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Keep your eyes peeled for “Glee.” The Fox TV musical-comedy, which focuses on members of a hapless high school glee club in Lima, Ohio, aired its pilot episode last May—after a segment of “American Idol” (back then basically known as the Adam Lambert show)—and will officially debut as a series on Sept. 9. Reviews from big city critics have been generally positive for the show so far.
Among the show’s multi-talented stars is the adorable Lea Michele, who portrays Rachel Berry, the glee club’s star female singer and all-around “drama queen.” Although talented, ambitious and effusive, Rachel is bullied by the popular kids around school for being, well, a theater geek.
“She has so much heart,” Ms. Michele said of her character. “I think it’s what we need on TV. A show that is filled with heart and love that is funny. It sends an amazing message to kids about the arts and being who you are.”
So who is Lea? A 23-year-old Bronx native, Ms. Michele was born Lea Michele Sarfati, the daughter of an Italian-American nurse and a Sephardic deli owner. Lea grew up in Tenafly, N.J.
In 1995, she debuted on Broadway in the original New York production of “Les Miserables,” and later appeared in the 1998 original Broadway cast of “Ragtime.” Five years ago, Ms. Michele played Shprintze and Chava – but not at the same time—in the Broadway revival of “Fiddler On The Roof.” She also starred in “The Diary of Anne Frank.”
Of her portrayal of Rachel on “Glee,” the Chicago Tribune’s Maureen Ryan wrote, “Lea Michele not only has an amazing voice but manages to make her character, spoiled diva Rachel Berry, more than a humorless stereotype.”
Not too shabby.