Lea Michele Extends Broadway Run Through Final Performance of ‘Funny Girl’

Lea Michele will play Fanny Brice through the end of Funny Girl’s run on Broadway.

The Broadway production will play its final performance Sept. 3. In addition to Michele, Ramin Karimloo, who plays Nick Arnstein, Tovah Feldshuh, who plays Fanny’s mother, Mrs. Brice, and Jared Grimes, who plays Eddie Ryan, will remain with the production through the closing.

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A North American tour of Funny Girl will launch in September in Providence, R.I., before heading to more than 30 cities across the country.

The Broadway revival, the first since the 1964 production starring Barbra Streisand, began previews at the August Wilson Theatre on March 26, 2022 and opened April 24. Beanie Feldstein played the lead role until July 31, and Michele took over the role of Fanny Brice on Sept. 6, 2022. Standby Julie Benko filled in until Michele’s start date and continues to perform on Thursday evenings.

After Michele joined the production, and received rave reviews, Funny Girl saw a jump in its box office grosses. The revival set new box office records throughout the holiday season, with the most recent happening in the week ending Jan. 8, 2023, when it brought in $2.1 million across eight performances. Grosses have still remained strong throughout the winter months, with the musical bringing in $1.9 million in the week ending Feb. 19. (The show’s box office totals fell close to $950,000 in the most recent week of grosses, when Michele and Karimloo were both out on scheduled vacations.)

The production features direction by Michael Mayer, music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Bob Merrill. The original book, by Isobel Lennart, was revised for the production by Harvey Fierstein. Funny Girl features choreography by Ellenore Scott, tap choreography by Ayodele Casel, scenic design by David Zinn and costume design by Susan Hilferty.

Sonia Friedman, Scott Landis and David Babani are lead producers of the revival.

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