Jane Lynch Says Lea Michele ‘Knocked It Out of the Park’ in Funny Girl on Broadway (Exclusive)

Jane Lynch couldn’t be more proud of Lea Michele.

As he recalls his days joy and the main stars who came out of the Fox series, Lynch, 63, can’t help but gulp over Michele, 37.

“Lea Michele, ladies and gentlemen. She’s actually made her dream — and show dream — come true for Fun girl” Lynch tells PEOPLE during an interview at Harrah’s Resort SoCal, hours after she handed the keys to Funner, California to the city’s newest mayor, Martin Short. “And she just really killed it, knocked it out of the park.”

Michele joined the Broadway production in September 2022, taking over the role of Fanny Brice from Beanie Feldstein, which began a revival. She missed being on stage with Lynch, who played Mrs. Brice in the production until August before being replaced by Tovah Feldshuh, by just a few weeks.

“We almost overlapped,” Lynch says, recalling the near miss while admitting, “Now part of me is saying, ‘You should have stayed. You should have stayed.’ ”

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From left: Lea Michele in ‘Funny Girl’; Jane Lynch in ‘Funny Girl’.

Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions; Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Regardless, Just the murders in the building star praises her former co-star’s incredible performance on the show, which marked a big full-circle moment, given Michele’s joy character, Rachel Berry, had aspirations to be in the Fun girl throughout the series.

“It came true,” says Lynch. – She sang the hell out of that show and acted the hell out of it.

After Michele was announced as the new lead in the famous musical, Lynch is in favor Deadline she was “so glad she’s getting a real-life opportunity to work on the show, and not just on it joy.”

“She’s just going to embrace this show and make it her own,” Lynch added.

Michele hosted the show for a full year, from September 2022 to September 2023, and called it the “role of a lifetime” on Instagram before its final performance.

“Fanny Brice has been a part of my career since the beginning and no words can describe what it has meant to me to play this role on Broadway and make it my own,” she wrote in a statement, acknowledging her time “singing songs on joy like Rachel Berry.”

Barbra Streisand did not see Lea Michele in the role of her icon Fun girl Broadway role, but says ‘I’m happy for her’

From left: Cory Monteith, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison and Jane Lynch in ‘Glee’.

FOX Image Collection via Getty Images

Reflecting on the lasting impact of the Fox series, which ended nearly a decade ago after six seasons in 2015, Lynch tells PEOPLE, “That show is a big deal. The character was a big deal. All the characters were a big deal. It kind of hit the psyche. America and he’s still alive, which is really nice.”

Her character, antagonistic cheerleading coach Sue Sylvester, was a particular fan favorite and Lynch knows it. When asked about the potential of revisiting her story, Lynch says she would “absolutely” be interested.

“It would be a lot of fun. It’s a great character, and I think as she gets older, 10 years older than the finale, I think there’s more things to add. I think it would be really fun to play Sue Sylvester 10 years later,” she says. .

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Source: HIS Education