Funny Girl

Sheridan is just doing her usual shtick

Im behind because I couldn't get home in time, so have just got to the end of Act 1 so far, and the best parts were of course People and Don't Rain on My Parade. The latter, she blew it out of the park vocally and her performance of People was a great acting performance, touching indeed.

Found myself getting a bit emotional after Rat-Tat-Rat-Tat when she went from happy onstage to alone and upset backstage. It mirrored her personal life at the time and I found it so touching. Who Are You Now too sounds great, which I'm currently at.

Actually this confirmed what I already knew, sadly!

You can drink bottles of prosecco but you cannot beat the real thing.

I didnt see this live and watched last night til around halfway. Im afraid im with the naysayers. SS looked overweight and was mugging something chronic. Oh dear!

its a fair enough comment when it affects the suitability for a role. people comment on age, height, tattoos etc. weight is just another physical trait that can affect someone's believability in a role. especially when playing a real person

The general policy we adopt on this forum is that criticism of a performer’s weight, looks or other aspects of their natural physicality is not welcomed. There is plenty of scope for criticism of people’s work, so let’s restrict our comments to that.

It’s not a perfect policy by any stretch, so no need to go shooting holes in it here. However it’s what the admin team have decided as a result of much feedback over the last two years. We try to maintain it as best we can and appreciate your co-operation.

Weren’t there many naysayers and comments of overacting regarding Imelda Staunton in Gypsy when that was aired on TV? The arguments seem to be the same. I think old-fashioned musicals lend themselves to overacting (that is their style?), especially when it comes to ‘big characters’ like Fanny or Rose. They simply don’t transfer well IMO. Nevertheless, I enjoyed both film versions, though admittedly less so than when I saw them live in the theatre.

Very disappointed. I was expecting big things from Sheridan and was disappointed. She mumbled a good part of her lib and there was to much face pulling. Darius was like a plank and as for his dancing .......

Let’s hope An American In Paris is better.

It would be appropriate to extend this to issues of mental health as well.

Many will know about the Broadwayworld forum meltdown that was precipated by attacking a performer and ridiculing their mental health issues (and that performers proactive response). The sooner that mental health is treated equally to physical health the better. 

Just finished watching it (thank goodness for catch up TV!). Sound and picture quality were fine.

I now get what some people were getting at re: the gurning and 'mugging'. However, after watching a couple of clips of her on youtube, Fanny Brice was like that. I imagine Sheridan watched those clips and more to get a handle on Fanny's personality. I think the problem is that in FG, Fanny always seems to be in performance mode - even during what should be normal conversations. So there's no contrast between Fanny the performer and Fanny the person. Hence it quickly becomes grating.

I thought Darius was good - an understated performance that worked well in contrast with Sheridan's more 'in your face' one. He is very good looking, so Fanny coming over all unnecessary in his presence worked well and was plausible. I'd forgotten how tall he is - at one point, he walked from one side of the stage to the other, behind a line of people (in the 'mother's party' scene) and you could see him towering over them all!

Overall, a good watch.

Incidentally, the dress Sheridan was wearing in the final scene was strange. Not a dress that screamed 'glamour' to me.