Lea Michele is less than three weeks away from being Broadway's greatest star.
The "Glee" alum is set to join the Broadway revival of "Funny Girl" on September 6, taking over the role of Fanny Brice from current lead Julie Benko after Beanie Feldstein, who opened the revival, made an early departure from the production on July 31.
The show's official Instagram account teased Michele’s debut in a post on Friday, August 19. In the short clip, Michele can be seen dancing during rehearsals while a voiceover of the 35-year-old actor singing "I'm The Greatest Star" plays.
“A star returns,” a message in the video reads. “Hello, gorgeous. Hello, Lea.”
The black-and-white clips show Michele prepping for the role in a rehearsal space. In one moment, she's seen dancing alone, while other parts of the video show her performing with co-stars Ramin Karimloo and Jared Grimes. Karimloo plays Nick Arnstein, the show's romantic lead, while the Tony-nominated Grimes plays Eddie, a friend of Fanny's who helps her find success on the stage.
The original production of “Funny Girl,” with Barbra Streisand originating the role of Brice, opened in March 1964, finishing its run in July 1967. It was announced in August 2021 that Feldstein would portray Brice in the revival, which opened on April 24, 2022.
While Feldstein and Lynch were expected to stay in their roles through 2022, it was announced in June that they would be departing the production in September. However, Feldstein announced an exit two months earlier than expected, at the end of July, saying on Instagram that the production was taking a "different direction."
The day after the “Booksmart” star’s announcement, the production announced that Michele would take over the role, and that understudy Benko would play the part full time for a month while Michele rehearsed. The casting caused mixed reactions on social media: Fans of Michele's knew that the longtime "Funny Girl" fan had longed to join the show and were glad to see her dream come true, while others pointed out that her casting came two years after her "Glee" co-stars accused her of hostile behavior on-set.
Lynch also left the show early, departing on Aug. 14. She will be replaced by Tovah Feldshuh, who will start with Michele on Sept. 6.
In the weeks since her casting, Michele has found her own ways to celebrate the role, including sharing behind the scenes clips of rehearsals as well as re-creating one touching moment from “Glee.”
Michele shared a carousel of two pictures on Instagram, first posting a photo from present day looking over her shoulder as she posed in front of the “Funny Girl” marquee.
In the second image, she shared a photo from back in the days of “Glee,” where her character, Rachel Berry, posed in the same manner in front of a fake marquee for the show.
“A dream come true,” she wrote in the caption.
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