Glee’s Lea Michele will finally get the chance to play her dream role on Broadway when the actress steps into the role of Fanny Brice in the current revival of Funny Girl in September.
In a case of life imitating art, the actress whose Glee character Rachel Berry ended the hit high school-set show in New York as the star of a Broadway revival of Funny Girl will step into the title role in real life at the August Wilson Theatre from 6 September 2022.
Confirming the news on Instagram, Michele said: “A dream come true is an understatement. I’m incredibly honoured to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice.”
Michele will follow outgoing star Beanie Feldstein who announced on Sunday evening that she would be leaving the production on 31 July, two months earlier than originally announced. Feldstein, who had been hit by lacklustre reviews, claimed the early departure was due to the decision to “take the production in a different direction”. Feldstein’s understudy Julie Benko will take on the role for performances up to Michele’s arrival.
While Glee fans were celebrating Michele’s casting, there was some disappointment that the show would not include a Glee reunion with the show’s Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch. Currently starring as Mrs Brice, Lynch will depart the show in early September with Tovah Feldshuh stepping on stage alongside Michele from 6 September.
Michele made her Broadway debut at eight years old as Young Cosette in Les Misérables. She also appeared in Ragtime and Fiddler On the Roof before originating the role of Wendla in Spring Awakening.
The production reunites Michele with the director of her last Broadway production, Spring Awakening, Tony Award-winner Michael Mayer. Produced and directed by Mayer, the director of the hit 2016 West End revival, the Broadway production of Funny Girl opened in April. Largely overlooked at this year’s Tony Awards, the revival received just one nomination for Jared Grimes’ featured actor performance as Eddie Ryan.
Both Grimes and the production’s Nicky Arnstein, Ramin Karimloo, are expected to remain with the show.
Loosely based on the life of Ziegfeld Follies star, the comedienne Fanny Brice, and focusing on her turbulent relationship with charismatic gambler Nicky Arnstein, Funny Girl was the vehicle that took Barbra Streisand from Broadway to Hollywood. With music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Bob Merrill, book by Isobel Lennart and a revised book by Harvey Fierstein, the show includes timeless songs like ‘People’ and ‘Don’t Rain On My Parade’.
Angela Thomas
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