Beanie Feldstein has said Barbra Streisand wrote her a letter before she made her debut in Funny Girl.
The Booksmart star is currently starring as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of the musical, a role made famous by Streisand in the 1964 stage show and 1968 film adaptation.
Appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday (11 April), Feldstein revealed that she received a letter from the singer – who she referred to as “my queen” – before the first preview performance of Funny Girl.
“I was in my dressing room the night before first preview and I got a piece of mail and it just said, ‘For Beanie’ on it,” she said.
“I opened it and it was from Barbra Streisand… I’ve never met her before and it was a really beautiful, touching thing that I will keep at my side at my table getting ready forever.”
Adding that she’d framed the letter, Feldstein said incredulously: “It’s from Barbra Streisand, Steve.”
When Colbert said that he’d never received one from the actor, Feldstein joked: “You can borrow mine”, adding that Streisand had “gorgeous, stunning” handwriting.
Funny Girl is based on the life of real Broadway star Brice.
An updated version of the show, with a revised book by Harvey Fierstein, opened in London in 2015 starring Sheridan Smith.
The new Broadway production at the August Wilson Theatre uses the same book and co-stars Ramin Karimloo and Jane Lynch.
