Tovah Feldshuh : It Took Some Convincing for to Join Broadway’s “Funny Girl” Cast

Michael Riedel and Christine Nagy chat with six-time Emmy and Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh about stepping into the role of Rosie Bryce in “Funny Girl” alongside Lea Michelle, what made her take the role, and how she feels about the remaining performances knowing that the show is closing next month. She also discussed some of the other highlights of her amazing career.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
iHeartRadio Broadway Presence Inside Broadway, thepodcast about everything theater. It's where you
hear what happens from the ticket windowto the stage door, with the stars
and creative forces that make it allcome alive. Here are your hosts,
Wars Michael Reidal and Light FM's ChristineNaggy, Toba Feltchu and Leah Michelle.

(00:25):
They rode to the rescue of FunnyGirl on Broadway. Wasn't doing so well
with the first cast members. ThenToba and Leah came in and boom,
the thing is one of the biggesthits on Broadway. On the shows are
struggling a little bit, but nonFunny Girl and it's a pleasure to be
joined by Toba Feltchu. Who TobaDare I say? How many years have
you been on Broadway? Have youbeen in this business? Can we say

(00:48):
that proudly to report fifty Wow,fifty years. Congratulation, six time Emmy
winner, Tony Award nominee, fourtimes winner of so many awards. I've
seen many of the great performances,including Lend Me a Tenor. I remember
that was great. Fun Teba great, great to talk to you. It's
great to talk to you. Andyou know at this point there are many

(01:08):
old friends. Somebody said to me, Yester, they went to my wonderful
colleagues, and Nathan, who playsStraycoff, he said, you get more
people backstage than anybody. I said, I'm the oldest. That's right.
That's the longest line of friends.It's a party party of Toba's dressing room

(01:29):
every night after a Funny Girl.So Toba was unusual for you, you
and Leah to step into this showthat was a little bit rocky until you
guys came in. Well, Ithought it was the producers were incredibly brave
and relentlessly envisioning the hit that theywere supposed to have. So I don't

(01:55):
know when Leah got the call,but I was paired with Lee in the
negotiation we brought into together. AndI know that I got the call from
one of my favorite producers who shallremain nameless. But they sent the right
woman to the front to call me, and it was by early June,
and I know they opened April twentyfourth. So when they said would you
consider playing Rosie Bryce, I said, I don't know, then the descript

(02:19):
and let me see the show.So I saw it twice and was concerned
to carve Rosie Bryce in a vividway. And then I saw the third
time with Julie Banko and Jane Lynch, and I said, I think I
can do something with this part.As long as I felt I could contribute,

(02:44):
I said yes. But like anyproject, whether it's the Holocaust Mini
series, whether it's Gold Is Balconyon Broadway, or whether it's Funny Girl
Lee, and I didn't know itwas going to go through the roof,
whether we're just throwing up at rehearsaldoing our work. Wonderful, kind hearted
and excellent Michael Mayer and my fabuloustap teacher Au Delly Haspell with her assistant

(03:09):
Dre and my best friend in thecast is Jared Grimes. And I take
a tap lesson at every curtain call. It's a short one, but every
after we come off the State States, right, I have a big tap
routine now that we have fashioned overour months together. And H and I
will be in this a year.Sep number third will be a year.

(03:30):
Wow, amazing. September third isalso closing date, though, how do
you feel coming close to that?It's got to be hard to say goodbye
you know, of course, it'sbeen a great honor and a great boon
to have this really fall in mylap and have a succeed. When I

(03:53):
was studying Rosie, I said,what is universal? What is universal about
this mother? And then what isspecific? The first you want to get
to what is the mother daughter relationshipfor everybody, for Michael, for Christine,
for Tova, for you know,Uncle Pitnifix or whatever, for the
people all over the world in Asia, India, left seven continent. So

(04:16):
what is the what is the universal? And then once you get down into
that river of common human experience,then you carve the Jewish mother, not
the Swedish mother, not the Italian, not the Greek, the Jewish Mother.
How do I feel about it?Closing, it's a double edged sword.

