jtrent238 test blog: Theater Update: Lea Michele Gets the Part

July 13, 2022

Dear Theater Fans,

Yes, Lea Michele will be Fanny Brice starting Sept. 6. It's the latest twist in the long saga that finally got "Funny Girl" back to Broadway, with Beanie Feldstein as its star, which I wrote about in February.

Lots of rain has fallen on lots of parades since, and there's surely another chapter waiting to be told. In the meantime, here's Julia Jacobs with the news. (She's at julia.jacobs@nytimes.com if you've got more.)

And let me point you to the writing of Naveen Kumar, one of our freelancers, who has a provocative take in Town & Country magazine on Michele and the "art of trying too hard."

Another week, another handful of Broadway opening announcements, including a pop rewrite of "Romeo and Juliet"; an outrageous satire about race relations; and a look at the art-world frenemies Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, with Paul Bettany and Jeremy Pope in the starring roles.

They will follow the first show of this 2022-23 season, the just-reopened and still-adored revival of "Into the Woods." Speaking of joyous: the Classical Theater of Harlem's "Twelfth Night," which Laura Collins-Hughes describes as "so fizzy and fun that you may be surprised afterward at how relaxed your body is."

I hope you'll read my send-off profile of Jim Nicola, the departing artistic director of New York Theater Workshop; if you've seen "Rent" or "Once," or love or hate the work of Ivo van Hove, you have him to thank (or blame). Separately, Laura checked in with actors and directors indebted to Peter Brook, who died this month at 97. Patrick Stewart's story about being waylaid by Brook in the middle of New York traffic is a keeper.

How did productions directed by Brook, or staged at the Workshop, affect you? Please share your memories at theaterfeedback@nytimes.com. And urge your friends to subscribe to this newsletter by clicking here.

It's how they'll be reminded to stream Theater of War's "The Suppliants Project: Ukraine," which is scheduled to feature the actors Oscar Isaac and David Strathairn in a live reading of Aeschylus alongside a chorus of Ukrainian citizens. You can register for the free July 16 event here.

On a lighter note: It's not from "Beauty and the Beast," but this "Belle" is hard to get out of your head. Elisabeth Vincentelli explains why.

Have a healthy week,

Scott Heller

Deputy Editor, Arts & Leisure

@hellernyt

Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Lea Michele to Star in 'Funny Girl' After Beanie Feldstein's Departure

The former "Glee" star will share the stage with Tovah Feldshuh, who will replace Jane Lynch as Fanny Brice's mother, starting Sept. 6.

By Julia Jacobs

Erik Tanner for The New York Times

Bidding Farewell to His Theatrical Flock

In a 34-year run at New York Theater Workshop, James C. Nicola held that directors and writers are equal partners — and helped send "Rent" and "Hadestown" to Broadway.

By Scott Heller

Alessandro Dobici

A Global Hit, 'Notre Dame de Paris' Finally Lands in New York

The splashy show, an example par excellence of what makes modern French musicals distinctive, begins a run at Lincoln Center.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Continue reading the main story

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FROM OUR CRITICS

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Critic's Pick

'Into the Woods' Review: Do You Believe in Magic?

The Encores! revival of this fairy-tale musical, with songs by Stephen Sondheim, arrives on Broadway with its humor, wonder and humanity intact.

By Alexis Soloski

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Review: Danai Gurira Makes a Sleek Supervillain of Richard III

At Shakespeare in the Park, athletic stamina and action-hero charisma muddy the meaning of a play about disability.

By Jesse Green

David Gonsier

Critic's Pick

'White on White' Review: American Grotesque

Robert Quillen Camp's play, about an antiracist discussion group, starts out naturalistically, but then pivots, with bloody abandon, to the absurd.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Richard Termine

Critic's Pick

'Twelfth Night' Review: A Shot of Joy Under a Darkening Sky

At an uptown amphitheater, the Classical Theater of Harlem stages Shakespeare's comedy with fizzy delight.

By Laura Collins-Hughes

Nathaniel Nowak

Review: 'The Rise and Fall of … Jean Claude Van Damme' Revives an Action Hero

A gleefully juvenile show about the Belgian star, from the writer Timothy Haskell, barrels through his life and oeuvre using toy action figures.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

Jeremy Daniel

'Mister Miss America' Review: A Fight for the Crown

The first male contestant in his small-town beauty pageant is determined to win hearts, minds and the crown, in this solo play from the writer and performer Neil D'Astolfo.

By Naveen Kumar