Lea Michele shared a first look at herself as she sings during rehearsals on the Broadway revival Funny Girl.
The 35-year-old actress posted the photo Friday as she sang Don’t Rain on My Parade “for the first time ever today.”
Lea took over the role of Fanny Brice from actress Beanie Feldstein.
The latest: Lea Michele shared a first look of herself as she sings during rehearsals in the Broadway revival Funny Girl
Lea wrote: ‘The incredible @Epiheaardema got a picture of me for the first time today singing don’t rain on my parade on a Broadway stage! @Epihieaardema you are amazing I love you!!!’
In the snap, Leah donned a black jacket and matching bottoms, with heels; she had her hair pulled back in a casual look.
Although it was initially announced that Beanie would be leaving the show on September 25, she took to Instagram in mid-July and shocked her fans by declaring that she would indeed be leaving the show early at the end of that month.
It was alleged that Beanie found out from Gawker that she was being replaced by Lea after a string of bad reviews, and that she was in such a state of being pulled from her “dream role” that she surprised the producers by publicly quitting early.
Delighted: The 35-year-old actress posted the photo Friday as she sang Don’ Rain on My Parade “for the first time ever today”
An inside source presented to The everyday beast that Beanie, whose older brother is Jonah Hill, was “essentially fired” from the show.
But the producers and a Beanie representative said: People in a joint statement: “The producers of Funny Girl were not caught off guard by Beanie’s social post.”
They continued: “The producers decided to take the show in a different direction and terminate Beanie’s contract on September 25, six months earlier than expected. A month after that decision, Beanie decided it was best for her to leave on July 31. The producers were aware of and supported her decision.’
Life Imitates Art: Michele’s character Rachel Berry landed the lead role of Fanny Brice in the show, the role she will play on Broadway next month; still from Glee
The statement concluded: “The producers and Beanie have worked together on this professionally, respectfully and graciously.”
Until Lea’s takeover in September, Fanny is played by Julie Benko, who served as Beanie’s understudy and earned online praise when she stepped into the role.
The current Funny Girl revival is directed by Michael Mayer, who won a Tony for the original production of Spring Awakening – the show that made Lea a Broadway star.
Moving on: Beanie Feldstein previously had the part in the revival. Her singing received mixed reviews, but others praised the actress and her costars
Beanie opened on the show on April 24 and received a disappointing critical response, including from the New York Timeswhose theater reviews could make or break a performance decades ago.
The New York Times review noted that the role was sculpted around Barbra’s abilities and that July Styne composed the music so that “only Barbra could sing it.”
Funny Girl was originally a passion project for producer Ray Stark, who was married to the late Fanny Brice’s daughter Frances Arnstein.
Final Farewell: Feldstein bids farewell to her starring role as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s Funny Girl, after her final performance at the August Wilson Theater
The show presented a fictionalized account of Fanny’s rise in the 1910s and her marriage to Frances’ father, the con-gamer Nicky Arnstein.
For her first Broadway show as the lead, Barbra collaborated with composer Jule Styne, lyricist Bob Merrill, book writer Isobel Lennart and director Garson Kanin.
She was already a showstopper on the Broadway show I Can Get It For You Wholesale and made a few albums, but it was Funny Girl that made her a superstar.
The score produced one of her most enduring hits – People – which became the title track to her album that drove the Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night from number one.
No more summer shows: Lea takes the show seriously, too. She recently canceled her remaining summer concert tour dates so she could focus on preparing for the role; still from Glee
When the show opened on Broadway, it was a huge success and she received enthusiastic reactions for her performance, which she also took to London.
Barbra starred opposite Charlie Chaplin’s son Sydney, with whom she had an affair during her marriage to her first husband Elliott Gould.
She reprized her role for the film, which gathered longtime Hollywood stalwarts such as director William Wyler and cinematographer Harry Stradling.
Her lead in the film was Omar Sharif, with whom she also had an affair – and with whom she caused a scandal when a still of one of their staged kisses was shot for the film in 1967, the year of the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel.
Who’s Who: The current Funny Girl revival is directed by Michael Mayer, who won a Tony for the original production of Spring Awakening — the show that made Lea a star in 2006; hat pictured
The film was the highest grossing film of 1968, with Roger Ebert writing, “The problem with Funny Girl is almost anything but Barbra Streisand. She’s gorgeous.’
Although the film led to a critical sequel called Funny Lady in 1975, the show has never before been revived on the Great White Way.
A Broadway revival was attempted in 2011 starring Lauren Ambrose as Fanny, but was eventually scrapped due to problems raising money.
In 2015 and 2016, however, a London production with Sheridan Smith in the title role managed to be a resounding success.
The show went from a limited involvement at the Menier Chocolate Factory to a longer run at the Savoy Theater, which was subsequently extended by popular demand.
The music that makes me dance: Barbra takes the stage in the original production of Funny Girl – the project that made her a superstar