Broadway works fast, but Twitter works faster. Before Beanie Feldstein was eternally tied to Fannie Brice in the Broadway production of Funny Girl, it appears that the actress foreshadowed her future in an old sitcom. Earlier this morning, one Twitter user had their detective hats on when she found an old clip of a young Feldtein singing none other than the show tune “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from Funny Girl.
The clip shared by Twitter user AlannaBennett appears to be of the American sitcom My Wife and Kids, which aired in 2002, when Steinfeld was just 9 years old, showing the young actress singing the lyrics of “Don’t Rain On My Parade” to a character called Ronstein on the show. Feldstein’s character also cheekily changed the lyrics of the song from “Hey Mr. Arnstein” to “Mr. Ronstein”.
Feldstein’s foreshadowing truly proved to result in a full circle, as the actress would take on the iconic role of Fanny Brice in the 2022 Broadway production of Funny Girl, which ran from April until July of the same year. However, everything took a turn for the worse when reviews started flooding the internet, showing discontent with the singer’s performance as the belter Fanny Brice, even if her comedic timing appeared to be on par with that of Barbra Streisand. In July, it was also announced that Glee actress Lea Michele had been cast as Fanny Brice, replacing Feldstein on stage not long after.
In spite of the unfortunate events that took place in the Funny Girl production, Feldstein is currently filming a comedy musical Merrily We Roll Along, alongside her long-time friend and colleague, Ben Platt, and former Glee actor, Blake Jenner. Funny Girl is still currently running at the August Wilson Theatre in New York.
