The “Funny Girl” Fiasco
The controversial actress Lea Michele and the Broadway musical “Funny Girl” have both been gaining much attention from the media. This past July, it was announced that she, who has a long history with the show, would take on the lead role. But after just four days on the stage, Michele is sidelined with COVID-19.
When Broadway’s “Funny Girl” revival was announced in 2021, many fans of the hit TV show “Glee” speculated that Michele would be taking on the role of the leading lady, Fanny Brice. It seemed only right since Michele’s character on the show, Rachel Berry, was cast as the role in the fake Broadway revival that takes place during season 5. Whether or not you worshiped or despised her, it was evident after watching “Glee” that the role of Fanny was meant for her. So when comedy actress Beanie Feldstein was announced for the role, the entire Broadway community was stunned. Many people asked “Who?” “Why?” and “Where’s Lea?”.
Feldstein had no prior musical theater experience and Fanny is a strong singing role. Not to mention, she would have to fill the shoes of Barbara Streisand, the hit singer who originated Fanny. To thicken the plot, Jane Lynch, who plays the antagonist on “Glee,” was quite ironically cast as Fanny’s mom. Many fans found it hysterical that Lynch was cast and Michele was not.
Fast forward to April 2022 when “Funny Girl” hit the stage. Negative feedback began to spiral in. They deemed her voice “nasally” and not fit for the role that Streisand once played. But low and behold, on July 10, Beanie announced that she would be shortening her contract that was set to end in September and would be departing from the show on July 31.
However, people soon began to speculate that this was in fact the producer’s decision in order to save the show, not Feldstein's. This made people question, “Why was she even cast in the first place?” While this is unknown, the producers are receiving backlash for casting her in the role and then throwing her away so abruptly.
Not long after, Jane Lynch announced that she would be cutting her contract short as well, though this was entirely her decision. She did so right before a certain someone was announced to be taking on the role.
It is rumored that Michele was in cahoots with the producers of the show at the Tony Awards, which is where the idea of her replacing Feldstein had crossed their minds. However, because this has been Michele’s dream role for a long time, Ryan Murphy, the director of “Glee,” actually purchased the rights to “Funny Girl” and promised her that she would be in a real-life revival one day. However, his contract expired. In order to keep the show alive, producers considered her to be their saving grace. Thus, she was revealed the day after Fieldstein’s announced departure to be starting as Fanny on September 6th.
Michele is known for being controversial, but she’s also known for being extremely talented and her many “Funny Girl'' covers on “Glee.” Everyone knew that she was going to make a fantastic Fanny. However, she was deemed horrible to work with, which lead to the rumor that Jane Lynch decided to leave early to avoid having to work with Michele again.
As Michele took her first bow on Sept. 6, many videos and reviews circulated that proved just how perfect Michele was for the role. However, on Sept. 10 she announced she tested positive for COVID-19, thus causing her to miss the Saturday matinee and all following performances until Sept. 20. If Michele was infected with COVID during the nights prior, this means that other cast members could potentially have it as well. For more updates, check out playbill.com.