Photo: Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images by alice + olivia
Starting today, the history of American pop culture will be divided into two parts: before Lea Michele was chosen for the Broadway Funny Girl revival and after. On Monday, the Broadway production announced that the former Gleek would replace Beanie Feldstein as Fanny Brice, sending Twitter to a slew of Glee memes and takes.
Lea Michele has been campaigning for Funny Girl for years, since she sang “Don’t Rain on My Parade” at the end of Glee’s mid-season in 2009. Her character on the show, Rachel Berry, even ended up starring a renaissance of the musical on Broadway, and when Michele posted the casting announcement on Instagram, she wrote, “A dream come true is an understatement.” But Michele’s inevitable casting has quickly divided the Internet into several fields: those who love her, those who love a good meme, and those who see it as even more proof that canceling culture is a myth.
When it was first announced that Feldstein would play Fanny Brice on Broadway, Lea Michele was trending on Twitter as people imagined their jealousy for losing the role. Now, just a few months later, Feldstein announced Sunday that he would leave the Funny Girl revival earlier than expected, and wrote on Instagram that “the production decided to take the show in a different direction.” And less than 24 hours later, Michele landed the concert. THE DRAMA. Not only that, but Feldstein co-star Jane Lynch, who played famed coach Sue Sylvester on Glee alongside Michele for six seasons, also announced that she would leave the show the day before Michele debuted on September 6 and not at the end of the month as previously announced. It’s really an episode of Glee comes to life.
Jane Lynch will leave Funny Girl the day she joins Lea Michele just so she can buy tickets and go out halfway pic.twitter.com/OFp4PEliry
– skiing (@shyingflutters) July 11, 2022
Jane Lynch leaves the day Lea Michele is about to start is Sylvester’s most in-demand iconic behavior extravaganza I’ve witnessed
– Kyleigh (@KyleighMM_) July 11, 2022
As for those who don’t care about Michele or theatrical drama, they’re just here to make jokes. “Lea Michele made a deal with the devil so she could be on Funny Girl on Broadway … It’s like Ariel, but instead of exchanging her voice, she changed her ability to read,” tweeted @freyabwg. (Who remembers the conspiracy theory “Lea Michele can’t read” of 2018?)
lea michele made a deal with the devil so she could be in a funny girl on broadway … she’s like ariel, but instead of changing her voice she changed her ability to read
– freya (@freyabwg) July 11, 2022
congratulations to lea michele pic.twitter.com/hsb07zvyvW
– gabe bergado (@gabebergado) July 11, 2022
Lea Michele appears in her first Funny Girl performance pic.twitter.com/Q5oFxHulQz
– Sam Stryker (@sbstryker) July 11, 2022
Liza Minnelli has survived Lea Michele’s unfulfilled dream of playing Fanny Brice in “Funny Girl.” The “Glee” star, who was notoriously ignored originally, will finally have her chance at the Broadway revival this September.
– LizaMinnelliOutlives (@LiZaOutlives) July 11, 2022
ATTENTION to everyone: Lea Michele has just made her wish come true, an event that will launch our universe into irrevocable chaos. The planes will fall from the sky. The birds will go blind. The dead will be resurrected. Please embrace your loved ones and make peace with God while you can
– Tom Zohar (omTomZohar) July 11, 2022
Meanwhile, others expressed disappointment that Michele appears to have come out unscathed from reports of toxic behavior on set. In 2020, some of Michele’s Glee co-stars talked about allegedly abusive behavior they suffered on the set of the musical show. Samantha Ware, who appeared last season, accused Michele of making “my first TV show a hell” on Twitter. “I think you told everyone that if you got the chance, shit on my wig!” among other traumatic micro-aggressions that made me question a career in Hollywood ”. Michele apologized at the time, saying that while I didn’t remember those comments, “I clearly acted in a way that hurt other people.” Heather Morris, who also starred in Glee, admitted that Michele was “nasty working with her.” Michele was also called by Gerard Canonico, who worked with her as an undergraduate at Spring Awakening.
Michele kept a low profile after the wave of reports of toxic behavior, only recently returned to the spotlight to celebrate the anniversary of the Spring Awakening. Now some are calling for his invitation to return to Broadway and questioning whether it has really changed. About an hour after Michele’s casting was announced, Ware expressed his grief and exasperation at the situation, writing on Twitter, “Yes, I’m online today. Yes, I see you all. Yes, I care. “Yes, I’m affected. Yes, I’m human. Yes, I’m black. Yes, I was abused. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway defends whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity.” Yes, I’m strong. Yes, I would do it again. “
Yes, I am online today. Yes, I see you all. Yes, I care. Yes, I am affected. Yes, I am human. Yes, I am black. Yes, I was mistreated. Yes, my dreams were tainted. Yes, Broadway defends whiteness. Yes, Hollywood does the same. Yes, silence is complicity. Yes, I am strong. Yes, I would do it again.
– SAMEYA (@Sammie_Ware) July 11, 2022
leave michele here proving that you can cancel on twitter dot com and still achieve your dreams. iconic and brave white woman!
– Carrie Wittmer 🦇 (@carriesnotscary) July 11, 2022
funny girl producers after deciding to go with Lea Michele pic.twitter.com/mHMSh7ihgp
– m (@bigIttIeIies) July 11, 2022
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