This fellow Glee actress is raining on Lea Michele’s parade.
Lea Michele has landed her dream role as Fanny Brice in the Broadway production Funny Girl, which she has been paying tribute to for over a decade.
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She took over the role originated by Barbra Streisand onstage and onscreen after actress Beanie Feldstein announced her departure.
The latter cited how the production was going in a “different direction.”
And that’s what you missed on Broadway!
New Directions
Incidentally, Glee‘s fictional staging of Funny Girl cast Michele’s character, Rachel Berry, in the same role during the show’s 5th season.
The said character often performed Funny Girl song numbers throughout the series, as did Michele in real life. These included the likes of “Who Are You Now,” “My Man,” “People,” and most frequently, “Don’t Rain On My Parade.”
This is why Michele has been vocal about her excitement since the Funny Girl production officially announced the news.
“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. See you September 6th,” Michele posted.
One of her Glee co-stars, however, is singing a different tune.
Troubletones
“Yes, I’m online today… I see y’all… Yes, I care… I’m affected. Yes, I’m human… I’m Black. Yes, I was abused… my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway upholds whiteness… Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity… I’m loud. Yes, I’d do it again,” Samantha Ware posted in reference to Michele.
Ware played the recurring character Jane Hayward in 2015. She alleged it was during this time that she and other members of the Glee cast faced “traumatic microaggressions” from Michele.
“Remember when you made my first television gig a living hell?!?! I believe you told everyone that if you had the opportunity you would ‘s*** in my wig!’ amongst other traumatic microaggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood,” Ware tweeted in June 2020 in reaction to Michele’s #BlackLivesMatter post.
Glee stars Amber Riley and Alex Newell, aka Mercedes Jones and Unique Adams, then commented GIFs that appeared to agree with Ware’s “tea.”
This sparked online racism accusations against Michele, with some of the other Glee cast members weighing in publicly.
Banner Photo by Lea Michele via Instagram