(04:38):
I am in the best physical shapeof my life, and doing the
same movements eight times a week,every week, over three hundred times,
wears your body. It wears thebody down of a twenty two year old
answer, and it wears a bodydown of a thirty nine year old Rosy
Press. And in all events,my life, not just my performance,

(05:03):
is encased in Funny Girl. Mylife is encased in Funny Girl. I
wake up in the morning, Itake a sault back. After that,
I take a steam shower. ThenI irrigate my nasal passages with many rints.
Then I visit doctor Melody Rubish.Today I have staved in shots in
my delt choice and my traps.I could be a physiot, honestly,

(05:23):
I could be a physiologist because everypart of the body. Then I come
home, I am massaged three timesa week and now I'm with you and
my day starts. So that's andthen I'll get to the theater at six,
yes, seven o'clock. Then youjust have to do it or two
and a half hour show at night. Yeah, after all that, right
exactly, I buy a theater andI buy calm because I need to stay

(05:47):
strong. And I must say Ihave called out for an unexplained injury,
which was to my knee. Once. That's it. Other than that,
it has been scheduled vacations, whichare very good about. Incidentally, I
never ever missed a show in fortynine years. So I got to Funny
Girl. But it's a very differentsystem. Now. Wow, once COVID
hit, if you have a cold, they ask you to please be considerate

(06:10):
and don't come in yeah, I'mfrom the era Michael and Christine when you
had a called, you went onstage hold to win doctor, you know
whatever. You never missed a performance. I had a zero absentee rate completely
until we started to run of this, and then I had my schedule vacation,
and then one afternoon my knee wentwhack at you and I actually couldn't,

(06:32):
mister matinee. But it came infor the night and there we are
so with it. Like you mentioned, COVID being here, and audience is
being so happy to be back inthe theater and make that connection. I'm
sure they're waiting to meet you afterwards. Can you still do meet and greets
or do you kind of have tokeep a distance always to meet and greets?

(06:53):
We did keep a distance. Wefollowed whatever. Lisaia Couci so freak,
you know in the producers and Iactually our union. Whatever the Broadway
League and Equity decide, we do, including masking and being tested every single
day, and then three times aweek, then twice a week, then
once a week, then not atall, and most of us are not

(07:15):
masked at all. But COVID stillis alert. I've had it twice.
I believe never from the task bothtimes, from I believe it an airplane
ride both times. So and nowI tell you I don't know. It's
probably an illusion. Now I justopened my wallet or get out my miles,
and I slid business. I won'tslay coach, even though I'm little,

(07:40):
so I could fit, you know, in the overhead compartment. Take
me up. Of course, youknow the cliche if you will. But
a cliche becomes such because they didsuch a POSI to believe the cliches,
I will be sad to leave it. One is sad to leave it because
in a way it's your higher purpose. You know. You figure, if

(08:01):
Aetova Felder can play Rosie Brice,and if a if Aleah Michelle can play
a funny girl in the Gramine Karamellukean play a brilliant Nicky Arnstein, and
if Jared Ryans can play Eddie Ryan, what can you do out in the
audience. So I think, actuallyit's very important now that we are allowed
to see the fans, and they'revoluminous. They're voluminous after the show.

(08:22):
Very important to go out there andto sign those programs because I always say,
Michael Christine before I go on thestage, I say, this is
somebody's first Broadway show. Yeah,and this is some last Broadway show.
Not get out of the party.And that's my job. Yeah, that's
my job. You can't turn theycan't turn near alive this time for twelve

(08:46):
hundred and eighty three people who havealready paid to climb into your story.
And what can I tell you?I mean, that's what we're supposed to
be mastering. That's the job.Absolutely. Hey, Telba, before let
your guy, I wanted to askyou something. I don't think I've ever
asked you this before, but it'ssomething I was fascinated by it. If
I'm not mistaken, Were you notin a workshop of Arthur Miller's last play

(09:11):
about the making of the Misfits?Am I correct about that? Yes?
I believe you are. I thinkyou play ahead. You played Anna Strasbourg,
didn't you. That's right, That'sabsolutely right. It was also in
one of Neil's last plays where Iwas to play his mother Neil Simon and

(09:31):
Matthew would have been my kid,but it never I think Walter Bobby was
correcting us at that time, butit never got from the reading to the
stage. Yes, I did dothat, and in the last twenty four
months I have been Rachel Blooms andhalf the ways, Oscar, Isaac and

