Lea Michele Is Broadway’s New “Funny Girl,” Replacing Beanie Feldstein Who Is Leaving The Show Early
The rain predicted to fall on Beanie Feldstein’s last curtain call as Fanny Brice come September in the troubled Broadway revival of Funny Girl has arrived a bit earlier than expected. Not that Funny Girl hasn’t been weathering a category 5 shit storm from the moment it debuted to tepid reviews and repeated “her?”s back in April, but Beanie made a surprise announcement on Instagram last night that she’ll be taking her final bow on July 31, two months sooner than her originally scheduled departure at the end of September. Beanie says she made the “very difficult decision” to bounce early after “production decided to take the show in a different direction.” If I had to venture a guess as to what happened, I’d say Beanie probably flipped her wig when she heard Lea Michele was being considered as her replacement, went to put it back on, and realized it was full of shit. Now, I don’t know if it was Lea or walking around in a shit storm with an upside-down wig, but Lea has just been confirmed as Broadway’s next Fanny Brice so… Look, I’ll just say — there’s no people like show people.
Here’s a tragedy in two acts. These producers are so damn dirty for this.
Tovah Feldshuh will be replacing Jane Lynch who is also leaving a little bit earlier than previously announced. Beanie’s understudy Julie Benko will be playing Fanny until Lea pushes her off the stage. I can’t believe that Lea went from being HEAVILY PREGNANT to Fanny Brice in the very same year Beanie went from being the “greatest star,” according to Lea, to being “who?“, according to Lea. Variety reports:
The rumors are true: Lea Michele is replacing Beanie Feldstein in Broadway’s revival of “Funny Girl.”
Feldstein on Sunday night announced she would be leaving the show on July 31, roughly two months before she was slated to depart the production. She attributed her early exit to a decision by the production “to take the show in a different direction.”
Michele will assume the role of Fanny Brice on Sept. 6. In the interim, Julie Benko will perform the title role from Aug. 2 through Sept. 4 and every Thursday beginning on Sept. 8.
Variety notes that in addition to cosplaying Fanny Brice during her run on Glee, Lea had a second advantage at snatching the role because she worked (and is friends with) with Funny Girl producer and director Michael Mayer who won a Tony for directing Spring Awakening in 2007. I can’t believe poor Beanie still has to go to work for the next two weeks. If I were her I might fake an injury that could be easily blamed on Lea. A well-timed spill caused by a broken strand of beads rolling underfoot would not be questioned since Lea will probably be lurking in the wings, rubbing her hands together in anticipation of coming in early anyway. Lea would get the blame and she’d have to get pregnant again to make everybody forget she’s an alleged monster, making room for Lea’s principal wig snatcher, Samantha Marie Ware, to replace her. Hey, that’s show business for you!
Pic: FOX