Julie Benko, who has built a devoted following as the Funny Girl understudy and alternate Fanny Brice, will originate her first Broadway role this fall in the new musical Harmony by by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman.
16.05.2023 - 22:09 / deadline.com
Lea Michele has tested positive for Covid again, and will be out of Broadway’s Funny Girl until Tuesday, May 23, the production announced today.
Julie Benko will play the role of Fanny Brice until Michele returns (Ephie Aardema will play the role on Friday, May 19).
The positive Covid test is the second for Michele, who missed more than a week of shows last September for the same reason.
Despite Benko’s solid audience reviews, the production traditionally experiences steep declines at the box office whenever Michele is absent for vacations or other reasons. Since Michele took over the role from Beanie Feldstein last fall, Funny Girl has been one of Broadway’s highest-earners: Last week, the show grossed a strong $1,637,625.
Funny Girl closes on Broadway Sept. 3.
A post shared by Funny Girl on Broadway (@funnygirlbwy)
By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
By subscribing, I agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Julie Benko, who has built a devoted following as the Funny Girl understudy and alternate Fanny Brice, will originate her first Broadway role this fall in the new musical Harmony by by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman.
Lea Michele‘s run in the Broadway musical Funny Girl is coming to an end in just over three months and she’s already teased that her next project is lined up.
Blue Ivy stole the Twitter spotlight as she joined her superstar mom Beyoncé on stage during The Renaissance Tour.
Broadway’s box office was up a bit during the final week of the 2022-23 season, with only a few productions reporting slips from the previous week, including two – Funny Girl and Grey House – that saw temporary declines due to Covid cases within their casts.
Glee is celebrating a special anniversary! Fourteen years ago, the hit musical series debuted on Fox, introducing us to so many talented actors, singers and dancers.
Two murderers who killed schoolboy Khayri Mclean have been named and pictured for the first time.
An unexpected consequence. Rachel Bilson claimed that she was recently fired from a job because of her comments about wanting to be “manhandled” by her sex partners.
Lea Michele had a very special Mother’s Day at a performance of Funny Girl!
Lea Michele is sadly going to miss her Funny Girl performances this week.
Lea Michele celebrated Mother's Day in a special way. After her Sunday performance as Fanny Brice in Broadway's , the 36-year-old actress brought out her 2-year-old son, Ever, during the current call.As seen in a video posted on TikTok, after Michele walked onstage, she leaned down to the orchestra section to grab her son, whom she shares with her husband, Zandy Reich. The tot had bouquets of flowers in his hands.
Ethan Shanfeld Variety garnered a record 96 nominations for the SoCal Journalism awards sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club, with nods across magazine and entertainment journalism, art and photography, video, audio, online content and social media during the 2022 calendar year. Among the nominations announced Friday were Tim Gray for print journalist of the year and Clayton Davis for online journalist of the year. In addition, Owen Gleiberman, Chris Willman and Daniel D’Addario were nominated as entertainment journalists of the year. “We are extremely proud of our newsroom for a banner year in record-breaking traffic, hard-hitting investigative journalism, profile writing and video. These nominations are a testament to the great work Variety is doing covering the entertainment industry,” said Variety co-editor-in-chiefs Ramin Setoodeh and Cynthia Littleton.
Scroll To See More Images
Lea Michele isn’t going anywhere!
Lea Michele isn't going anywhere!Speaking with Tuesday, Michele shared that her run on Broadway isn't over when she wraps Funny Girl in September.While she's keeping tight-lipped on the details, Michele has already got another gig lined up.«I already know what it is,» she teased to the outlet. «You know it.»Careful not to give too much away, Michele did share that her next foray on Broadway will be «very different musically.»The singer-actress, who last appeared on Broadway in 2006's , made her return to the stage in September when she replaced Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in the first revival of since Barbara Streisand helmed the role in 1964.The musical follows Brice on her rise to fame and her turbulent relationship with gambler Nicky Arnstein. While she's not saying goodbye to Broadway just yet, Michele does have some plans for when production on ends, namely spending some time at home with her soon-to-be three-year-old son, Ever.«I'm gonna just spend as much time with my son as I can, and rest,» Michele told ET last month.
Lea Michele‘s acclaimed run in the musical Funny Girl will come to an end in September, but it sounds like she’ll be back on Broadway very soon after that!
Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Lea Michele’s run in “Funny Girl” doesn’t end until Sept. 3, but she’s already plotting her return to Broadway. In fact, the actor-singer tells me she has her next gig lined up. “I already know what it is,” she teases. But Michele is being tight-lipped on details. “You know it,” she says, hinting it could be a revival of some sort. “It’s very different musically,” she adds. Michele made a triumphant return to the stage in September when she replaced Beanie Feldstein in the first revival of “Funny Girl” since Barbra Streisand originated the role of Fanny Brice in 1964.
Lena Waithe is now a first-time Tony nominee as one of the producers of The production scored a total of six nods, tying it with as the most-nominated new play, for the 76th annual Tony Awards. Following the announcement, which was revealed live by Lea Michele and Myles Frost on Tuesday, Waithe shared her excitement about the play's recognition. " is a monumental play and I was honored when Lee Daniels asked me to join the team," she said in an exclusive statement to ET. «I saw a reading of it years ago and I knew it deserved to be on Broadway.
Alex Newell and J. Harrison Ghee made history on Tuesday, when the two performers became the first nonbinary-identifying people nominated for individual acting prizes for the 76th annual Tony Awards. Newell, who first broke out on and has since become a Broadway and TV fixture, was nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical.
Lea Michele and Myles Frost presented the nominees for the 76th annual Tony Awards live on before finishing the list from the heart of Broadway at the Sofitel New York. Recognizing the best in live theater, the Tony Awards cap off a strong year for Broadway, which bounced back during the 2022-2023 season with a number of acclaimed and groundbreaking productions. In total, there were 38 eligible shows, including 17 original plays and nine new musicals as well as six play revivals and six musical revivals.Earning the most of any production, came out on top, with a total of 13 nominations. The most nominated play, meanwhile, is, which garnered six.
Lea Michele continues to pay homage to Barbra Streisand. The Funny Girl star shared photos of the EGOT winner on her Instagram Story, which inspired her look at this year's Met Gala in New York City. Michele debuted a bob haircut and stunning gown that mirrored the inspiration she took from Streisand. The 36-year-old actress wore a custom Michael Kors Collection silver tulle cutout dress with hand-beaded mirror sequins, dégradé fringe, and a matching bow. Requiring over 1,440 hours to hand-embroider, the gown was adorned with 11,700 mirrored sequins and 10,100 individually stitched crystals scattered across the base.