Review: In Lea Michele, ‘Funny Girl’ Has Finally Found Its Fanny

The “Glee” star is stupendous in the role Barbra Streisand made famous, turning the 1964 musical into something better than we know it to be.

Lea Michele is just the gleeful diva this ‘Funny Girl’ needed

When Lea Michele launches missile-like into “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” she doesn’t just bring down the house. She brings down the whole darn block.

‘Funny Girl’ Review: Lea Michele’s Broadway Parade

‘Funny Girl” is the rare Broadway musical from the so-called Golden Age to end with a sad sigh rather than a smile, as the heroine, the Ziegfeld star Fanny Brice, is abandoned by her beloved husband. The first Broadway revival of the 1964 show, which opened in April to mostly withering reviews, initially seemed likewise doomed to a forlorn fate and a hastily posted closing notice.

N.J.’s Lea Michele dazzles as ‘Funny Girl’ reopens | Review

Every so often if you are very lucky, you see a performance you’ll be talking about for years. Lea Michele’s star turn in “Funny Girl” is such a showstopper — a commanding victory after an abrupt recasting this summer, only three months into the vaunted 1964 show’s first-ever Broadway revival.

Critic’s Notebook: Lea Michele Finally Gets Her Shot at ‘Funny Girl,’ and Nails It

It’s not often that a major Broadway musical lands its ideal lead six months after beginning performances and opening to mixed reviews. Then again, it’s an anomaly that a star with the credentials of Lea Michele would agree to step in as a replacement lead.

Lea Michele: A Spectacular ‘Funny Girl’, At Last – Broadway Review

Well, that’s that. After all the controversies and badly handled original castings and headlines and backstage bruisings and firings or resignations or whatever they were, Funny Girl is, as so many suspected all along, the musical that Lea Michele was born to lead. Broadway’s new Fanny Brice is, to put is simply and without exaggeration, a knock-out.

In Funny Girl, Lea Michele Does Exactly What You Thought She Could

The audience starts applauding as soon as they hear the opening notes of “Don’t Rain on My Parade.” They know what they’re here for. They’ve heard Lea Michele sing it before, whether on Glee or at the Tonys or in bootleg TikToks of this very production.

Funny Girl review: With Lea Michele, Broadway revival gets its greatest star

There’s a moment in “Don’t Rain on My Parade” — the barn-burner of a number that closes the first act of Funny Girl — where Lea Michele’s Fanny Brice literally has to hold for applause.The actress has just called out “Hey, Mr. Arnstein”… and then, at least when I saw it, she pauses as the audience roars.

‘Funny Girl’ Broadway Review: Lea Michele Brings the Diva But Not the Laughs

On the TV series “Glee,” Lea Michele honed an image of being Barbra Lite. There is nothing light about her playing Fanny Brice in the current Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” which opened last spring and now stars Michele in the title role previously held by Beanie Feldstein. From the moment she enters the stage at the August Wilson Theatre, Michele is a singing diva hard at work.

Lea Michele Has the Last Laugh

It’s a good time to be Lea Michele, again. For those who haven’t followed her saga, the singer and actress broke through as a star of the original Broadway production of “Spring Awakening” in 2006 and then gained wider exposure on the television series “Glee.”

Lea Michele’s ‘Funny Girl’ Opening Night Got Seven Standing Ovations

My old, dumbass self didn’t think to stretch before attending Lea Michele’s first performance as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway. “Get ready for me love, ’cause I’m a ‘comer,’” she spat from downstage center, where she delivered the climax to “Don’t Rain on My Parade” with such barn-burning fervor that a standing ovation was compelled before the song was over.

Exclusive: Lea Michele Returns to Funny Girl After COVID-19

She’s a Funny Girl once more. Lea Michele returns to Broadway on Tuesday after a bout with COVID-19 forced her to miss over a week of performances as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.

Six Standing Ovations Later, Lea Michele Triumphantly Returns to Broadway in ‘Funny Girl’

It appears the weather gods didn’t heed Fanny Brice’s humble request. But not even a dreary, drizzly Tuesday in Manhattan could rain on Lea Michele’s parade as the former “Glee” star made her long-anticipated debut in Broadway’s “Funny Girl” revival.

Jane Lynch talks ‘Funny Girl’ Broadway revival

Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor Jane Lynch joins Willie Geist to share how her latest role as Rosie Brice in the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl” reminds her of the only thing she and her mother bonded over.

Beanie Feldstein on playing Fanny Brice, the original “Funny Girl”

See an Exclusive First Look at Beanie Feldstein, Jane Lynch in Rehearsals for Broadway’s Funny Girl

In an exclusive first look at rehearsals shared with PEOPLE, Beanie Feldstein and costars Jane Lynch (Mrs. Rosie Brice), Ramin Karimloo (Nick Arnstein) and Jared Grimes (Eddie Ryan) prepare for the production’s Broadway bow later this month at the August Wilson Theatre.

Beanie Feldstein Talks ‘Funny Girl’ on Late Night With Seth Myers

Watch Beanie discuss telling her parents that she landed the role of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.

Jane Lynch and Kelly Clarkson Bond Over Loving Funny Girl

Watch Jane Lynch discuss growing up on Funny Girl, which also happens to be Kelly Clarkson’s first and favorite movie musical.

Jared Grimes Went From Dancing in the Subway to Dancing on Broadway; Here Are 6 Incredible Facts About the Star

Sure, you might know a couple double threats, maybe even a few triple threats, but Jared Grimes is a quadruple threat. The Broadway star is famous for his tap dancing, singing, choreography, and acting chops — both on stage and on screen.

Beanie Feldstein Teases Her Take on Fanny Brice in Funny Girl Revival Teaser: ‘Hello, Gorgeous’

Beanie Feldstein is suiting up for Funny Girl. The actress, 28, appeared in character as Fanny Brice in a preview trailer for the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. In the clip, Feldstein walks backstage as the musical’s score plays in the background.

Hello, Gorgeous! Get your first look at Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl

EW has your first look at one of Broadway’s most anticipated spring shows, the long-awaited revival of Funny Girl starring Beanie Feldstein (Lady Bird, Booksmart) and directed by Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening).

Jane Lynch Joins Broadway Revival of ‘Funny Girl’

“The first music I ever learned in my life was from Funny Girl. My mother was a huge fan of musicals and especially this one — we bonded on this musical,” Lynch tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I knew every breath of the Broadway cast album before I was like 10 years old. I sang it all over the house. We were big fans of it.”

Ramin Karimloo, Jane Lynch and Jared Grimes Join Beanie Feldstein in ‘Funny Girl’ Revival

Ramin Karimloo, Jane Lynch and Jared Grimes will join the Broadway revival of “Funny Girl.” The show is already set to star “Booksmart” actor Beanie Feldstein in the role of Fanny Brice. She’ll be supported by Karimloo as her love interest, Nick Arnstein, Lynch as her mother, Mrs. Rosie Brice and Grimes as Eddie Ryan, a dancer Brice meets and befriends in the vaudeville circuit that helped make her a star.

Beanie Feldstein to Star in ‘Funny Girl’ on Broadway

“The first time I played Fanny Brice was at my third birthday party, in a head-to-toe leopard print outfit my mom made for me,” Feldstein said in a statement. “So, it’s safe to say that stepping into this iconic role, on Broadway and not in my family’s backyard, is truly my lifelong dream come true.