Beanie Feldstein "decided it was best for her" to leave 'Funny Girl' early.
The 29-year-old actress has been starring as Fanny Brice in the Broadway musical since April 2022 but quit the role almost six months earlier than planned and producers have now insisted that it was her own decision to cut her contract short after creators decided to take the show in a "different direction".
A representative for the show told PEOPLE: "The producers decided to take the show in a different direction and end Beanie’s contract on September 25th, six months earlier than anticipated. A month after that decision, Beanie decided it was best for her to leave on July 31st. The producers were aware of and in support of her decision. The producers and Beanie worked on this together professionally, respectfully, and graciously."
The 'How to Build a Girl' actress is due to be replaced in the role - which was made famous by Barbra Streisand in the 1968 film - by former 'Glee' star Lea Michele in September, with understudy Julie Benko taking over in the meantime, and an insider also alleged that casting Lea was a "smart move" for the show after it failed to garner more than one nomination at the Tony Awards.
The source said: "[Casting Lea] is a very smart financial decision. You could not overcome the reviews and the lack of the Tony nominations."
The news comes just days after Beanie announced on social media that she had made the "extremely difficult decision" to leave the show but insisted that her short time in the role had been a "great joy" and a"true honor."
On Sunday (10.07.22), she wrote: "Playing Fanny Brice on Broadway has been a lifelong dream of mine, and doing so for the last few months has been a great joy and true honor. Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated. I will never forget this experience and from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank every single person who came to the August Wilson for the love and support you have shown me and our amazing
cast and crew."
