Beanie Feldstein announces she's leaving Funny Girl even earlier than expected
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Beanie Feldstein made a surprise announcement Sunday night on Instagram, posting that she would be leaving the role of Fanny Brice in the troubled production of Funny Girl 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," Feldstein wrote. "Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated."
Without elaborating on what "different direction" the show would take, Feldstein went on to thank the cast, the crew, and "every single person who came" to see the show and expressed hope that audiences will keep coming to see it after she departs at the end of the month.
Matthew Murphy Jared Grimes as Eddie Ryan and Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl'
EW has reached out to the production for comment.
According to EW's conversation with director Michael Mayer prior to rehearsals, Feldstein was committed to the production for a year. Then, last month, producers announced Feldstein and costar Jane Lynch would be exiting the production early, on September 25.
Funny Girl opened to mixed reviews on April 24, with Feldstein bearing the brunt of the criticism, being tasked with the nigh-impossible: filling Barbra Streisand's inexhaustible range.
"It's hard to escape the feeling that Feldstein, for all her fourth-wall winks and bright enthusiasm, is fundamentally miscast," wrote EW critic Leah Greenblatt. "This Girl needs a force majeure, not a light breeze, to make it sing."
Feldstein has also missed a number of performances; just last month she had to step away from a few shows after coming down with a case of COVID-19. Now, the question is: Who will be the new Fanny Brice? Feldstein's understudy Julie Benko has received praise for her portrayal while Lea Michele has been circling this role like a Drama Desk-nominated hawk for years.
We won't have to wait long to find out, however. In the grand tradition of the show going on, the production has already tweeted that "exciting casting announcements" will be made tomorrow at 1 p.m. ET.
Get ready to say hello to a new gorgeous.
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