Lea Michele to Star as Fanny Brice in FUNNY GIRL Starting 9/6; Beanie Feldstein Departing 7/31 — Page 10

PipingHotPiccolo said: "Idinamenzel18 said: "To my understanding, she never auditioned, she was offered the role and had a work session with the music. How is it possible that none of the creative team, at least those in charge of casting, didn’t realize this would be the result?"

She auditioned. You're spewing nonsense."

Oh, please. It’s no secret the director approached her directly and that she was the only one in the cast who didn’t have a formal audition. This production was literally built around her, from SEVERAL sources. You really think she went in and auditioned with other talented singers and landed the role? Lol.

JasonC3 said: "Penna2 said: "NEW TOPIC.

Ramin has two posts on his IG - one saying good-bye NYC driving to the airport? and his passport - the next he's on a plane.

Since I'm not a mind-reader (LOL), was he on tonight? I'm guessing not. Any word on him taking a few days off to go home to London?

"

I don't remember the specifics, but I think one of his IG stories recently was about some sort of commitment for The Last Match concept album today? I could have that wrong though.


Funny Girl is a Twitter trending topic (at least in my feed) and whoo boy are there some sassy Tweets."

Thanks. You're right - someone went into panic mode about the plane flight has tickets for this week. Completely forgot about the concept album. Guy never stops.

Will check out Twitter. :)

What’s annoying is everyone on Twitter saying it’s “fatphobia.” Like, sis, no. It’s called talent.

Sutton Ross said: "pmensky said: "NEVER FOREGET"

The simple word is spelled forget, honey.

Oh, thanks, Sutton! We can always count on you for these kind of notifications. Unfortunately I’m unable to edit my post. Have a happy day!

laporms said: "I saw the show last month. Was she amazing? No, but the producers knew this from day one. It's too bad she didn't follow Uma Thurman's Smash character's lead and just dip before opening.

But life goes on and most people in this board should be elated instead of clutching their pearls over this announcement. She wants out and y'all wanted her out. End of story."

They aren't clutching their pearls, but a number of people here are feasting on the pain.

It's a terrible choice on Beanie's part--if it is her choice, and not, as some suggested, putting on the best look when producers say "Get out now; you've lost us enough money"--and it obviously makes the whole thing an utter, dramatic fiasco. From the adored Minnie Fay, to a controversial preview period as Fanny, to critical derision and the viciousness expressed here once the show opened, and now it all ends with about as much of a public humiliation as possible (please don't let it get worse!). It's awful, just awful.

I agree with TheaterFan4, a lot of this falls on the producers. But producers are largely invisible. Beanie is very visible and this swift exit will do her no good, though she could come back (if in fact Lea Michele replaces her, that's a perfect lesson on how anyone can come back from just about anything). If she does, hopefully it will be in a role that better suits her.

The moral of this story: know your limits.

Where are we expecting this announcement to be made? Facebook? Insta?

How is Beanie expected to get through to July 31? How many performances will she miss?

This is 100% untrue. This production was being developed with several other leading ladies before Beanie was chosen. Idina was attached to it pre-pandemic and they had started having theater conversations then. It wasn't until Beanie was about to start Impeachment that she came into the picture. She herself has said she auditioned in late night interviews (the Seth Meyers interview that's re-running on Wednesday I'm pretty sure).


Idina was never “attached.” She was approached about the role and rightfully declined. That ship had sailed. Hence the only write-up about Idina being involved was from a theatre gossip blog. I’m not sure what you mean about “several ladies,” since with THIS particular production (not the one slated to star Lauren Ambrose), Beanie was approached by the director. If you’re referring to Gaga, that was never happening. This wasn’t even on her radar.

Just out of curiosity, since Beanie is "above the title" - can people get refunds if they had tickets between July 31-Sep 25? Not that they would necessarily want to but just wondering

it's official! Lea Michele and Tovah! https://twitter.com/funnygirlbwy/status/1546539835527151622?s=21&t=ms8p3Cr9klWZerqhnBZlig

Is there still enough of a Spring Awakening fan left in me to get me to the August Wilson? Probably. Congratulations to both.