Jane Lynch Moves Up Exit From ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Jane Lynch will depart the Broadway production of Funny Girl earlier than previously announced.
The actor and comedian, who had been playing Mrs. Brice, mother to the show’s lead, Fanny, will now end her run on Aug. 14 due to a planned vacation. The production had previously said that Lynch would end her run after the Sept. 4 performance.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
Lynch had already scheduled a vacation starting Aug. 15, with a planned return on Aug. 23, but was then set to leave the show on Sept. 1 to attend the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, the production said Tuesday. The producers agreed to let Lynch depart the show ahead of her vacation, rather than return for one week of performances.
“With my long-planned vacation on the books and then the Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony … I will take my final curtain call on August 14,” Lynch said in the press release. “As I embark upon my last week in Funny Girl, my heart is filled with gratitude for this wildly talented company led by Beanie Feldstein and our wonderful audiences for keeping theater alive! I offer a special thanks to my current scene partner Julie Benko and will be back to see my friend Lea Michele light up the lights.”
Liz McCartney, the standby for Mrs. Brice, will play the role from Aug. 16 through Sept. 4. Tovah Feldshuh will step into the role starting Sept. 6, as planned.
This is the latest scheduling change at Funny Girl. On July 10, Beanie Feldstein announced that she would leave the production on July 31, about two months earlier than scheduled, after producers “decided to take the show in a different direction.” The next day, the production announced that Lea Michele would take over the lead role starting Sept. 6.
Lynch and Feldstein had originally been scheduled to depart the production on Sept. 25. Both actors had been in the roles since the revival began performances on Broadway on March 22.
Standby Julie Benko has been performing the title role since Aug. 2 and will play it through Sept. 4 and on Thursdays starting Sept. 8.
