Broadway’s next Funny Girl is Lea Michele.
Michelle is replacing Beanie Feldstein after she announced she’ll exit the show earlier than expected. The production revealed that Michele would succeed Feldstein, whose run will end July 31, in the leading role of Fanny Brice, the famed comedian and vaudeville performer.
Julie Benko will take over the role through August until Michele arrives September 4.
Feldstein announced her departure on Sunday, writing that after the production
decided to take the show in a different direction, [she] made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.”
She’ll end her Funny Girl run almost two months earlier than her previously announced date of September 25.
Broadway’s first revival of Funny Girl has been beset by bad word-of-mouth and poor reviews, many of them taking aim at Feldstein’s performance. NY Magazine‘s Helen Shaw wrote that Feldstein’s
voice lets her down.“
Time Out‘s headline for their review of Funny Girl was,
Beanie Feldstein Falls on Her Fanny
Adam Feldman ends his not-too-glowing review by writing,
…you know a production of Funny Girl hasn’t clicked when you leave thinking…
Well, at least it was pretty.“
And the final nail in this year’s production of Funny Girl was it received just a single Tony nomination, for scene-stealing dancer and supporting actor Jared Grimes.
Emmy Award-nominee LEA MICHELE and Tony Award-nominee TOVAH FELDSHUH join #FUNNYGIRL beginning September 6!
— Funny Girl on Broadway (@FunnyGirlBwy) July 11, 2022
Don’t miss Beanie Feldstein until July 31 only, followed by @JujujulieBee through September 4.
See you at the August Wilson, gorgeous!⭐️ pic.twitter.com/bvqArWoMJa
Michele performed a well-known version of Don’t Rain on My Parade on Glee, and her character angled to play the lead role on Broadway in a fictional revival. Her casting was expected among some Broadway fans, but not everyone welcomed the news.
In 2020, Michele was accused by Glee costar Samantha Marie Ware of creating a toxic environment on the set, and online, some Funny Girl fans said that her casting dishonored Ware’s allegations.
Though Feldstein’s Broadway run was cut short, her summer kicked off strong. Last month, she got engaged to her partner, producer Bonnie Chance Roberts.
