17 brutal tweets about Lea Michele replacing Beanie Feldstein in 'Funny Girl.'
Where to start in unpacking the Funny Girl drama? In 1891 when Fanny Brice was born...
Okay, that's a little too far. Let's begin in 2020, when notorious actress/singer Lea Michele came under fire for alleged abusive and racist behavior toward her castmates in Glee and in past theatrical productions. She has since apologized (kinda), but Twitter never forgets...
Fast-forward to Beanie Feldstein, rising star of stage and screen, getting cast in the 2022 Funny Girl revival on Broadway. People were generally thrilled for Beanie, but not as thrilled as they were for Lea's schadenfreude. The joy of seeing a lovable, plus-size, queer woman playing a Broadway lead was soon crushed by...reviews.
Critics panned Beanie's vocal performance to the point where many feel that she was 'bullied' out of the role.
Which leads us to now: Beanie has announced she will be leaving sooner than expected, and, to many a theatre kid's chagrin, her replacement was revealed to be... you guessed it. Oh, I also think Lea Michele's character on Glee played Fanny Brice, too? There's just A LOT going on, here. So, here are the funniest tweets that explain this historic casting drama better than I ever could:
1. I don't know where it started, but there is a widely held belief online that Lea isn't the most literate...
beanie feldstein left funny girl early because she woke up this morning to a horse head in her bed and a letter that said “SURENDOR THE ROLL IMEEDEEYATLEE” in chicken scratch handwriting
— ★ (@motivatefenty) July 11, 2022
2.
The gay birthday I’m at literally just stopped so someone could read the “Beanie leaving Funny Girl early” statement aloud
— Will Kellogg (@Will_Kellogg) July 10, 2022
3. This classic:
lea michele when she inevitably joins funny girl on broadway now pic.twitter.com/2WOIMWcZD2
— brie. (@briebxrries) July 11, 2022
4. And this one that Beanie fans felt was too harsh:
Ben Platt and Beanie Feldstein’s parents after buying their children flop vanity projects pic.twitter.com/JyFXRwzGSO
— Love. Angel. Music. Benji. (@benarmishaw) July 10, 2022
5.
Lea Michele actually getting the part is like the equal but opposite reaction to Morbius making no money at the box office i can’t explain it
— not j*ss has a newsletter (@itsnotjess123) July 11, 2022
6.
jane lynch leaving the day lea michele is set to start is the most sue sylvester icon behavior extravaganza i have ever laid witness to
— Kyleigh (@KyleighMM_) July 11, 2022
7.
Lea Michelle & Beanie Feldstein racing each other to see who can deliver Fanny’s lines faster https://t.co/OeQ998Qz09 pic.twitter.com/TpoIhVXhz9
— Ross W Berman IV (@RossWBermanIV) July 11, 2022
8.
Lea Michele is proof that if you don’t change or learn even a single thing when faced with your reprehensible behavior, all of your wildest dreams can come true!! Stay the course!!
— Cody Wimmer (@Cody_Wimmer) July 11, 2022
9. This actually really helped sum it up for me:
for those of you outside the glee world, the lea michele replacing beanie is our infinity war but specifically when thanos looks up and says you should have gone for the head
— sifu hotman (@cjfeisty) July 11, 2022
10.
The entire ensemble of funny girl preparing to be berated by lea michele: https://t.co/Z3y6pGNFtg pic.twitter.com/IvFVYhOnTd
— iva (@inoxvi8) July 11, 2022
11.
This Funny Girl snafu really is a masterclass in how to do good promo for a show that was never really great to begin with, no matter who stars in it.
— Fraser (@frazham) July 11, 2022
12. And this great idea:
My take on the Funny Girl drama is that in 20 years Beanie and Lea are going to be playing themselves on season fourteen of Ryan Murphy’s FEUD on DisneyAppleCinnamon+ and I will be WATCHING IT
— Joshua Simon (@JoshuaSimonSays) July 11, 2022
13.
Let’s not forget that Lea Michele once had me kicked out of a VIP section at a New Years Eve party. Yes, I did sneak in and no I didn’t have permission to be there - but that is NOT the point.
— 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗔𝗻𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗺𝗮𝗻 (@LaurenABrickman) July 11, 2022
14.
Rumor has it Chris Colfer will be the new Fanny in Funny Girl to make up for the time Kurt threw the Defying Gravity showdown with Rachel
— Renee G (@reneeg_) July 11, 2022
15.
Me explaining Beanie’s early departure and Lea Michele’s 13-year-long mission to star in Funny Girl to my boyfriend for the last 12 hours. pic.twitter.com/Qel2WU9XfF
— Jillian Goltzman (@Jillian_Writes) July 11, 2022
16. More deep cuts:
i need to get tickets to lea michele’s first performance of funny girl so i can walk out halfway through just like sue did in s5, ep17
— madeleine (@madeleinejanne) July 11, 2022
17.
A new Fanny won’t make the show better. Hire a new design team and cut the second act while you’re at it. Or the whole thing could just be a concert of songs that takes place in a grain silo.
— Greg C (@Grregslist) July 10, 2022