It turns out that the people Funny Girl needed on Broadway were Lea Michele and Tovah Feldshuh. Michele and Feldshuh, along with other Funny Girl leads Ramin Karimloo and Tony-nominated Jared Grimes, are all extending their runs through September 3, and the show will close with them. Karimloo and Grimes have been with the production since it opened on Broadway in April 2022, while Michele and Feldshuh joined the show on September 6, 2022, replacing Beanie Feldstein and Jane Lynch, respectively. The show’s casting journey has been long and rumor-filled, but by the time it closes, Michele and Feldshuh will have been there for just three days under a year. The show has been a financial success with this cast — including, at one point, a record-beating weekly gross at the August Wilson Theatre of $2,062,739 for an eight-show week. But Fanny fans who didn’t get to see the Broadway run shouldn’t fear: The tour will open in Providence, Rhode Island, less than a week after the Broadway production closes — on September 9. So roller-skate on over to your local regional playhouse to avoid any rain on your parade.
