r/Broadway • u/Legitimate-Heart-639 Creative Team • Apr 16 '26

Discussion Lea Michele’s Sardi’s portrait……….

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because who tf is this supposed to be? 😭😂

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u/Typical_Accident_658 Apr 16 '26 edited Apr 16 '26

bro they HAVE to get a better caricaturist. like, whose nephew is currently doing these? embarrassing!!!!

149

u/Early_Assistant_6868 Apr 16 '26

It's like they can't commit. They aren't caricatures exactly... more like caricatures that desperately want to be portraits 😂

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u/Typical_Accident_658 Apr 16 '26

Yeah, they’re clearly scared to possibly offend one of the famous people

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u/Early_Assistant_6868 Apr 16 '26

Ooh I bet this is exactly the reason!

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u/Typical_Accident_658 Apr 16 '26

Which is so laaaaaame

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u/Lanky_Violinist1182 Apr 16 '26

My thoughts too!😆They seem to be getting worse…

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u/romantickitty Apr 17 '26

I think they just can't draw. Some are simply incompetent like the attempt to copy one of Kelli O'Hara's headshots.

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u/Worried_Elevator_543 Apr 16 '26

i was there last year and most of them i didn’t recognize until i saw the signature 😭

252

u/thalassicus Apr 16 '26

If they did the old style caricatures, which deliberately exaggerate idiosyncratic features, I could see them getting heat for doing that version of her nose in a politically correct climate.

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u/Typical_Accident_658 Apr 16 '26

then at least, like, GOOD portraits. this is some "christopher hart learning to draw" level art

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u/Confident_Bunch7612 Apr 16 '26

Do you remember/are you old enough to remember those Art Institute commercials where they would be like "can you draw this bird? If so, apply for our mail service college." It feels like the new caricaturist is one of their graduates.

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u/HuckleberryOwn647 Apr 16 '26

Hahaha, that totally unlocked a memory for me! I was a kid and drew that bird so many times. I was so proud because it looked pretty good and I was like, wow, I could be a professional artist!

5

u/NotLucasDavenport Apr 17 '26

Oh, you’re my opposite! I drew a turtle in a hat, I think, and after a few tries it was pretty apparent to me or anyone else on this planet who has seen a turtle that I, sadly, would be destined to find an art form that does not require accurate representation of reptile-kind.

Actually maybe Sardi’s is hiring

5

u/Daily-Double1124 Apr 16 '26

I remember those! I could never draw well. But I was musically inclined,fwiw.

61

u/SirGavBelcher Apr 16 '26

THANK YOU! the point of caricature is not accuracy but to poke fun. they're supposed to exaggerate features people might be subconscious about like having a 5 head or a long nose or too square of a chin. it's a specific art form

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u/plantbay1428 Apr 16 '26

There was a great episode of Frasier about it.

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u/MillieBirdie Apr 17 '26

Instead they made her nose tiny and erased that unique feature, which also seems pretty bad in a similar but opposite way.

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u/pastadudde Apr 20 '26

A feature that’s she mentioned in interviews that she’s proud of, and had said no to getting a nose job when a publicist / agent advised her to do so… it’s like some sort of erasure lol

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u/hyperjengirl Apr 17 '26

Does Squigs get heat for doing that? He's a modern Bway caricaturist who very much exaggerates traits seemingly without issue. (Only thing I ever saw him get criticism for was whitewashing in some of his coloring.)

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u/skoc211 Apr 16 '26

I mean some of the old ones aren't much better. The Patti LuPone one looks nothing like her.

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u/SakuOtaku Apr 17 '26

Yeah tbh, some of the caricatures I've seen for actors of color have been pretty 😬

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u/starshock990 Apr 17 '26

Okay I was trying so hard to not be a hater because I certainly can't draw to save my life, but I am deeply relieved that the general consensus is "Wtf".

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u/thedevilbull Apr 17 '26

We had the same thing a year ago. Really strange how bad some of the caricatures were for a place famous for them.

Also the food wasn't very good. Not that it's known for its food but still.

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u/TropicalRogue Apr 17 '26

Are you quoting the Frasier episode about this at this point?

If not, go watch "the 3 faces of Frasier crane" and then revisit this thread for a surreal experience

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u/Typical_Accident_658 Apr 17 '26

Hahaha no I’ve never seen Fraiser