How Lea Michele has been auditioning for Funny Girl for more than a decade

Over the weekend, actress Beanie Feldstein unexpectedly announced that she would be leaving the Broadway production of Funny Girl at the end of the month, citing the show being taken in a “different direction.” Turns out, it was being taken in a New Direction, with Glee star Lea Michele stepping in as the new Fanny Brice.

Rumors swirled for a while that Michele was the frontrunner to take on the iconic role, which Barbra Streisand originated in 1964. In fact, when Feldstein’s casting was first announced last August, “Lea Michele” started trending on Twitter thanks to the actress’ close connection with the role in many fans’ minds. That’s because Michele, a vocal Streisand and Funny Girl fan, has been performing songs from the musical in Glee and other projects for over a decade. For many younger audiences, Michele was likely their first exposure to the music from the show.

Back in 2009, during the first season of Glee, Michele sang a show-stopping version of the Funny Girl hit, “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” a favorite song among musical theater fans, including her character, Rachel Berry. Rachel was a huge Streisand fan in the show and her personality was strikingly similar to that of Fanny, perhaps serving as a long-running nod to the character. When the New Directions competed in sectionals, the glee clubber naturally relied on her go-to song.

Throughout Glee‘s six-season run, Michele ended up performing all of Streisand’s biggest numbers from Funny Girl, including “Who Are You Now”, “My Man”, “People”, and more. But the most art-imitating-life prophecy came in 2014, during the show’s fifth season when Michele was actually cast as Fanny Brice on Broadway, at least her character was.

As the series progressed, many of the original characters graduated and the plot began following their lives after high school, including Rachel being Broadway bound. In the episode “Opening Night”, Rachel achieves her dream of landing the starring role in Funny Girl. At the time, it felt like a fitting homage to the character of Rachel Berry finally achieving everything Fanny Brice had after years of hard work, but now it feels more like a premonition of what was to come for Michele.

Now, after more than a decade singing Funny Girl tracks, Michele will finally have her chance to live the dream on Broadway when she officially takes over the role of Fanny Brice on Sept. 6.

Lea Michele to replace Beanie Feldstein in Funny Girl on Broadway

The rumors were true: Lea Michele is officially replacing Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival of Funny Girl.

Feldstein earned much press for being the first woman to play Fanny on Broadway since Barbra Streisand originated the role, but the actress revealed Sunday that she will step away from the show at the end of this month after previously announcing her plans to exit the production (alongside Jane Lynch) in September.

Rumors had swirled that the Glee star known for her own rendition of Funny Girl track “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” would subsume the role. Michele has a working relationship with the show’s director, Michael Mayer, who helped propel her to theatrical stardom by casting and directing her in Spring Awakening.

Sadly, we won’t be getting a Glee reunion as Michele’s run as Fanny won’t overlap with former costar Lynch playing her mother. Instead, Tony nominee Tovah Feldshuh (Broadway’s Yentl, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) will take over the role of Mrs. Brice when Michele begins on Sept. 6.

Feldstein’s understudy, Julie Benko, who earned strong notices when she stepped into the role in the star’s absences, will fill in during the gap between Feldstein’s July 31 departure and Michele’s arrival. Ramin Karimloo, who stars as Nick Arnstein, and Tony-nominee Jared Grimes, who plays Eddie Ryan, will remain with the production through the casting change.

Funny Girl was one of the most anticipated shows of the spring Broadway season, coming with high expectations due to the fact that this marks the first Broadway revival of the musical since its debut in the 1960s. But it was quickly hampered by lackluster reviews, particularly for Feldstein.

The show is currently in an open-ended run at the August Wilson Theatre.