Glee’s Kevin McHale snubs Lea’s Broadway show by admitting he won’t attend Tue 27 September 2022 14:41 Yasmine Leung
Lea Michele is currently making waves in Broadway’s Funny Girl, but Glee co-star Kevin McHale has admitted he doesn’t plan on attending.
Lea Michele scored her dream Broadway role as Fanny Brice in July after weeks of juicy theater gossip on Twitter speculating Beanie Feldstein’s replacement.
The actress has professed her love for the musical for years on the Fox series via cover performances as Rachel Berry. Therefore, she’s guaranteed to ace the stage.
Glee co-stars Jane Lynch and Kevin McHale are ecstatic for her, though don’t expect the latter to buy tickets anytime soon.
Kevin McHale hasn’t ‘talked to Lea Michele in a while’
Talking to E News, the actor knocked down any possibility of a Glee reboot without the permission of creator Ryan Murphy.
“I don’t know if that would ever happen as a TV show or a reboot-type thing,” he revealed.
Even though the musical drama concluded seven years ago, Kevin has remained close with co-stars Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel) and Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang). They recently launched the podcast And That’s What You REALLY Missed.
Not all friendships remain strong. Admitting he hasn’t “talked to her in a while,” the 34-year-old has no plans on attending a Funny Girl show.
Nevertheless, the actor is adamant that Lea will continue the character of Fanny Brice with flair.
“She’s obviously extremely, extremely talented,” he said. “I’m sure she’s f****** phenomenal in it. Are you kidding me? She could do the role in her sleep.”
Lea’s return to Broadway was temporarily interrupted after she tested positive for Covid just days after a triumphant opening night. Standby Julie Benko stepped in through September 18.
A timeline of Lea Michele’s road to Funny Girl
August 11, 2021
Beanie Feldstein was announced as Fanny Brice in the Broadway revival, the show’s first comeback since Barbara Streisand originated the spot in 1964.
The casting was unexpected given Lea’s long history with the character on Glee. Combine that with Ryan Murphy once owning the rights to Funny Girl, Lea’s role was seemingly in the bag.
August 16, 2021
Five days later, Lea congratulated Beanie on the coveted role under Beanie’s announcement post. “Yes! YOU are the greatest star! This is going to be epic!!” she wrote.
October 2021
Beanie mentioned Lea’s “sweet” gesture in an Andy Cohen interview, before adding: “I don’t know the woman whatsoever.”
November 2021
Lea continued to praise Beanie’s casting, calling her an “incredible choice for the production” on the Little Me: Growing Up Broadway podcast.
April 2022
Funny Girl opened on April 24 to satisfactory reviews. The Guardian claimed Beanie “struggled” to belt the challenging songs.
June 2022
Feldstein announced in early June she’s stepping down temporarily due to Covid, naming Julie Benko as her replacement.
By June 15, producers revealed that Beanie would be departing permanently, along with Glee’s Jane Lynch, who portrayed her mother. Her last performance was noted as September 25.
July 10, 2022
A month later, Beanie updated she’d be exiting earlier than anticipated on July 31.
July 11, 2022
Lea Michele is cast as the new Fanny Brice.
Sept 2, 2022
The internet speculated that Lea and Beanie were on bad terms during the casting entire saga. However, Lea shut down any rumors to People.
“I think that everybody just thinks everything is so drama-filled. I also think that people really love the excitement of pitting women against each other, which I think is really sad and unfortunate.”
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