Harshest gossip I’ve read - Beanie Feldstein dumped from Funny Girl

[Anonymous]

This is some brutal inside gossip….

https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-the-real-broadway-drama-over-lea-michele-replacing-beanie-feldstein-in-funny-girl

[Anonymous]

Man that made me so sad for Beanie. Found a video of her in an early rehearsal and 1) her sweet warmth shines through 2) the singing is cringe

[Anonymous]

I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

[Anonymous]

Agree with the source, they should have let Beanie go shortly after the reviews came out, if they wanted to save the show. I saw the CBS Sunday Morning interview with her before it launched and she was everything they're saying (sweet, excited, etc.) Oh well. It's a singing role and if her voice wasn't up to it . . .

What about Lea Michele rehearsing elsewhere and then performing in the building. Is that typical? Sounds strange.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the source, they should have let Beanie go shortly after the reviews came out, if they wanted to save the show. I saw the CBS Sunday Morning interview with her before it launched and she was everything they're saying (sweet, excited, etc.) Oh well. It's a singing role and if her voice wasn't up to it . . .

What about Lea Michele rehearsing elsewhere and then performing in the building. Is that typical? Sounds strange.

Probably to reduce any liability related to Lea Michelle’s outbursts. I’m guessing that rehearsals with her are very intense. Also, it seems that Lea Michelle won’t be in the same building as Feldstein until Feldstein leaves the production.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

I’m willing to give her a chance. She hasn’t worked much since Glee, so there aren’t really recent reports (that I know of) of her on-set behavior. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she hasn’t. But for the show itself, I don’t have any doubts she’ll give a great performance. How things work out back stage is another matter entirely. I absolutely feel sorry for Beanie. She seems nice, and the producers obviously made some poor business decisions that made it worse for her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

I’m willing to give her a chance. She hasn’t worked much since Glee, so there aren’t really recent reports (that I know of) of her on-set behavior. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she hasn’t. But for the show itself, I don’t have any doubts she’ll give a great performance. How things work out back stage is another matter entirely. I absolutely feel sorry for Beanie. She seems nice, and the producers obviously made some poor business decisions that made it worse for her.

Seems like the lead producer was trying to be nice and support Beanie but it backfired.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

I’m willing to give her a chance. She hasn’t worked much since Glee, so there aren’t really recent reports (that I know of) of her on-set behavior. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she hasn’t. But for the show itself, I don’t have any doubts she’ll give a great performance. How things work out back stage is another matter entirely. I absolutely feel sorry for Beanie. She seems nice, and the producers obviously made some poor business decisions that made it worse for her.

Seems like the lead producer was trying to be nice and support Beanie but it backfired.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I can understand thinking she might become a crowd favorite despite the weak singing. She really does have a lot of charm. I’d rather see her than Michele.

[Anonymous]

The fact that Lea isn’t going to rehearse in the space is not that uncommon, especially if a show is currently onstage and someone else is preparing to jump in. It’s also a way of being respectful, like the new owners of the house not showing up early to take keys and move in!

I don’t see this as very scandalous. If the reviews are that the lead can’t sing, there you have it. I get that there are many ways to present material and tell a story, but because of Streisand and Lea especially, people know these songs and expect the people singing these songs to have really strong, impressive voices. People have also heard these songs in concerts by Indina Menzel, Chenoweth, etc. Like, come on, you expect these songs to bring down the house with really big belts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact that Lea isn’t going to rehearse in the space is not that uncommon, especially if a show is currently onstage and someone else is preparing to jump in. It’s also a way of being respectful, like the new owners of the house not showing up early to take keys and move in!

I don’t see this as very scandalous. If the reviews are that the lead can’t sing, there you have it. I get that there are many ways to present material and tell a story, but because of Streisand and Lea especially, people know these songs and expect the people singing these songs to have really strong, impressive voices. People have also heard these songs in concerts by Indina Menzel, Chenoweth, etc. Like, come on, you expect these songs to bring down the house with really big belts.

It's the way it went down that is scandalous. You don't often get a Broadway lead quitting the show on Twitter because she overheard they were replacing her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

NP.

PLEASE don't hope for any show to fail.

Lea Michele isn't the whole show. Big shows like this employ a LOT of people on stage and backstage, and if a show shuts down they're unemployed.

The pandemic has been disastrous for all live theater on every level, from Broadway down to even the smallest local amateur show. Please don't wish early closure on even a weak show, led by a manipulative diva, because she's only one of many people who will be out of work, and amazingly she'll somehow find another way to make bank, when crew and supporting players and musicians won't have as easy a time. And most of them are already hurting financially and artistically from two years of pandemic-related closures. Opportunities are still limited in theater everywhere, and still fraught with the very real possibility of yet more absences and closures due to new Covid variants. (Something that's already happening in DC theater.)

[Anonymous]

I understand she's not famous but a real shame they didn't simply cast the apparently outstanding understudy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I understand she's not famous but a real shame they didn't simply cast the apparently outstanding understudy.

+1. At least she gets to star for the entire month of August and a couple nights per week after that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can’t get over the reports of what an awful person Michele is. I kind of hope the show still fails, tbh.

I’m willing to give her a chance. She hasn’t worked much since Glee, so there aren’t really recent reports (that I know of) of her on-set behavior. Maybe she’s changed. Maybe she hasn’t. But for the show itself, I don’t have any doubts she’ll give a great performance. How things work out back stage is another matter entirely. I absolutely feel sorry for Beanie. She seems nice, and the producers obviously made some poor business decisions that made it worse for her.

Seems like the lead producer was trying to be nice and support Beanie but it backfired.

Hindsight is 20/20 but I can understand thinking she might become a crowd favorite despite the weak singing. She really does have a lot of charm. I’d rather see her than Michele.

Me, too. I have so much goodwill for Beanie. But I guess if you can't do the job you can't do the job.

Man, what a sucky situation for everyone. Except Leah Michele, I guess!

[Anonymous]

#TeamLea is running the narrative all over the gossip rags. Feldstein's PR folks should be fired, they were asleep at the wheel.

https://www.gawker.com/celebrity/there-is-already-so-much-funny-girl-drama-beanie-feldstein-lea-michele