“Funny Girl” is hit with another shocking departure as Jane Lynch leaves the Broadway production earlier than expected.
The 62-year-old “Glee” announced on Tuesday that she will end her run as Mrs. Brice early due to a planned vacation.
Lynch was originally scheduled to perform until September 4, but will now conclude her time on the show on August 14.
“As I begin my final week in ‘Funny Girl’, my heart is filled with gratitude for this tremendously talented troupe led by Beanie Feldstein and our amazing audience for keeping theater alive!” she said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
“I want to say a special thank you to my current scene partner Julie Benko and I will be back to see my friend Lea Michele light up the lights.”
The production told the outlet that the “Weakest Link” host was initially scheduled to take a break from the show from August 15 to 22 for her vacation and to attend the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, but they eventually agreed. in order to just stop her running early.
This isn’t the first time “Funny Girl” has let one of its leads leave early. Feldstein, who played Fanny Brice, announced her sudden departure from the musical on July 10.
The 29-year-old ‘Booksmart’ star was supposed to stay with the production until September 25, but instead ended her time on July 31.
“When production decided to steer the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to stop earlier than expected,” she wrote on Instagram.
Feldstein made it seem like her sensational departure was her choice, but a source told Vidak For Congress she was “basically fired.”
The “Lady Bird” star had to miss even more “Funny Girl” performances in mid-July after she was diagnosed with tonsillitis.
“The last thing I would want on this earth is make the people I love sick, and I just can’t be on stage all weekend,” she said at the time.
The production wasted no time revealing that Lynch’s former “Glee” co-star would replace Michele Feldstein as the lead, saying they hoped the 35-year-old would “change things up” following Feldstein’s mixed reviews.
“I am so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage to play Fanny Brice on Broadway,” Michele tweeted. “Until Sept. @funnygirlbwy #FUNNYGIRL.”
While Michele’s casting was met with acclaim, some people were disappointed that she got the chance after coming under fire in 2020 for allegedly being mean to former co-workers.
“Yes, Broadway maintains whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again,” tweeted fellow Glee alumnus Samantha Marie Ware of Michele’s Broadway performance.
In June 2020, after Michele posted in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Ware, now 30, claimed her former co-star was racist and had made her life “living hell” on the set of their Fox show. musical drama.
In response, the “Spring Awakening” star publicly apologized on Instagram, saying in part, “I’ve clearly acted in ways that hurt other people.”