Jane Lynch is now leaving ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway early, too
“Funny Girl” has been hit with another shocking departure, as Jane Lynch is leaving the Broadway production sooner than expected.
The “Glee” alum, 62, announced Tuesday that she will end her run as Mrs. Brice early due to a planned vacation.
Lynch was originally supposed to perform until Sept. 4 but will now conclude her time in the show on Aug. 14.
“As I embark upon my last week in ‘Funny Girl,’ my heart is filled with gratitude for this wildly talented company led by Beanie Feldstein and our wonderful audiences for keeping theater alive!” she said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
“I offer a special thanks to my current scene partner Julie Benko and 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 supposed to take a break from the show from Aug. 15 to 22 for her vacation and to attend the Creative Arts Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, but they ultimately agreed to just end her run early.
This is not the first time that “Funny Girl” has had one of its leads leave early. Feldstein, who played Fanny Brice, announced her sudden departure from the musical on July 10.
The “Booksmart” star, 29, was supposed to stay on with the production until Sept. 25 but instead ended her time on July 31.
“Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated,” she wrote on Instagram.
Feldstein made it seem like her sensational departure was her choice, but a source told Page Six that 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 to get the people that I love sick, and I just am not allowed to go onstage through the weekend,” she said at the time.
Production didn’t waste any time in revealing that Lynch’s former “Glee” co-star Michele would replace Feldstein as the lead, saying they hoped the 35-year-old would “turn things around” after Feldstein’s mixed reviews.
“I’m so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway,” Michele tweeted. “See you September 6th. @funnygirlbwy #FUNNYGIRL.”
Although Michele’s casting was met with praise, some people were disappointed that she landed the opportunity after she came under fire in 2020 for allegedly being mean to past co-workers.
“Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again,” fellow “Glee” alum Samantha Marie Ware tweeted about Michele’s Broadway gig.
In June 2020, after Michele posted in support of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Ware, now 30, claimed that her former co-star was racist and had made her life a “living hell” on the set of their Fox musical dramedy.
In response, the “Spring Awakening” star issued a public apology on Instagram, saying in part, “I clearly acted in ways which hurt other people.”
