Lea Michele revealed that she is set to replace Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl starting on September 6.
On Monday, the 35-year-old Glee alumna confirmed the casting news with a post to her Instagram page, adding a Funny Girl marquee poster of herself and Tovah Feldshuh, who is taking over the role of Fanny’s mother Mrs. Rose Brice from Jane Lynch.
‘A dream come true is an understatement,’ the New Year’s Eve star gushed in the caption of her post.
New role: Lea Michele revealed that she is set to replace Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl starting on September 6
She continued, ‘I’m so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway. See you September 6th. @funnygirlbwy #FUNNYGIRL.’
Lea’s announcement comes a day after Beanie announced on Instagram that she will be departing the show earlier than expected.
The 29-year-old actress posted a text message about portraying Fanny after announcing last month that she would be leaving the role in September.
‘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 posted for her roughly 600,000 followers.
Casting changes: Lea’s announcement comes a day after Beanie announced on Instagram that she will be leaving the show earlier than expected. Seen in April 2022
‘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 added.
‘I will never forget this experience and from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank every single person who came to the August Wilson for the love and support you have shown me and our amazing cast and crew,’ Beanie continued.
She concluded: ‘The people I have had the great joy of bringing Funny Girl to life with every night, both on and off the stage, are all remarkably talented and exceptional humans and I hope you continue to join them on Henry Street after I depart on July 31st.’
Lifelong dream: ‘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 posted for her roughly 600,000 followers
Broadway revival: The 29-year-old actress is shown as Fanny Brice on opening night of Funny Girl on Broadway in April at the August Wilson Theatre
Different direction: Beanie explained, ‘Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.’ Seen in 2021
It was announced in August 2021 that Beanie would star as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl.
The Booksmart actress shared the news on her Instagram page and received a congratulatory comment from Lea who wrote, ‘Yes! YOU are the greatest star! This is going to be epic!!!!’
The Scream Queens star’s positive reaction surprised fans, who thought she may have been disappointed to be passed over for the role as she has long expressed interest in playing Fanny.
More goodbyes: Along with Feldstein, it was also announced back in June that actress Jane Lynch is stepping down from her role as Mrs. Rose Brice
Stepping in: Feldshuh, 73, will now replace the 61-year-old Role Models star on the earlier than expected date of September 6. Seen in February 2022
Beanie made her debut at the August Wilson Theatre in April to mixed reviews from critics.
In June, the production announced that she and Jane would be leaving the show on September 25.
Feldshuh, 73, will now replace the 61-year-old Role Models star on the earlier than expected date of September 6.
Per Variety, Beanie’s current stand-in Julie Benko will perform as Fanny from August 2 through September 4 as well as every Thursday beginning on September 8th.
Back in June, Showbiz 411 reported that producers were eying Lea as a potential replacement for Beanie.
Funny Girl is based on the life and career of Broadway star, film actress, and comedian Fanny Brice, featuring her stormy relationship with entrepreneur and gambler Nick Arnstein.
Prepared: Lea had been rumored to be in the running for the role initially after performing many of the show’s songs during her time on Glee from 2009 to 2015
Lea had been rumored to be in the running for the role initially after performing many of the show’s songs during her time on Glee from 2009 to 2015.
Over the course of the hit musical series’ six season run, Lea’s character Rachel Berry sang some of Fanny’s most well-known numbers including Don’t Rain on My Parade, My Man, I’m the Greatest Star and People.
In season five, Rachel drops out of college after landing her dream role as Fanny in a Broadway revival of Funny Girl.
During a 2017 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Lea said that she ‘really hoped’ to play Fanny one day.
Classic: Among the accolades, the 1964 production with Barbra Streisand as Fanny received eight nominations at the 18th Tony Awards
“We were thinking of doing it right after Glee, but I did a lot of the songs from Funny Girl on Glee so it felt like a little soon,’ she said. ‘But I feel really ready to do it now, so maybe we could do it soon.’
In joining the cast of Funny Girl, Lea will reunite with director Michael Mayer who helmed her first lead role in Spring Awakening.
Actors Jared Grimes, who plays Eddie Ryan and Ramin Karimloo, who plays Nick Arnstein, will remain with the show for the next run.
Funny Girl opened on Broadway on April 24 and currently has an open-ended run. Among the accolades, the 1964 production with Barbra Streisand as Fanny received eight nominations at the 18th Tony Awards.
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