The Huge Lea Michele Casting News Everyone Suspected Has Been Confirmed
Less than a year after her casting was announced, Beanie Feldstein revealed that she's stepping down from her role as Fanny Brice in "Funny Girl." The character — originally made famous by Barbara Streisand in 1964 — returned to the stage in March, for the first time in 58 years. However, Feldstein announced that she will be ending her tenure with the show on July 31.
"Playing Fanny Brice on Broadway has been a lifelong dream of mine and doing so for the last few months has been a great joy and true honor," she wrote on Instagram. "Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated."
Following Feldstein's announcement, fans began to speculate that Lea Michele, who famously sang "Don't Rain on My Parade" on an episode of "Glee," would replace the "Booksmart" actor. In fact, Michele performed a total of five songs from the Broadway production during her time on the hit Fox show. And while it has only been a few days since Feldstein's shocking revelation, news of her replacement has already been announced.
Lea Michele is officially joining 'Funny Girl'
Beanie Feldstein may be saying goodbye to her role as Fanny Brice, but that doesn't mean the end for the quirky character. "Glee" actor Lea Michele is set to take on the role, as revealed in a post shared by the official "Funny Girl" Instagram account. The production also announced that Tony Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh would be starring alongside Michele as Mrs. Brice. To fill the gap between the time when Feldstein departs and Michele joins, the production tapped Broadway actor Julie Benko to fill the gap.
Confirmation of Michele's casting drew mixed reactions from fans online. "Leah should have been there in the first place! It's hers," one person tweeted. While another wrote, "That horrid Lea Michele replacing Beanie Feldstein in #FunnyGirl is the greatest insult to Jewish girls ever. We deserve so much better than this. This is a travesty." And while some fans feel that Feldstein was unfairly treated on Broadway, others seemed to argue that Michele does, in fact, have the vocal prowess to take on the role.