With Broadway’s Funny Girl star Beanie Feldstein announcing her exit from the production, many are concerned that Lea Michele may take her place. Following bullying and racial claims leveled against her, the latter has received unwanted attention on social media. Internet fans are already concerned about the idea of the Glee actress taking on the role, since she has previously been connected to the Broadway musical.
Beanie Feldstein just announced on Instagram that she will be doing her last performance as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on July 31st. She said in a touching statement that she would be leaving “sooner than planned.” She remarked on Instagram that portraying Fanny Brice on Broadway has been a “lifelong ambition” of hers. She also praised the show’s cast and crew for their “love and support.” The actress went on to commend the cast and crew of Funny Girl for being “very brilliant and amazing folks.”
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The producers of Funny Girl are reportedly contemplating Lea Michele as a substitute. The announcement came after the controversial personality auditioned for the part of Fanny Brice in the fourth season of Glee on Broadway. Meanwhile, Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy got the rights for the musical’s revival as well, but he lost them in 2015.
Lea Michele has already shown interest in playing Fanny Brice in Murphy’s version. She’d stated:
“I spoke with Ryan Murphy the other night. I had a show in Central Park where I sang nine Funny Girl songs and then turned to Ryan and said, ‘OK, I’m ready to do it.’ It’s a lot of effort, but it would be an honor. But if I’m going to return to musicals, that’s what I’d want to do.”
Netizens respond to Lea Michele’s role in the Broadway production of Funny Girl.
Internet fans were shocked to see the 35-year-old actress take on the iconic role once portrayed by Barbra Streisand. This follows allegations that the former was bullying her co-stars. Samantha Ware, another Glee star, has accused Lea Michele of making her “television employment a living nightmare.” Ware also claimed that the actress threatened to “s**t in my wig” and provoked “other terrible microaggressions” during filming.
Dabier Snell, who starred in a Glee episode in 2014, has previously tweeted about Lea Michele. Snell stated:
“GIRL, YOU WOULDN’T LET ME SIT WITH THE OTHER CAST MEMBERS AT THE TABLE BECAUSE “I DIDN’T BELONG THERE” F**K YOU LEA”
She was also accused of bullying Naya Rivera, who died in 2020. Rivera said in her book Sorry Not Sorry: Dreams, Mistakes, and Growing Up that Michele “didn’t enjoy sharing the limelight.”
If Lea Michele is announced for Funny Girl twitter is gonna be on fire. pic.twitter.com/DWpNl11H3n
— Kacy Is Iconic (@KacyIsIconic) July 11, 2022
Rivera continued:
“If I grumbled about anything or anybody, she imagined I was complaining about her.” She soon began to ignore me, and finally she didn’t say anything to me for the whole sixth season. Lea, on the other hand, was a lot more sensitive, and it looked like she blamed me for everything that went wrong.”
Lea Michele was also first criticized of failing to post a meaningful message on social media after Rivera’s terrible death. She did, however, tweet a photo with a short statement honoring her late co-star, which was later removed when Michele canceled her Twitter account.
With so much hatred directed at the actress in recent years, many thought she was unfit to play the lead in the Funny Girl musical. Some quipped that Michele would be anxious to obtain the job after auditioning for it on the popular Glee program. According to one Twitter user, if the actor were to appear in Funny Girl, the microblogging site would “be on fire.”
Some readers also voiced concern that if Michele starred in the Broadway production, things would become “a lot less hilarious.” Another Twitter user likened the controversial performer to Ariel from The Little Mermaid. They went on to say that, like Ariel, Michele struck a “deal with the devil.” The casting for the Broadway production of Funny Girl is set to be announced on Monday at 1 pm ET.
