Lea Michele has landed her dream role. Whilst on Glee, her character, Rachel Berry, famously portrayed the lead in the Broadway version of Funny Girl—and life is now imitating art.
It was announced on Monday that Michele will be replacing Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice from September. Although the Booksmart actress was meant to have her final performance at the end of September, she revealed that her curtain call would be on July 31 due to producers deciding “to take the show in a different direction”.
Michele confirmed her Broadway return on Instagram, saying, “A dream come true is an understatement. I’m so incredibly honored to join this amazing cast and production and return to the stage playing Fanny Brice on Broadway.”
The 35-year-old actress is no stranger to the songs made famous by Barbra Streisand as she performed almost every one of them during her time on Glee. She also expressed interest in playing the role during an interview on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen back in 2017.
“We were thinking of doing it right after Glee, but I did a lot of the songs from Funny Girl on Glee so it felt like a little soon,” Lea said at the time. “But I feel really ready to do it now, so maybe we could do it soon.”
Well, there’s no time like the present!
