Broadway is usually known for its quiet, seamless transitions after A-list stars depart shows, but this switch-up is catching a lot of attention.
Lea Michele attends 75th Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 12, 2022 in New York City. Lea Michele has been tapped to step in and lead the Broadway revival of the beleaguered "Funny Girl" this fall, an announcement made just hours after current star Beanie Feldstein revealed she was leaving the musical sooner than anticipated due to the show taking a "different direction.
After the show's formal announcement, Michele hailed the step, saying "a dream come true is an understatement" on Instagram. She did not mention Feldstein. "Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated," she wrote. Her Instagram post was notably liked by Broadway veteran Ramin Karimloo, who plays Brice's love interest in "Funny Girl" and is staying on.
Fanny is one of musical theater’s more difficult roles to cast, needing both a set of pipes, a sense of humor and a spunky charm, perhaps why it has only now been revived on theater’s biggest stage. Streisand starred in it on Broadway in 1964 and then won an Oscar in the 1968 film version. Reviews were mixed to poor, with many critics saying that while Feldstein brought excitement and spirit, her voice was simply not up to the task, with the Hollywood Reporter review saying "she never quite makes the material soar, and this is a rickety vehicle that needs a supernova to put gas in its tank."
"I feel like this production has been a magnet for drama. In fact, it appears as though it thrives on it. Any press is good press, I guess," says theater, film and television historian Mark A. Robinson, the author of "Musical Misfires: Three Decades of Broadway Musical Heartbreak" and writer of the blog "The Music That Makes Me Dance."
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