Broadway’s revival of Funny Girl has its new leading lady, and it’s none other than former Glee star, Lea Michele. It was announced that Michele will be taking over the role of Fanny Brice from current lead Beanie Feldstein in a post on the show’s official Instagram on Monday.
Michele will take over the role of Fanny beginning 6 September, with Feldstein’s standby Julie Benko performing in the role from 2 August to 4 September. Four-time Tony Award nominee Tovah Feldshuh will join Michele as Mrs Brice. Feldshuh takes over from Michele’s former Glee co-star Jane Lynch, also departing sooner than originally announced, on 4 September.
In response to her casting, Michele wrote: “A dream come true is an understatement. I’m so incredibly honoured to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway.”
The casting news follows Feldstein’s own announcement that she would be leaving the show almost two months earlier than anticipated. In a statement on Instagram, she revealed that she would be leaving the show on 31 July rather than her previous departure date of 25 September.
Of her decision to depart the show early, 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.”
Michele and Feldshuh will begin performances at the August Wilson Theatre on 6 September, and tickets for Funny Girl can be found through the show’s official website.
Words by Jo Elliott
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Image Credit: “Lea Michele” by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.