Lea Michele to Play Fanny Brice in 'Funny Girl,' Taking Over Role From Beanie Feldstein

The new lead in Funny Girl on Broadway has been made official: Lea Michele will be taking on the iconic role!

If you missed it, a few weeks ago, the show’s star, Beanie Feldstein, who portrayed the iconic role of Fanny Brice in the first-ever Broadway revival of the classic musical, was announced to be leaving the show in late September.

Click inside to get up to speed on the casting announcement, Beanie’s statement this weekend, and more…

This past weekend, Beanie made an unexpected announcement that she would actually be departing the show almost two months earlier than planned due to the show’s decision “to take the show in a different direction.”

Lea‘s casting was announced by the show’s official Twitter, with her run beginning on September 6. Tovah Feldshuh will take over for Jane Lynch‘s role at the same time. Current Fanny standby Julie Benko will take on the role after Beanie‘s departure through September 4. Julie will play Fanny every Thursday as well during Lea‘s run.

When Beanie was announced as the lead of the revival last summer, Lea actually issued a reaction to the news in Beanie’s Instagram comments.

If you don’t know, back when Glee was airing, Lea‘s Glee character Rachel Berry starred in a revival of Funny Girl. It was also known that Ryan Murphy obtained the rights to produce a real-life production of the classic musical on Broadway years ago. Lea once commented on the reports that she would be starring in Ryan‘s production.