On the TV series “Glee,” Lea Michele honed an image of being Barbra Lite. There is nothing light about her playing Fanny Brice in the current Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” which opened last spring and now stars Michele in the title role.
13.09.2022 - 23:15 / deadline.com
Even with a Covid-shortened performance schedule, Lea Michele’s star turn in Funny Girl was serious business last week, with box office for the musical revival more than doubling from the previous week.
For the week ending September 11 — Michele’s first week as Fanny Brice — Funny Girl grossed $1,639,212, a dramatic upturn from the previous week’s $659,874 and a significant improvement over even the $1.3 million high averages of original star Beanie Feldstein’s early weeks last spring.
‘Funny Girl’: Lea Michele Gets Four Standing Ovations – By Intermission; Jonathan Groff, Ryan Murphy Among The Gleeful Crowd
Next week’s grosses report should provide yet another facet to Michele’s box office impact: She’s out of the production this week due to a positive Covid test (last week she played only four performances, including her first night on Tuesday, then the Wednesday matinee and evening shows, and again on Friday; Julie Benko plays the role on Thursdays and filled in for the three weekend shows that Michele missed). Deadline hears there were a significant number of ticket exchange requests last weekend.
Still, even with Michele’s curtailed performance schedule, Funny Girl filled 96% of its seats for the week, compared to the 70-80ish percentages of recent weeks.
In fact, Funny Girl was one of few Broadway shows that didn’t take a big, post-Labor Day Holiday hit last week. Total grosses for the 19 shows on the boards totaled $20,638,554, a 19% drop from the previous tourist-heavy week. The drop in receipts also reflects a slightly slimmer roster: 19 shows compared with the previous week’s 21 – and one of the missing was the mega-bucks earner The Music Man, on a scheduled hiatus while star Hugh Jackman makes the film festival
On the TV series “Glee,” Lea Michele honed an image of being Barbra Lite. There is nothing light about her playing Fanny Brice in the current Broadway revival of “Funny Girl,” which opened last spring and now stars Michele in the title role.
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“The Woman King,” the historical action epic starring Viola Davis, took in $1.7 million at the box office from its Thursday night preview screenings, which opened at 3 p.m. on 3,271 screens. The Sony and eOne film will launch at 3,765 locations this weekend.In its opening weekend, the studio projects “The Woman King” to earn $12 million against a $50 million budget.
A brush with COVID-19 won’t rain on Lea Michele‘s parade.
UPDATE: Lea Michele confirmed today that she has tested positive for COVID-19 and will be out for a longer period than initially stated.
Lea Michele will have to cancel upcoming performances from her Broadway show, citing signs and symptoms of COVID-19.The actress took to her Instagram Story on Saturday and announced that an «inconclusive test result.» Nevertheless, Michele said she's also experiencing symptoms, and will have to step away momentarily. Julie Benko, the understudy, will play the role of Fanny Brice.«I’m devastated to say that due to early signs and symptoms of Covid and an inconclusive test result – due to the production’s safety protocols I’m not allowed to perform today’s shows,» she wrote on Instagram.
Lea Michele is canceling some of her Funny Girl performances, citing early signs and symptoms of Covid-19.
Lea Michele is enjoying her Broadway success! The ‘Glee’ star received multiple standing ovations Tuesday night, as the audience was absolutely thrilled to see the actress at her first performance of ‘Funny Girl.’Performing at August Wilson Theater in New York City, Lea’s celebrity friends were also in the audience, including Jonathan Groff, Zachary Quinto, Lee Pace, Ryan Murphy, Harvery Fierstein, Drew Barrymore, among others.The first standing ovation happened before she even said a word, with a total of four standing ovations, even before the end of Act 1, including after her performance of ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ and during Act 2 of the show.Attendees were excited to comment on Lea’s display of talent on stage, with Fierstein declaring that he “haven’t had a night like this in the theater in years.” Another person said, “She’s the greatest star alright,” while someone else commented, “I’m going to need to come back this Friday and see it again.”Lea was spotted waving at her friend Jonathan Groff in the audience at the end of the show, getting emotional after noticing the joy of the audience. She had previously said she was excited to perform for her friends and family during the first show.“I have all of my people.
Lea Michele made her Broadway debut as Funny Girl‘s Fanny Brice Tuesday (September 6), and photos are emerging from the show!