Roseanne Barr announced her run for president of the United States (and Prime Minister of Israel–it’s a toofer) on The Tonight Show. She is heading up the “Green Tea Party” and is bringing back the barter system. Nice to see a dream come true.
What started out as a plug for her Lifetime reality show, “Roseanne’s Nuts” turned into a true-blue announcement complete with fanfare and confetti. Sadly, Fran Drescher will not be Roseanne’s running mate. Her vice presidential candidate is “the tax payers.” How that system will work is not clear yet, but details are expected before the Iowa straw poll.
Meanwhile on Broadway, the landmark musical “Funny Girl” is up for a revival. This is the show that launched Barbra Streisand into stardom. She won her first Academy Award in the film version. The musical is based on the life and times of Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, the girl who wasn’t pretty enough to be a chorus girl. One of major themes of the show is that a girl need not be pretty to be happy or successful.
Lauren Ambrose has been cast as Fanny Brice. There is no dispute that Ambrose is a capable actress and singer–anyone cast in this part would have to be. But can a shiksa play this Jew? And I mean that very specifically. Can someone who is not Jewish learn enough in a year to be a Fanny Brice level of Jewish? It seems impossible. Ambrose is also very pretty. If they want her to pass for ugly, they have to put a giant shnoz on her. The character has to be ugly in order to make the show seem real.
I recall Alfred Molina in “Fiddler on the Roof.” For a Bar Mitzvah present, my aunt brought me to this legendary Broadway show. Evan back then, all I could think while watching Molina was, “That’s funny, he doesn’t look Jewish.” The production did not take home any Tonys. Perhaps Harvey Fierstein and Rosie O’Donnell fared better when they closed the production.
At a time when Broadway productions are hinged on marketability and Tony Award wins, it seems odd that the producers of this revival went for a girl with virtually no name in the mass market and no connection to the old Jews in Florida. To that, I give them props. Putting an actual artist in a show is meaningful and right. That makes up for the fact that she is not Jewish. If they had thrown Taylor Swift in the role, there would be no excuse. This revival would have been a disgusting spit on the memory of Fanny Brice. At least they’re trying.
However, I do think that if they want the best of both worlds the producers should just cast Streisand. Everyone would pay to see that. Who cares if she is too old? She was too young for “Hello Dolly!” but that did well enough.
