Jane Lynch has “no drama” with Lea Michele over Funny Girl.
Lynch cleared the air regarding her old Glee co-star in an interview with Playbill. It stemmed from Lynch moving up her departure from the Broadway revival, in which she plays Mrs. Brice, ahead of Michele taking took over for Beanie Feldstein as Fanny. Lynch leaves the show Aug. 14, three weeks earlier than planned, and Michele makes her debut Sept. 6.
“I have a vacation August 14, and then I had just like five shows after that, and it’s a six-hour flight, so I thought, ‘Let’s end it now,'” Lynch told the outlet.
She continued, “It has nothing to do with not wanting to see Lea. I text with Lea. She and I are fine. I’m thrilled for her. I love working with Julie [Benko, the current Fanny]. I loved working with Beanie. There’s no drama here. None.”
Lynch also said her Emmy nomination for Only Murders in the Building impacted her plans. Her category is set to be handed out the beginning of September, and she wants to be there.
With Lynch leaving, standby Liz McCartney will step in as Mrs. Brice from Aug. 16 through Sept. 4. Tovah Feldshuh will then take over the part on Sept. 6 — to play alongside Michele.
Feldstein’s early and abrupt departure from the show brought a lot of gossip. The fact that she was being replaced by Michele, who previously faced accusations of bad behavior on set led to criticism over her landing the spot. Michele does have a Broadway background, appearing in Spring Awakening. In a funny twist, she also saw her Glee character, Rachel Berry, book the role of Fanny in the show’s fictionalized take on Broadway.
On Friday, Michele posted a photo of herself outside the August Wilson Theatre aside a throwback of her Glee character under the Funny Girl marquee. Lynch announced her early exit a few days later, on Tuesday.
And while Lynch moved up her exit, she and Michele weren’t supposed to overlap on the show. When it was announced that Michele was taking over in July, Lynch talked about how there wouldn’t be a Glee reunion on the stage, as much as fans of the show, which ended in 2015, may have wanted one.
“It was just a really strong idea to have Feldshuh and Lea premiere together,” Lynch telling Deadline, That’s the only reason [we won’t appear together.]”
That said, she added, “I adore her. She’s just going to take this show and make it her own. I’m so glad she’s getting the opportunity in real life to do the show and not just on Glee.”
Lynch, who played Sue Sylvester on Glee for the duration of the show, told Playbill she blocked the external noise about the cast shakeup like a pro.
“Well, that’s the thing about being in a play — you leave all of that behind as soon as you step through the stage door, and when you’re in the theatre, it’s all about putting on a play,” she said. “That’s my favorite thing about live theatre, that you’re a part of a group and you kind of forget your own individual identity and work for this group on putting on the show… It’s a sacred space. We just keep it positive. Nobody talks about that stuff. If anybody’s reading it, they keep it to themselves. We’re there for each other. And that’s why I love it so much.”
