The Beanie Feldstein Funny Girl Saga Takes Another Unexpected Turn
The drama surrounding Broadway's "Funny Girl" revival just keeps getting more convoluted and, well... funnier.
In case you missed it, Beanie Feldstein, who had been cast as the lead character Fanny Brice in the show, was revealed to be leaving just six months after opening. She managed to beat out Lea Michele of "Glee" fame, who has long expressed interest in the role, but her performance earned mixed reviews. "Funny Girl" was also snubbed at the 2022 Tony Awards, and Variety reported that ticket sales for the show started to slump. Critics say that Feldstein had been miscast, which may have been the reason for her early departure.
Feldstein was initially supposed to stay until September, but she surprised everyone when she announced that she will be leaving at the end of July instead. "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." She didn't elaborate as to what "direction" the production would take, but fans are speculating that it has to do with Lea Michele taking over. And now Feldstein has seemingly been dealt even more bad luck.
Beanie Feldstein will be missing a few more shows
Beanie Feldstein's days as Fanny Brice are already numbered, but it turns out that she will be missing a few more days of playing the part, as she has been diagnosed with tonsillitis. She took to Instagram to reveal the news, announcing that she will be unable to perform through July 17.
"I just got back from the ears, nose and throat doctor, who told me that I have tonsillitis, which is extremely contagious and she cannot allow me to go back on the stage through the weekend until I have enough antibiotics in my system to not be contagious anymore," she revealed. "The last thing I would want on this earth would to get the people that I love sick and I'm just not allowed to go on stage through the weekend. I cannot wait to do my last two weeks and you just, you gotta laugh at a certain point. When it rains, it pours on your old pal Bean."
The Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" has been marred with controversy from the get-go, according to the producers, and Feldstein wanted to leave earlier than planned of her own accord. "Beanie decided it was best for her to leave on July 31st. The producers were aware of and in support of her decision," they told People in a statement. "The producers and Beanie worked on this together professionally, respectfully and graciously."