I think because the character and role of Fanny Brice is associated with comedy and comedic chops, Beanie didn't feel like completely out-of-the-ball-park casting and/or wrong casting in a certain sense. If the show was a straight drama through and through and Fanny had less "comedy" as a persona, then the wheels might've turned sooner for all involved that Beanie wasn't right for the role.

In musical theatre, there simply is no hiding, though. In straight plays or television/film acting (aka NOT singing added into it all), we can all twiddle our thumbs and ponder our thoughts, and think to ourselves, "Oh this person is good..." and it's all utterly subjective in that kind of way. Singing is way less subjective. In fact, it's almost mathematical... you are either on pitch or not. Beanie is not on pitch for the higher, belt-heavy songs, and it absolutely shows in her vocal quality. She just doesn't have the chops for how big of a sing Fanny Brice is, sadly.

[steve4922]

In musical theatre, there simply is no hiding, though. In straight plays or television/film acting (aka NOT singing added into it all), we can all twiddle our thumbs and ponder our thoughts, and think to ourselves, "Oh this person is good..." and it's all utterly subjective in that kind of way. Singing is way less subjective. In fact, it's almost mathematical... you are either on pitch or not. Beanie is not on pitch for the higher, belt-heavy songs, and it absolutely shows in her vocal quality. She just doesn't have the chops for how big of a sing Fanny Brice is, sadly.

There are certainly roles in musicals that don't require great singing--for example Sondheim wrote Desiree in "A Little Night Music" for Glynis Johns, who had this breathy, sort of dusky voice. But, unfortunately for Beanie, you absolutely have to be a great singer to play Fanny.