Lea Michele leads Funny Girl to Broadway box office history

Lea Michele waited years for the opportunity to play Fanny Brice to come along, and she’s certainly made the best of her time in the Broadway spotlight. With Michele playing the lead Funny Girl, the production has broken a box office record for August Wilson Theatre, with $2 million in ticket sales last week alone.

Funny Girl’s success triumphs above a particularly difficult year for Broadway, which has seen the early closure of Almost Famous, KPOP, and A Strange Loop due to low ticket sales.

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It’s also been a long year for the Funny Girl production in particular. The show made its return earlier this year, with Beanie Feldstein taking on the role of Fanny Brice. Funny Girl debuted in March to lukewarm and even dismal reviews, with critics unimpressed by Feldstein’s singing chops as Fanny Brice.

Although Feldstein’s original contract was set to expire in early 2023, producers moved up the end date to September 25 of this year. However, Feldstein ended up stepping down from the role in July, revealing that “the production decided to take the show in a different direction.” Jane Lynch left Funny Girl as well, with Tovah Feldshuh replacing her as Mrs. Bryce.

Michele officially stepped into the role Fanny Brice on September 6, with standby Julie Benko leading the production throughout August. Once Michele took the stage, ticket sales increased as critics praised her impassioned performance. Variety reports that during Michele’s stint as Brice, the August Wilson Theater has been at 98-99 percent capacity each night, compared to 74 percent when Feldstein held the role.

Ramin Karimloo stars opposite Michele as Brice’s love interest Nick Arnstein, with Jared Grimes, Peter Francis James, Ephie Aardema, Debra Cardona, Toni DiBuono, and Martin Moran starring as well.

Michele will also appear on the Broadway cast album for the show, which will feature studio recordings of songs such as “Rain On My Parade,” “My Man,” and “People.”

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