Lea Michele Showered With Applause During Funny Girl Debut – The first night Lea Michele spent in the role of Fanny Brice was a complete success. According to numerous sources, Michele dazzled audiences on her Broadway debut in Funny Girl. Tuesday night marked the first time Michele took up the part from Beanie Feldstein, who unexpectedly left the Broadway production in July.
The Glee alum received four standing ovations at the August Wilson Theatre from a star-studded crowd that included Ryan Murphy, Harvey Fierstein, and Michele’s Spring Awakening co-star Jonathan Groff. These reports were published by The Daily Beast and Variety. There were reports that Zachary Quinto and Drew Barrymore were also in attendance on the opening night of the show.
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Upon entering, Michele allegedly earned her first standing ovation; by the time the first act was out, there had been at least three more. At the final curtain, where a sobbing Michele and co-star Tovah Feldshuh — who also made her Funny Girl debut on Tuesday — accepted enormous bouquets of white roses, it was reported that further standing ovations had occurred throughout the rest of the evening.
Likewise, Variety shared footage from the show, including one of Michele taking her first bow as Brice. The most iconic tune from the musical, “Don’t Rain On My Parade,” was performed by Michele in the video that one Twitter user shared.
In addition to applause, her performance elicited some laughs from the audience as well, thanks to the recent rumors that Michele doesn’t know how to read. Early in the show, Brice recalls growing up on Henry Street in Brooklyn, and notes, “I hadn’t read many books.”
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Last week, in a new interview with The New York Times, the 36-year-old addressed the rumor, which began circulating in 2018 after a couple of podcasters shared the theory on Facebook. Michele refuted the claim while adding that the rumor itself is sexist.
“I went to Glee every single day; I knew my lines every single day,” she said. “And then there’s a rumor online that I can’t read or write? It’s sad. It really is. I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case.”