Beanie Feldstein bids farewell to Broadway as she exits Funny Girl

Beanie Feldstein has bid farewell to the cast of ‘Funny Girl’ after stepping down from her role in the Broadway show almost two months early.

The ‘American Crime Story: Impeachment’ star had been due to continue playing Fanny Brice on the New York stage until September 25 but she decided to leave on July 31 – and she said goodbye to her co-stars by posting pictures of them on her Instagram page.

She captioned the snaps with a lyric from ‘Both Sides Now’ by Joni Mitchell, writing: “But now it’s just another show, and you leave ’em laughing when you go.”

The 29-year-old actress will be replaced by understudy Julie Benko who will continue the role until ‘Glee’ star Lea Michele can take over in September.

Beanie previously insisted it was an “extremely difficult decision'” to walk away from the show. In a statement, she explained: “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 honour. “Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.” Beanie went on: “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 (theatre) for the love and support you have shown me and our amazing cast and crew. ”

It later emerged Beanie had been due to continue in ‘Funny Girl’ for another six months beyond September, but show bosses trimmed her contract and the actress made the decision to leave at the end of July.

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.”