Paul Wontorek and Lea Michele
(Photo by Sergio Villarini for Broadway.com)
Lea Michele is thrilled to share a milestone moment: “April marks 30 years that I’ve been working on Broadway!” she gushed during an interview for an upcoming episode of The Broadway Show with Tamsen Fadal.
Yes, the 38-year-old Glee and Spring Awakening favorite started young, joining the original production of Les Misérables at the Imperial Theatre as one of its child stars—playing both Young Cosette and Young Éponine, and even stepping in as a cover for Gavroche.
Though film and television success pulled this Broadway baby away from the stage for 14 years, her somewhat expected, still surprising, and completely thrilling triumph as Fanny Brice in the 2022 Funny Girl revival reminded her that the stage might just be exactly where she belongs.
(Photo: Matthew Murphy)
With that dream role behind her, Michele says she’s “excited to dream some new dreams and look outside the box” as she considers her next Broadway vehicle. In the meantime, she’s taking her acclaimed 2023 Carnegie Hall concert on the road, launching a U.S. tour on May 5 in Durham, NC. Over the course of two months, she’ll also perform intimate shows in Nashville, TN; Orlando, FL; Anaheim, CA; Palm Desert, CA; Washington, DC; Englewood, NJ; and Niagara Falls, Canada.
“It’s a bit of a journey through my life through music, starting with Les Miz,” she shares. “And going all the way through my Broadway shows and songs from Glee, songs from my albums… If you want to get to know me, come see a show. I tell really personal stories. I love engaging with the audience.”
She’s also revisiting her Glee alter ego Rachel Berry, imagining what kind of music Rachel would be singing in 2025—and naturally revisiting Fanny Brice… if she can remember the lyrics.
“I was practicing ‘Sadie, Sadie’ last night and I was like, ‘What do I say?!’ Thankfully I have the greatest fans who come to these shows, and I always have one person who knows every word. I’m like, ‘You’re going to be my best friend and help me out!’”
Michele says she jumped into Funny Girl so quickly that, although she had long planned to do the show on Broadway, learning it in real time was a whirlwind: “And then I left the show and had a baby—there’ve been other things on my mind! But yeah, now I’m like, ‘OK, I need to brush up on Funny Girl!’” (Her son Ever Leo is now four, and daughter Emery Sol is seven months old.)
Watching friends and former co-stars like Darren Criss (Maybe Happy Ending) and Jonathan Groff (Just In Time) shine on Broadway has her eyeing a return as well.
“I just have to make sure they give me my brain back after having a child,” she laughs. “They take it from you, they hold it for a while, and then they hand it back. So as soon as they hand it back to me, I’ll be ready to go!”
Watch the full interview below and hear more about Michele’s Funny Girl run, her ever-adorable friendship with Jonathan Groff, and her fantasy Glee reboot. For tickets to her concert tour, visit LeaMichele.com.
