Contrary to internet rumors and some published reports, producers of Broadway’s Funny Girl say they were not “blindsided” by star Beanie Feldstein’s Sunday night Instagram post announcing her early departure.
Using wording similar to that in Feldstein’s post, producers and Feldstein’s representative have released a joint statement saying that producers had “decided to take the show in a different direction” when they ended Feldstein’s contract on September 25 rather than early 2023 as initially planned. Producers were “aware of and in support of” Feldstein’s decision to leave even earlier (on July 31).
As Deadline has reported, Funny Girl, which received mixed to negative reviews and no Tony Awards, has taken a significant hit at the box office in recent weeks.
Last month, producers announced that both Feldstein and co-star Jane Lynch would be exiting the show on September 25 (Lynch had always been expected to leave at that time). Amidst rumors that former Glee star Lea Michele had already been recruited to take over the role of Fanny Brice, Feldstein posted her now famous announcement last Sunday that she would leave the production on July 31.
Shortly after Feldstein made her announcement, the production tweeted that the new cast members would be announced the following day. As expected, producers on Monday announced that Michele will be the new Fanny beginning on September 6, with Tovah Feldshuh replacing Lynch at the same time. (Feldstein’s standby Julie Benko will play the role during August, and play a performance or two weekly performances during Michele’s engagement).
In her announcement, Feldstein said she “made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated” after “the production decided to take the show in a different direction.” Though she didn’t specify the new direction, the statement has been widely interpreted as the producers’ decision to cast the stronger-voiced Michele to more accurately follow in the belting tradition of the musical’s original star Barbra Streisand.
Last night, in a statement to People magazine, producers mirrored the explanation, and noted that they were not caught unaware by Feldstein’s Instagram announcement.
Here’s the latest statement, released to the media:
The producers of Funny Girl were not blindsided by Beanie’s social post. The producers decided to take the show in a different direction and end Beanie’s contract on September 25th, 6 months earlier than anticipated.
A month after that decision, Beanie decided it was best for her to leave on July 31st. The producers were aware of and in support of her decision. The producers and Beanie worked on this together professionally, respectfully and graciously.