(09:54):
Leah Michelle's mother. Those are somebeautiful kids right there, right, that's
right. So and also Toba youyour memoir Lilyville. That again we go
back to the mother daughter relationship inthat correct. That's that's correct again,

(10:18):
Michael. They asked me to doa celebrity memoir. I said, a
celebrity memoir. I'm a Broadway entity, I'm a local trademark. I'm not
I'm not Tom Cruise. I said, I have to write something universal.
Let me write about the parent child'srelationship and how that relates to theater.
And then I wrote it in theform of a play, three acts.
And in between each chapter, whichI call scenes, either between each two

(10:41):
is the inn one that Vaudeville curtaincomes down like an anecdote of my career
and of my mother's point of view, which is hilarious. And one day
I hope to make that into atelevision series or a one personal show.
But before before I let you go, but by fifty years on Broadway,
to celebrate it, I have createdbut felt you Fund for Women's Health for

(11:03):
early detection of ovariant and any reproductivecancers for women in the entertainment industry.
Our dressers are hair dressers. Ourstage female stage chance, our stage management
are actors of course, and it'sentertainment community dot org slash tova. If
anybody wants to give to this fund. We're up to thirty two thousand.

(11:26):
If we hit fifty thousand by Augustfifteenth, we start testing September first,
or Varian Cancer Awareness Month for earlydetections, so there'll be no more loss
of a genius like Marin Mazie orkilled and Restner or Mantelin time. Absolutely
Soba, that's incredible, Thank youfor thank you so much for doing that.
And I know also following you onInstagram, I see the link for

(11:48):
the fund is there as well,so that's another good place to get the
information. Thank you so much forthat, Thank you, thank you.
And by the way, how werethose last How was that last Arthur Miller
in that last Neil Simon play?I think the Neil Simon's play needed work,
which you know, who am Ito criticize the gods? And I

(12:09):
remember with both readings I was withstupendous talents which brings me back. I
think I was with Franklin. Joe, you are and I know you are
within the Yarth Miller play yeah again, yes, yes, and this season
a deer lifelong pal. I knewhim from the Gut Dream and he was
quite brilliant in the midstim an extreameand other things. But I tell you

(12:31):
the talent that you're exposed to inNew York, and you know that one
percent of equity gets the step ona Broadway stage, one percent of national
equity. So therefore, which bringsme back to Funny Girl. The talent
is unbelievable. The skill just thissheer skill. I watch. I watched
rat a Tat Tat every Night inthe second act where I see my colleague
the incredible ensemble of Funny Girl.And of course the girl would plays Funny

(12:56):
Girl, which is the great Leahor Julie Banco on Thursday Day night and
she ain't chop Livard. He isone brilliant artist about to go into harmony
and uh in the whole cast andthey just they just bring down down the
house. The level of skill,UH just never ceased. This tool amazingly
and we all have two peers,you know. We don't have to stand

(13:18):
by the principles, have to standby end and understudy. That's just the
stand people understudying thas who cry well, don't miss Toba. Felt you at
a Funny Girl August Wilson Theater.It's only there till September. So if
you can get a ticket, becauseit's one of the hottest tickets in town.
Rablently definitely love to get in there. And congratulations of fifty years so

(13:39):
far. That's right, Broadway.We're looking forward to another fifty Toba.
Right me too. I'm thinking BettyWhite. I'm working right into my ninety.
I like it bags Toba, takecare. I was Toba for you
a Broadway legend, Um, I'mbig. Marilyn Monroe, Arthur Miller fan
who played Maryland in that region youremember, No, no, no,

(14:01):
I thought I had the script floatingaround somewhere, but no. The whole
point is it was Maryland when shewas falling apart the last movie, and
she is in the trailer the wholetime. Oh we don't see her,
you never see her, and butit's everybody talking about her and trying to
get her back. But nobody playsMaryland. She's just not there. Interesting.
But Toba played Anna Strasburg and Ithink Frank may have played Lee Strasburg,

(14:26):
who were her acting teachers, butthey were also these weird gurus who
controlled her whole and it was withher on set, yeah, the whole
time. Yeah, I mean veryIt was a weird relationship that they had
with Marilyn Monroe, but it nevernever got anywhere, and you know,
Arthur died. So but I gottadig through my files to see if I
I would like to see it.Check out Inside Broadway the iHeart Radio Broadway

(14:48):
Travel. We'll see you next time.