Lea Michele described how she received a letter from Barbra Streisand regarding her role in "Funny Girl", and how she feared it was an elaborate hoax. The letter contained massive praise from the icon, but for a while, Michele thought this was a mean prank.
The "Glee" alum, who is currently performing as Fanny Brice in the production of "Funny Girl" on Broadway, recently revealed that she received the ultimate endorsement: a letter from Barbra Streisand, the genuine Fanny Brice.
"I got to work the other day, and my dresser Alyssa had this gold envelope," Lea shared on the Dec. 5 episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers. "It was like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, like getting invited. I would think it would arrive on doves, like a special carrier."
According to Michele, the letter from Barbra featured a sentiment near and dear to the "Scream Queens" actress's heart, given that she has long considered Fanny Brice a dream role, and has even performed several Funny Girl songs on Glee.
"It was very sweet," she continued. "She wrote me this beautiful letter. But one thing she said in it was 'It's really wonderful when your dreams come true, isn't it?"
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She shared that she immediately dropped to her knees and then called Ryan Murphy, her mother, Jonathan Groff, and Michael Mayer to share the good news.
However, there was an element of incredulity because of the unusual aspect of getting a letter from the famed singer. If it was truly a prank, she said it's pulling the worst practical joke in the history of the universe on her
The prankster must have been a sociopath to write that 'dreams come true' phrase as a joke, host, Seth Meyers, commented.
Lea Michele had an innovative plan to prove that the letter was written by Barbra, though. She learned that her co-star Ramin [Karimloo] had received a letter from her when the program initially started, as he was acquainted with her and has performed with her previously. Michele therefore sneaked into his room, located a copy of his letter, and verified that the handwriting was identical. Problem solved.
Meanwhile, in a cute TikTok video posted to the "Funny Girl" star's Instagram on Monday, December 5th, she and Darren Criss can be seen singing Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" in the car.
Michele and Criss portrayed New Directions teammates, Rachel Berry and Blaine Anderson, respectively, in Ryan Murphy's popular Fox series Glee. The show choir frequently sung "Don't Stop Believin'" since it was first featured in the series' pilot.
In fact, Rachel Berry sang the song at one of her final auditions for "Funny Girl", a fictional plot point from the fourth season of Glee that became a reality earlier this year when Lea Michele was hired as Fanny Brice in the ongoing Broadway revival of the musical. She replaced Beanie Feldstein after a series of high-profile casting changes, including the earlier-than-expected departure of fellow Glee star, Jane Lynch.
In October, Criss came to see Michele perform in "Funny Girl," paralleling the moment in the musical where Blaine sees Rachel perform Fanny from the audience. The "Scream Queens" actress stated at the time, "This guy has heard me perform 'Don't Rain On My Parade' countless times." 'I love you,'"
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