Lea Michele wore a different finale dress to Beanie Feldstein in ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway — and it sparked a conversation about ‘fatphobia’

Lea Michele and Beanie Feldstein playing the role of Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Broadway. Bruce Glikas/WireImage In June, Lea Michele made headlines for replacing Beanie Feldstein in “Funny Girl” on Broadway. Now, the decision to cast Michele is back in the spotlight with costume comparisons being drawn.

While playing Fanny Brice, Feldstein wore a final dress with sleeves – Michele’s has none. Lea Michele and Beanie Feldstein wore different dresses while playing the same character in “Funny Girl” on Broadway, and it’s sparked discussion online about fatphobia. In June, the “Glee” star made headlines when she was officially tapped to replace Feldstein in the role of Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl.

” It came just before Feldstein, who made her Broadway debut as Fanny Brice in April, announced that she was leaving the show earlier than she’d anticipated – causing social media uproar.  Prior to her departure, Feldstein received mixed reviews for her singing skills and interpretation of the iconic character once played by Barbara Streisand. But as Insider previously reported, there was also some suggestion online that the criticism of Feldstein was linked to fatphobia.

 After Michele made her debut in the show on Tuesday, the differences between the actors’ finale dresses became the center of discussion. In photographs taken of Feldstein during curtain calls, when the cast is applauded by the audience, she is seen wearing a shimmery-sleeved red dress with gold detailing on the chest. Meanwhile, Michele wore a sleeveless version of the dress during her curtain call on Tuesday.

 Lea Michele takes her first curtain call as Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl” on Tuesday. Bruce Glikas/WireImageOn Thursday, TikToker Alaina Noelle shared a clip, with 47,400 likes as of Saturday morning, reacting to the stark difference between costumes. “It took them no more than three seconds to remove the sleeves and change Fanny Brice’s dress after Beanie Feldstein left,” Noelle said.

“You can say whatever you want about it. But as a bigger-bodied person, it was noticed, felt, and noted. ” @alainanoelleo #stitch with @jordanrothofficial they did Beanie so dirty.

#fyp ♬ original sound – Alaina Noelle Noelle and representatives for “Funny Girl” did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.  Other users who responded to Noelle’s account said Michele may have asked for a different final dress because she didn’t the other design looked and said it was evidence of  “fat shaming on Broadway” in real life.  LA Times journalist Carolyn Burt reshared Noelle’s TikTok in a Twitter thread on Thursday, along with photos of both of the actors on the show, and wrote that discussion surrounding the finale dress is “important.

“”After Beanie left the production, so did the sleeves. And with Lea’s debut comes a new cut as well,” Burt wrote. Representatives for Beanie Feldstein and Lea Michele did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

 Read the original article on Insider.